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LECTURE IX
SUBJECT MATTER OF TEXT INTERPRETATION.
CATEGORIES OF THE TEXT.
Issues to be discussed:
1.
The subject matter of Text interpretation.
2.
The notion and types of text categories.
Key Words:
Text interpretation, text categories, informativity, segmentation,
wholeness.
SUBJECT - MATTER OF TEXT INTERPRETATION
Interpretation of the text as a subject comprises a system of methods and devices
for grasping the meaning of a belles-letters text.
Text interpretation is a branch of philology. It is based on Stylistics, Text
Linguistics, Theory of
literature, Philosophy, Ethics, Aesthetics, Hermeneutics.
The object of Text interpretation is a literary text. Text interpretationon studies it from
point of view of its idea, structure, personages, plot, the author‘s outlook.
The aim of interpretation is to teach reading, penetrate into the main idea of the literary
work, to understand the author‘s outlook, his comprehension of life. In other words,the
aim of the text interpretation is to develop skills for penetrating into the concept of a
literary work, for understanding the author's world picture and emotional impact on the
reader.
A belles-lettres text is usually complex and consists of several layers. The task of
interpretation is to extract maximum of information, thought and emotions conveyed by
the author. The interpretation of a literary text as a rule undergoes two stages. At the
first stage we learn the plot of a text and acquaint ourselves with characters. At the
second stage we perform a thorough linguistic analysis, examining the main categories
of
the text, its title, poetic details and stylistic devices.
The main text categories are: the category of informativity, modality,
segmentation and wholeness (cohesion) of the text.
Informativity is the main category of the text. According to Prof. I.R.
Galperin
the following types of information are distinguished: a) content-factual; b) content-
subtextual or implicit and c) content-conceptual.
Content-factual information contains reports about facts, events, processes which
took place. In other words it's a plot of the text.
Content-subtextual
information is not explicit, it is not expressed in the verbal
layer of the text. The aim of an interpreter is to find the signals of implicit information
and with their help analyse the concealed information.
Content-conceptual information conveys to the reader the author’s individual
perception of the events, his modality and outlook.
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These three kinds of information are revealed with the help of some elements of
foregrounding and poetic details.
The category of modality implies the author‘s attitude to his personages and the
described reality. It can be explicit when the author describes
the events and characters
himself, or hidden when he entrusts his role of a narrator to one of the personages, an
on-looker, or an eye-witness.
Modality can be expressed directly or indirectly. In the first case, the author
himself reveals his attitude towards the personage through his evaluating epithets. In the
second case, it is th reader, who draws conclusions about the personage‘s positive and
negative traits analysing the description of his actions by the author.
The category of segmentation presumes the division of the literary work into
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