The author’s semantic choices in literary texts (a study of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter fantasy novels) 

Abstract.

THE AUTHOR’S SEMANTIC CHOICES IN LITERARY TEXTS (A STUDY OF J. K. ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER FANTASY NOVELS)

Anatolii Zahnitko

General and Applied Linguistics and Slavic Philology Department, Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University, Vinnytsia, Ukraine.

Viktoriia Andrushchenko

English Philology and Translation Department, Horlivka Institute for Foreign Languages of the State Higher Educational Establishment “Donbas State Pedagogical University”, Dnipro, Ukraine.

Abstract

Background: Text has traditionally been analysed from structural, semantic, socio-communicative, and pragmatic perspectives. From a communicative point, a text is viewed as an interaction between the addresser (the category of the addresser) and the addressee (the category of the addressee). In this study, the category of the addresser is considered communicative, expressing itself through language tools, which the category of coherence, also communicative, establishes at formal, semantic, and communicative levels. The semantic choices made by the author are essential for the reader’s accurate interpretation of the author’s intentions encoded in the literary text.

Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate the semantic tactics an author employs to express and share her thoughts in interaction with readers. These semantic items correspond to language patterns specific to referential, conjunctive, thematic, and thematic-rhematic coherence, which can be identified within SPUs in the fantasy novels Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.

Discussion: Language markers by which the category of the addresser semantically manifests itself and which the category of coherence establishes at semantic level, include: referential coherence (anaphoric, cataphoric, exophoric, homophoric, comparative, and bridging reference); conjunctive coherence (additive, adversative, causal, and temporal relations); thematic coherence (thematic progression); thematic-rhematic semantic clausal relations (interpersonal, zigzag, and multiple themes conveying explanation, cause, consequence, conclusion, specification, narration, contrast, coordinating continuation, and background).

As such, these semantic cohesive tools play a crucial role in maintaining the structural and communicative integrity of the text.

Keywords: literary text, the category of the addresser, the category of the addressee, coherence, referential (conjunctive, thematic-rhematic, thematic) coherence, discourse, context, text, semantics, function.

Vitae

Anatolii Zahnitko is Doctor of Philology, Professor, Corresponding Member of NAS of Ukraine, Professor of Department of General and Applied Linguistics and Slavonic Philology at Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University. His areas of research interests include functional linguistics, cognitive linguistics, comparative linguistics, categorical linguistics, lexicographic linguistics, and text linguistics.

Correspondence: azagnitko@gmail.com

Viktoriia Andrushchenko is a Doctor of Philosophy and Associate Professor in the Department of English Philology and Translation, Horlivka Institute for Foreign Languages, Donbas State Pedagogical University, Dnipro, Ukraine. Her research interests focus on text linguistics, comparative text linguistics, and discourse analysis.

Correspondence: viktorandr2018@gmail.com

Article.

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