The Intersection of Linguistics and 19th century Russian Poetry

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The debate surrounding the relationship between literature and linguistics has long been a topic of contention with literary critics and linguistics experts expressing reservations about techniques and interpretive methods. Roman Jakobson (1960) putting the linguist’s case: Since linguistics is the global science of verbal structure, poetics may be regarded as an integral part of linguistics. On the other hand, David Lodge (1966) argues that: one still feels obliged to assert that the discipline of linguistics will never replace literary criticism or radically change the bases of its claims to be a useful and meaningful form of human inquiry. It is the essential characteristic of modern linguistics that it claims to be a science. It is the essential of literature that it concerns values. And values are not amenable to scientific method. This article explores the use of stylistics analytical techniques to bridge the gap between language and literature. It analyzes a poem by Tyutchev, focusing on the relationship between linguistic form and literary effect. Stylistic analysis acknowledges the writer's skills and the deliberate decisions made in text production, allowing it to explain the link between linguistic form and literary effect. It suggests that stylistic analysis can help explain why a particular literary text is highly regarded, thereby enhancing our understanding of the literary world.

Sub Unit

• Linguistics/Language Pedagogy/Translation

Chair

• Alexander Burry, Ohio State U

Papers

• Exploring the Interplay of Linguistics and Literature through Stylistic Analysis of Tyutchev's 'Silentium' - Bita Takrimi, Northwestern U

• Lacrimae Pondera Voces Habent: Ovid’s Heroides and Pushkin’s Tatiana - Grace Clifford, Northwestern U

• The Use of Multilingual Parallel Corpus in Comparative Linguistics - Lenka Ptak, U of Wrocław (Poland)

Discussant

• Donna Tussing Orwin, U of Toronto (Canada)