Metaphorical interpretation of sociocultural processes in Russia in the 20th - 21st centuries

In our investigation we have conducted the decoding of metaphor constructions, contained in the poetic texts, written at the end of the 20th – the beginning of the 21st centuries. The purpose of the decoding was to reveal cultural meanings; that allowed us to classify metaphor constructions in accordance with these meanings, their figurativeness and ideological content. In order to reveal the contents of metaphor, the method of semantic classification is being used.

The principle of metaphor building is creation of the new meaning by contrast with the components, contained in metaphor. Poetic metaphor connects words, which are not commonly used together in speech. That creates bright, expressive, peculiar images and new meanings. It is interesting that the words, a metaphor formation consists of, acquire new meanings, and the meaning of the whole metaphor is also new from the standpoint of the common usage. Metaphors occupy various positions in poetic texts: text can be totally metaphorical, or it can contain separate metaphorical chains or word combinations. Author’s choice of the metaphor position in a text is not always accidental – it is often determined by author’s purpose, content peculiarity of the poem and its stylistics. Author’s conception of the world, as it was mentioned above, expresses his interaction with the world, his personality features, his manifestations; that makes possible to investigate a human factor in language. In the process of evolution the man regarded the surrounding reality as resources he could benefit from. The man was considered as the center of the universe, measure of everything, which can show itself in his views about the surrounding reality. That is why one can speak about some anthropocentrism of author’s conception of the world; that has been reflected in vocabulary and has become the principle of investigation of contemporary linguistics, language consciousness and the role of a human factor in it. Author’s conception of the world is reflected in his original metaphor. “The function of metaphors in V. Mayakovsky’s individual style is obvious: they work for the world’s image, make it more visual, substantial, and perceptible” [2, p. 399].

Methodology

Metaphor is the source for investigating the peculiarities of sociocultural reality of the end of the 20th c. The usage of the particular language means and creative principles of figurative modelling of the surrounding reality corresponds to the general artistic consciousness of the epoch, literature styles and traditions. Poetic images and author’s original metaphors represent the environment of author’s existence. The word serves as the way of reflecting figurative language conception of the world. The author’s conception of the world becomes the part of the overall language conception. “Metaphor is the core of a poet’s figurative system, and the core reflects metaphorical view of the world” [9, p. 57]. The essence of a poetic metaphor lies in author’s understanding of the world, in the context of a poetic text. Every time period is characterized by a definite metaphorical peculiarity and original meaning content. Learning about the world, as well as about sociocultural manifestations of the mentioned period, is possible by the poetic word. Investigating the works of Russian poets, we reveal the specific character of culture, time, actuals, daily life and society. In poetic texts we can distinguish a number of metaphor formations, which have created the image of the Russian sociocultural environment at the close of the 20th century. Conducting the definite analysis of the poetic texts and revealing metaphor semantic fields we demonstrate how the specific character of the definite period is being incarnated in metaphorical images. The analysis is based on the principle of determining semantic fields of metaphor formations, their interpretation, and making semantic classification of the investigation, that, as a result, allows us to represent the Russian culture at the end of the 20th century from various sides. Contextual themes and ideas of poetic texts have been selected considering a definite sociocultural aspect; that allows us to distinguish metaphor formations having similar meaning content. By means of interpreting images of metaphor formations we determine semantic fields, which represent Russian sociocultural environment at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st centuries. Semantic field is to be understood as “a collection of language (lexical) units, having common content and reflecting conceptual, objective and functional similarity of phenomena they designate” [10, p. 380]. Indicating semantic fields of metaphor formations, found in poetic texts, allows us to reveal the main cultural processes and values, conveyed by metaphorical images, to determine a specific character of sociocultural actuals of

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Russia at the close of the 20th century. Interpretation (decoding) of metaphor formations and images, created by them, is performed by means of symbolic and philosophical understanding of metaphor formations, the understanding being determined by hermeneutic method. “Symbols are not necessarily linguistic ones, however, any product of learning (thinking) is expressed in forms of symbols (system of symbols). Any system of signs and symbols is an independent thing, an individuality: a) a product of thinking, the means of explanation belonging to a creating subject; b) a product of understanding, the means of understanding, interpreting, belonging to a perceiving subject” [1, p. 110]. Deep shades of meaning of metaphorical elements in texts cannot be understood sometimes, but they can be felt in heart. Hermeneutic method is applied by means of feeling and realizing. Hermeneutic method is inclined to a dialog. “In hermeneutics the man is a subject of learning, and the system of symbols and signs is an object of learning. The main task of hermeneutics is realization of the so called “deep meaning”. According to Gadamer, understanding is a universal feature of the whole sphere of the man’s life, including any variety of science” [1, p. 210]. В понимании и постижении сущности метафорических образований раскрываются ранее не раскрытые смыслы, возможные подтексты, зашифрованные идеи. Understanding and realizing the essence of metaphors cast light on hidden meanings, possible implications and encoded ideas. Таким образом, возникает новая информация. This way there appears the new information. Besides, historico-cultural situation, in which the text is created, is unique and inimitable, that is why the text and all of its elements will certainly be auxiliary components in understanding the peculiarities of the culture in a definite period. “Language is so much inseparable from the conditions of man’s existence, that it (language) is always taken into consideration in any possible attempt to characterize the man’s essence. It is difficult to imagine forms of the man’s conscious behavior without noticeable participation of a language factor” [5, p. 104]. Language units appear as a system of meanings, which are language conception, formed from the world’s conception, which was revealed by means of interaction of all the man’s views of the world. “The man is a living system, a unity of the physical and the spiritual, the natural and the social, the inherited and the acquired during the lifetime” [8, p. 51]. Identifying natural processes with the man’s essence is a vital, widespread, necessary part of learning the world by means of the poetic word.

Besides, it is necessary to emphasize the significance of the context in the analysis of metaphor formations. Context is a part of a text, which can specify the meaning of a metaphor construction, “its minimum sufficient surroundings” [7, p. 21]. However, it is not always necessary – perspicacity, inner intuition, realizing, “plunging into the deep” could be enough. “The context for a metaphor is neither a frame, nor a background, not even a nutrient medium”, in which a metaphor can exist, it is, in fact, a semantic substance of the metaphor, its contents [6, p. 35]. But context is important not for every metaphor construction, the essence of metaphor can often be determined without considering the semantic content of a poetic text, although it is undoubtedly that the general meaning content of the text and the meaning of a metaphor construction exist in correlation and they are sometimes uniform, however, they can exist and be understood separately. It is interesting to point out that in different parts of a text a word can have a double or triple semantic content. That depends on the degree of metaphorical meaning of the word in the text. “Poetics must not be perceived literally, words in a poetic text acquire new meanings, sometimes unexpected from the standpoint of the common usage”, – O. Mandelstam says in his work, called “Slovo i kultura” [3, p. 356]. Metaphors are important components of the language composition of the text. “Metaphor is the most important figurative constructive component of a literature text; it is closely interconnected and interacting with its structure, semantics, composition and idea content” [4, p. 8]. Owing to metaphor, which often contains maximum imaginary, a poetic text is perceived as extremely expressive and packed, it combines several levels of meaning.

Research

There is no doubt that metaphor has a lot of functions. One of the significant functions is of special importance for the present investigation; the function is the conveying implicit information, which contains definite meanings, important ideas, author’s intentions. Decoding metaphor constructions (or interpreting metaphor images) reveals these meanings, ideas and intentions, which the author placed in a metaphor construction for a variety of reasons. Within the time period under investigation we have determined 8 groups of metaphor semantic fields, they are: Society (social processes), Religion, Person (mood and feelings), Russia (image, situation), Science and Technology, Politics, Finances, Television, Films, Internet.

Metaphors of Society (social processes) semantic field

«На дворе и позор, и разруха, и дележка на властном пиру, и поэтому ни телевральщик, ни алкаш — поселковый аэд, а мороз, по стеклу рисовальщик, в эту зиму мой добрый сосед». (“Outdoors there is disgrace, devastation, sharing at the imperious feast, and that is why not a TV-liar, not a boozer – a village aoidos, but frost, a window glass artist, is my kind neighbor this winter”). (I. Lisnyan-skaya) – these author’s metaphors reflect the main point of transition from one century to another, because the 90s of the 20th century witnessed the decline of culture and morals. The Soviet values were lost, and there was not enough time the new ones to be formed. By the end of the 90s the Russian society had undergone ten years of devastation, decline and disgrace. Gradually people understood that there is no point in believing television broadcasts. Trust in government was being lost.

«Тротуары клешами мели... рядом с Блоком пришпилены были к обоям переснятые Йоко и Джон, Ринго с Полом» (“They were sweeping pavements with their bell-bottomed trousers… next to Blok there were pictures of Yoko and John, Ringo with Paul, pinned to the wallpapers”) (T. Kibirov) – “The Beatles” band, loved by all generations of Russians. The members of the band, even after its break-up, were not less popular or respected as the great A. Blok and other classics. The Music of John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney was popular with a good few of Russian young people at the end of 20th c. and at the beginning of 21st c. In the 80s and 90s of the 20th c. it was common for young people to decorate their rooms with posters of their favourite singers. Bell-bottomed trousers – were a fashion trend of men’s and women’s clothes in the middle and at the end of the 20th century.

«А если вечер – пойдем на дансинг, в клуб, где клубятся сугробы света» (“The evening comes – let’s go out to a disco, a club, where the smoke of light is swirling”) (A. Lavrin) – in the 90s of the 20th c. discos were organized in clubs, bars or restaurants with a dance floor. It became a tradition for young people to spend weekend nights in clubs, where they could drink spirits, dance, meet new people and socialize. There is devastation all around. The interests of the youth moved from sport and books to drinking spirits and dancing. There is decline of economy, there is no job in small towns.

«Сраженный пулей рэкетира, кооператор юных лет» (“Struck by a bullet of a racketeer, a young owner of a cooperative store”) (I. Irtenyev) – the 80s and 90s of the 20th c. are not only the times of spiritual and moral decline, but also the periods of a widespread crime in Russia. Private and small business enterprises were being organized everywhere. However, not every businessman could stay alive. Racket, threats, murders in the sphere of private business from Moscow to Vladivostok were actively increasing from 1991 till 1996.

«То ли это евразийство в нашей булькает крови» (Maybe it is European-Asian trend that is gurgling in our blood”) (I. Irtenyev) – European renovation of flats, European windows, European style, European fashion, European boutique are the new concepts of the 90s of the 20th c., which have been strongly consolidated in the minds of Russians to this day. Although not all the western values were accepted by Russian people, but enough of them to make people lose part of national self-identity and borrow alien cultural traditions, alien attitudes to life, alien understanding of the world.

«Нас диктатура так же пучит, как нашу землю пучит газ; она корежит наши лица и отравляет мирный труд» (“Dictatorship swells us like gas swells our land; our faces are writhing with it, and peaceful labor gets poisoned with it”) (D. Bykov) – in the sphere of extracting natural resources Russia is one of the richest countries of the world. Thus, in volumes of gas production Russia shares the first place only with the USA. The poet compares abundance of gas with the excess in dictatorship in Russia, thus complaining that there is too much dictatorship in the country. Besides, all income from the sale of natural

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resources does not reach the national treasury, but gets into the pockets of definite oligarches.

Metaphors of Russia semantic field

«Мы заснули довольно великой, а проснулись дешевой страной» (“We fell asleep being rather great country, but woke up being rather cheap one”) (D. Bykov) – the 90s of the 20th c. is the period of values decline. Loss of the guiding lines, devastation, crisises, and defaults – all these things replaced the achievements of the great Soviet Union. Russia entered the 21st century under the conditions of economic, cultural and spiritual decline. It can be even said that a rather successful 20th century, which passed under the aegis of the USSR, ended in 1991 with the break-up of the Soviet Union. After that, the country started a difficult ten-year way from the 20th to the 21st century.

«Страна глупа, но в ней ума палата; не ценит слов – но ценит сильный жест; страна бедна – однако так богата, что никогда никто ее не съест» (“The country is silly, but as wise as Solomon; it does not appreciate words – but appreciates a strong gesture; the country is poor – however, it is so rich, that no one could ever swallow it”) (D. Bykov) – the paradox of the situation is that in natural resources Russia is one of the richest countries of the world, but at the same time, people’s living standards are much lower than in the USA, China, European countries and others. Besides, in the poem the author raises the themes, concerning political leaders, diplomacy problems and tolerant and neutral attitude to African Americans in Russia.

Metaphors of Religion and Spirituality semantic field

«Кружатся бабочки, кружатся бабочки снега – нежные вестницы русского Рождества...» (Butterflies, butterflies of snow, are swirling around – delicate heralds of Christmas…”) (I. Lisnyanskaya) – by the end of the 90s of the 20th c. it has become an established tradition to celebrate Christmas that was not common in the Soviet Russia. Besides Christmas, the poetess arises the theme of social life tension, putting a rhetorical question – could the Most High have forgotten about Russia’s existence?.. The difficulties of the 90s have become the prime cause of that.

«Мир крещёный удивился, как со всею простотой в нашем доме поселился католический святой» (The christened world has been surprised, that a Catholic Saint, with all his simplicity, came to live in our house”) (I. Irtenyev) – as it was mentioned above, Russians has got the freedom of choice of spiritual traditions and religion in 1991. Russian women got to marry representatives of other countries and religions. This tendency was further given the name of “mixed marriages”. Besides, it seems wrong to the author, that there appeared so many confessions in our State, he considers that Russia has managed being Orthodox for centuries, and there are no valid reasons to change something.

Metaphors of Finances semantic field

«Гусь, начинённый яблоками, лоснится лишь на имеющем твёрдый достаток столе» (“Goose, filled with apples, shines only on a well-to-do table”) (I. Lisnyanskaya) – the end of the 20th century in Russia is the time of defaults and criseses. Economic difficulties were chasing Russians from 1991 till 2000 inclusive. Not every Russian, living in the 90s of the 20th c., could afford to have delicacies and a wide variety of food on a holiday table. For Christmas it was common to serve goose, filled with apples, but few Russians had such a possibility at that period.

«Далекий друг, пойми, мой робкий дух смущает инфляция!» (“My distant friend, try to understand that my timid spirit is confused by inflation!”) (T. Kibirov) – inflation as a phenomenon of the Russian reality of the 90s of the 20th c. worried every resident of the Russian Federation. In a day a thousand bank note could turn to hundred roubles, havig lost its nominal value, and the value of common consumer goods could get 3 times higher. That could happen during one day only. Life in the 90s of the 20th c. can be compared with American roller coasters: you never know what side the situation will turn to tomorrow. Besides, in the poetic text the author discusses the other difficulties of the given period.

«А наш как был всю жизнь берёзовый, так деревянный и останется» (“Ours has been made of birch for ages, and it will remain wooden forever”) (I. Ir-tenyev) – people call rouble wooden, because at present it does not have value beyond Russia. Besides, the author raises the theme of the shifted values – since the 90s of the 20th century money and material values have occupied the foreground in the lives of Russian people.

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Politics (state system, political figures, and international relationships)

This semantic field is revealed in a number of texts, the themes of which are problems connected with Caucasia and Chechnya war in the 90s of the 20th c.: «Военным железом звеня, не в Абхазии, так в Карабахе каждый день убивают меня» (“Jingling with military iron, if not in Abkhazia, then in Karabakh, they are killing me every day”) (B. Chichi-babin).

«Злой Кавказ кусает удила, имамов грозных дух в нем снова закипает и терпкой коноплей джигитов окрыляет». (“Wicked Caucasia is taking the bit between her teeth; the spirit of menacing imams is boiling with her and lends wings to Caucasian horsemen by rough cannabis”) (T. Kibirov).

«Мир тебе, неразумный чеченец, с заготовленной парою фраз улетающий в рай подбо-ченясь» (“May, you, foolish Chechen, rest in peace, having a couple of words ready, flying to heaven with your arms akimbo”) (D. Bykov) – the difficult military situation in Caucasia and Central Asia in the period from the 90s of the 20th century till present is becoming the theme of the Russian poetry. Chechen war has claimed thousands of lives. Many people have got physical and psychological injuries forever. At that time the Russian government was corrupt, it was neither wise, nor competent, and because of that one of the cruelest and bloodiest wars of the end of the 20th century was unleashed.

«Сидят они, ребята, холёные тела»

(“There they are sitting, the guys, well-groomed bodies”) (I. Irtenyev) – in any period of time the representatives of the government agencies were different from the common people of the middle class. There was some kind of resistance between them, which was especially noticeable in the difficult life periods of the country. The 90s of the 20th century are such period. That is why the government and the elite were being criticized more actively than ever: the country experiences the devastation and disorder, whereas “the ruling bosses” rest in the laurels and peacefully sleep at the meetings of the State Duma not feeling confused. Metaphors of Person (person’s mood and feelings) semantic field

«Рвется жизнь по всем возможным швам» (“The life is bursting at the all possible seams”) (I.

Lisnyanskaya) – the 90s of the 20th century are the period of cultural and moral decline. The Soviet principles were lost, and the new ones were not formed. Russian society experienced the ten years of devastation, decline and disgrace.

«Об этом, брат, написаны тома: в других краях меняется погода, а здесь полгода – русская зима, и страх перед зимой – еще полгода» (Brother, this fact is described in books volumes: in other regions the weather is changing, but here the winter lasts for half of the year, and for the other half – the fear of winter) (D. Bykov) – in addition to social inconveniences, crisises, and economic frailty, the Russian winter, being long, cold, and dark, cannot by anyway make Russian people feel better. Perhaps, all the political, economic and cultural transformations, the lack (loss) of the social guarantees made the society sullen, and gloomy face has become one of the main features of the contemporary Russians, taking into consideration that the generation, brought up and grown in the USSR, was characterized by cheerfulness and optimism.

Metaphors of Science and technology (transportation) semantic field

«Вот мчится по дорожке нашей узкой жигуль-девятка. Эх, девятка-птица!» (“Here is Zhigul-nine, rushing on the road. Oh! Nine is the bird!”) (T. Kibirov) – the popular in Russia “Zhiguli” automobile number 9 is as symbolic for the end of the 20th century as three horses harnessed to a carriage – for the end of the 19th century.

«Не лучше ль вспомнить о прогрессе, что всем нам обновляет путь на шестисотом «мерседесе», который плоть его и суть» (“Isn’t it better to think about the progress, that renews our way, driving the six hundredth Mercedes, which is its body and essence”) (I. Irtenyev) – the standards of success in the 90s of the 20th c. were crimson jackets and Mercedes 600. Every successful businessman, who managed to survive, having settled matters with racketeers, possessed those things of well-being.

Metaphors of Television, Films, Internet semantic field

«Мы росли, в голубом и улыбчивом свете «Огоньков», «Кабачков», КВН. … дети страшненьких лет забуревшей России, Фантомасом взращенный помет» (“We were growing up in the

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blue and smiling light of “Ogonyok”, “Kabachok”, KVN. … the children of ugly years of the errogant Russia, the brood, nurtured by Fantomas”) (T. Kibirov) – TV shows, called “Ogonyok” (“The Little Blue Light”) and KVN (“Club of the Funny and Inventive (people)”) were still broadcast by Russian television channels in the 90s of the 20th c., whereas “Kabachok” (“The little Pub”) was left in the 80s of the 20th c. Besides, it is worth noticing that the Russian audience’s love for French films stayed the same.

«И вот уже благодаря у-шу китаец совладал с нечистой силой по НТВ… Помнишь?», «Утренней почты» воскресные звуки, ждешь, что будет в конце» (And now, thanks to wushu, the Chinese man defeated the evil spirit on NTV… Remember?”, “sunday sounds of “Utrennyaya Pochta”, you are in expectation of what will be shown in the end”) (T. Kibirov) – favourite heroes of action films of the 90s of the 20th c. were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. The films, starring them, were often broadcast by many channels, because Russians respected them and admired the fighting skills of popular Chinese actors. The ability to run on the walls or levitate seemed incredibly thrilling to the audience, that is why films, in which they played roles, were loved by children and adults. Since in the first half of the 90s of the 20th c. there was not MTV channel on television of the Russian Federation, the audience was waiting for the new music videos and watched them, shown by “Utrennyaya Pochta” (“The Morning Mail”) broadcast. “Watching” music is one more television novelty of the 90s of the 20th c.

Conclusions

Transition periods at the turn of the century are especially strained at all the levels of government development. Culture, politics, society, science, and economy – all spheres of life undergo changes. The period from the end of the 20th century up to the beginning of the 21st century is the period of transition and transformation; however, it is overshadowed by regression, decline and loss of many values of the Soviet period; that was brightly reflected in metaphor constructions of the poetic texts, written in this period. Metaphor construction is a unique element of poetry; it gives additional, sometimes cultural, information, and reveals author’s conception, perception and view of the world. Contents of metaphor are revealed by means of semantic classification of the groups of metaphor fields. Author’s conception, as it was mentioned above, expresses his interaction with the world, peculiarities of his personality and manifestations; that allows us to investigate a human factor in language. Language is a mirror of culture, the reflection of author’s conception of the world. Language units, as the system of meanings, represent language conception, which has been formed by the conception, created by means of interaction of all kinds of man’s understanding of the world. Conception of the world is reflected in author’s original metaphor. Metaphor is the source for the investigation of the peculiarities of sociocultural reality at the end of the 20th century; that is of some importance for creating the general language conception of a definite period and culture. Poetic images and author’s original metaphors represent the environment for the author’s existence. The essence of a poetic metaphor lies in author’s understanding of the world, in the context of a poetry text. Every time period is characterized by a definite metaphorical peculiarity and the original meaning content. Metaphor is the core of a poet’s system of images, and the core reflects metaphorical view of the world. Metaphors not only reveal author’s idea and the essence of events and concepts, fulfill aesthetic function, but also transmit the implicit shades of meanings, and in some cases convey the subtext. By means of interpreting metaphor images we have determined the semantic fields, representing sociocultural environment of Russia at the end of the 20th – the beginning of the 21st century. Formation of the semantic fields of metaphors contained in poetic texts allowed us to reveal the main cultural dominants, conveyed by metaphorical images. That gave us the possibility to determine the specific character of the sociocultural actuals of Russia in the time periods under investigation. With the help of interpretation of metaphor formations we have represented sociocultural events of the Russian history and culture at the turn of the century. The peculiarities of the culture and the main values of the society have been demonstrated. Metaphor constructions transmit culture of different nations and countries. Thus, deconstruction of metaphor formations in poetic texts of a definite period makes it possible to reveal the hidden meaning, key ideas, ideals, and cultural values, and to interpret them in the sociocultural context. The metaphors under analyses and their interpretations allowed us to demonstrate cultural and historical events happened in Russia at the turn of the century.