On the Incarnation of Meaning in Literature and Cinema

The article is devoted to the study of general and special characteristics of incarnation (embodiment) of meaning in works of literature and cinema. Thus, the hermeneutical problematics in the article is connected with the intermedia. By incarnation of meaning in the article is understood its implementation in the forms of the depicted in the work of being – the reality of the hero. Incarnation of meaning takes place only in the context of artistic communication (between the author, the hero and the reader) and determines the semantic difference between artistic and non-artistic texts. In this article, the general and specific characteristics of the incarnation of meaning are revealed through a comparative analysis of fragments from two works: Ivan Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” and Nikita Mikhalkov’s film “A Few Days from Oblomov’s Life”. The common characteristics of the incarnation of meaning in these works are revealed (ontologization, integrity and representativeness, concreteness and visibility, personalization, continuity, and co-eventfulness). These characteristics, which can be found in both literature and cinema, indicate that, despite the semiotic differences between these types of artistic expression, there is a commonality in the actualization of meaning in these works as art phenomena. At the same time, the peculiarities of the manifestation of certain characteristics of semantic incarnation in literary works and films are revealed: the ontological multi-layeredness of cinema, the word as the central moment of the ontologization of meaning in literature, and the changing spatial form in cinema, as well as the different ratios of semantic generalization and concretization in literature and cinema. Thus, the inter-media relations between literature and cinema are determined not only by the origin or historical interaction of these arts, but also by the commonality of the way in which they actualize meaning.