Metatext as a means of expressing the linguistic personality of the author-narrator in the text of the memoirs

Ma Zhue ORCID: 0000-0003-4942-4093 PhD in Philology Lecturer, Department of Russian Language and Literature, Shanxi University 030006, China, Shanxi, Taiyun, Wucheng str., 92 maruye2020@qq.com

The growing interest of readers and researchers in first-person narration, in particular memoirs as stories about past events, of which the author was a participant or witness, is largely determined by the uniqueness of the author's personality, his self-reflection, self-perception and sense of time. During the creation of memoirs as a specific socio-anthropological activity, both the witnessing Self and the act of witnessing itself arise ^[1] One of the first scientists paying attention to the study of the author's personality is V.V. Vinogradov, who believes that personality is reflected in terms of the history of events closely related to the development of society and changes in personal life, and in terms of the development of creative activity and the worldview of the author himself ^{[2, p. 34]}. Linguists are interested in the interaction between a text or discourse and the "linguistic personality" behind it, which was introduced into scientific use by Y.N. Karaulov ^{[3, p. 3]}. Such "anthropocentric, autorocentric linguistic thinking" ^{[4, p. 11]} makes it possible to get acquainted with a certain personality through the prism of her speech works, the analysis of which allows "reconstructing the content of the personality's worldview ^{[3, p. 6]}. S.E. Nikitina notes that the main feature of a linguistic personality is "the presence of linguistic consciousness and linguistic self—awareness", moreover, if linguistic consciousness is realized in verbal behavior, then linguistic self—consciousness is realized both in verbal and nonverbal behavior using metatextual means ^{[5, p. 35]}. So metatext performs a function not only structurally organizing, but also autocommenting, i.e. the function of expressing the subjective modality of the author.

Thus, the purpose of this article is to study the role of metatext tools in identifying the identity of the author-narrator of memoirs, in which past socially significant events and events from the author's personal life are restored. The materials are the memoirs of K.K. Rokossovsky "Soldier's Duty" ^[6] with a description of specific battles during the Great Patriotic War and M.T. Kalashnikov "Notes of the designer-gunsmith" ^[7], more focused on the formation and development of the creative personality of the author.

Consideration of the personality of the author-narrator according to the whole of his memoirs, in our opinion, is carried out in two aspects, or taking into account two constants: a) the constant of logic in the message of events and b) the constant of the presence of the author-narrator. The structural-compositional and content-semantic analysis of the memoirs selected by us shows that the difference in personality manifests itself in the representation of reality (objectivity) and the expression of a point of view (subjectivity), and the difference in the linguistic personality is in logic, the reception of the representation of reality and the use of linguistic means to introduce the author's attitude to the surrounding world and his narrative.

The first constant can be studied through the information structure at the macrotext level – the individual organization of the narrative and the interaction of different discursive passages of the memoir text (sequential, introductory, background, retrospective and explanatory passages according to V.A. Plungyan ^{[8, p. 20-21]}). The narrative of K. Rokossovsky is event-centered, and the narrative of M. Kalashnikov is individualized. In addition to the activities that the author is engaged in and his social status and role, character traits, the main character of the narrative is also influenced by the length of time in the memoirs. The short period of time of K. Rokossovsky's memoirs (only four years of the war) forces him to focus on the message of reality, so the memoir narrative is preserved in a normative form. And M. Kalashnikov's long period of time (until the 90s of the last century) allows him to delve into self-reflection, which determines the abundance of personal actualization of message components in the narrative, for example, the inclusion of a live conversation and a lot of information about the psychological state of the author-character. But metatext means are already widely used here, which are involved in the organization of the narrative, for example, in the introduction of retrospective and prospective components of the text: Going back to 1940, I will say that the idea of creating a device captured me ^{[6, p. 9]}. We thanked him for his support. Looking ahead, I will clarify that our unified PK machine gun, adopted later by the army, was provided for more than five years, until its complete modernization, by a Samozhenkov tripod machine tool ^{[7, p. 249]}.

The presence of the author-narrator in the memoirs is directly evidenced by the use of metatext introductory words and constructions that reflect the author's attitude to the statement, its content or form, and allow you to enter information into a sequentially moving content. It is this group of metatext tools that perform an autocommenting function that will be given the main attention in this article for the study of a specific linguistic personality.

It is worth noting that in addition to the two constants we have specifically identified, which are directly related to the information structure of the text in its syntagmatic or paradigmatic terms, there are other linguistic phenomena that allow us to judge the linguistic personality of the author, for example, the use of a simple syntactic construction when presenting the contents of the order, etc. in K. Rokossovsky testifies to the brevity and clarity of speech. personality, and metaphorization in the Kalashnikov language is about the imagery of speech of a creative personality.

I.A. Fedorchenko, considering the linguistic personality of academician V.V. Vinogradov, notes that in order to study a specific linguistic personality, it is necessary to emphasize the evaluativeness in the use of metatext, which reflects the axiological attitudes of the cognition of the linguistic personality. With this approach, metatext is a means of evaluating speech and subjectivity and serves as an explicator of a linguistic personality. The researcher considers the classification of M.V. Lyapon suitable, who considers metatext as an assessment of the verbal form used (the method of verbalization) and divides metatext elements into four groups ^{[9, 10]}:

1. Metatextual elements, with the help of which the speaker fixes attention on the semantics of the verbal signs used by him, assessing their compliance with the referent:

a) elements that adequately represent the referent: one can say, in the literal/full sense of the word, etc.;

b) elements that inadequately represent the referent, emphasizing the conditionality, the relativity of the choice of verbal form: I would say, it seems to me, I would call, etc.;

2. Metatextual elements with which the speaker emphasizes the standard of the designation: as they say, as they say, as it is customary to say, etc.;

3. Metatextual elements by which the speaker indicates the indifference of the choice of a language sign;

4. Meta-textual elements providing for the listener's perception: the reader remembers, etc.

The third type (for example, call it whatever you like) is not characteristic of the texts of K. Rokossovsky and M. Kalashnikov, this may be explained by the fact that the creation of memoirs is an active reproduction and representation of past reality, the author strives for accurate and adequate transmission of information and expression of thought.

All other types of metatext elements are observed in the texts of both memoirs. The genre of memoirs is a kind of macro-formation in which functional and semantic types of speech are combined: narration, description, reasoning; monological and dialogical speech; official and unofficial styles, etc., so this genre rarely faces restrictions in the use of linguistic means, including metatext.

Among the meta-textual elements, with the help of which the author emphasizes the standard of the designation, it is possible to distinguish special, in addition to how they say, how they say, etc., characteristic of the author-designer of the technical profile. M. Kalashnikov's memoirs are aimed at a wide range of addressees who may not know the special terms of this field, so such meta-textual means are often used: Kovrovtsy became the developers of a new method of shaping – by squeezing out the rifling, or, technically speaking, the method of dorning ^{[7, p. 109]}. We approached the development of all the details, each node very carefully, tried to ensure that they were, as they say among gunsmiths, ergonomically licked so that the weapon did not have anything superfluous ^{[7, p. 216]}. In the use of these meta-texts, the standard for the gunsmith is a non-standard for the reader. In addition, the inclusion of this type of metatext provides for the reader's perception – there will be a special, possibly incomprehensible designation ahead. This is determined by the individual characteristics of M. Kalashnikov as a specialist who is well versed in his affairs and a mature author who cares about the reader's perception.

The standard notation is sometimes conditional in time, using a verb in the form of the past tense and a time indicator, which is typical for memoirs devoted to past reality: He was, as it was said then, an "academician" ^{[6, p. 6]}.

The use of the latter type of meta–textual means in the genre of memoirs is closely related to two grammatical categories of the text - retrospection and prospectus: Maybe the reader remembers the division of the Moscow militia, which we met when leaving Vyazma four months ago, and took up positions near Volokolamsk ^{[6, p. 126]}. As the reader will see, I did not have to command the 9th mechanized corps for long during the war ^{[6, p. 7]}. The author's attitude to the presence of the reader is reflected in the presence of the actual word reader and the use of the verb in the form of the third person singular. But it is also possible to use the first person singular or plural, the latter will bring the author and the reader closer and puts them in a single local-time space, a common observation post: I will return to the events in Warsaw, and now let's turn to the struggle waged by our troops ^{[6, p. 308]}. A metatext of this type with a second-person plural verb of the type remember, see, etc. is not characteristic of the two memoirs under consideration, which is explained by the fact that when writing the written text of the memoirs, the author, anticipating the presence of the reader, imagines for the reader not so much as an interlocutor, as a guide to the depicted world in memory.

Taking into account the reader's perception in M. Kalashnikov is manifested more implicitly, with the help of other types of metatext (speaking in technical language, etc.).

The above is only one of the possible approaches to the study of linguistic personality from the point of view of the use of metatext tools. I.A. Fedorchenko, based on the typology of M.V. Lyapon, identifies two referential metatext elements in the language of V.V. Vinogradov's works: a) metatext elements "characterizing the author's attitude to the choice of his own nomination", introducing metaphorical expressions; b) metatext elements "characterizing the author's attitude to the choice of the nomination of others" with the expression of the evaluation of the scientific direction ^{[9, p. 148]}. This classification is based on the separation of one's own and someone else's speech, which is suitable for the analysis of metatext means in the memoirs of K. Rokossovsky and M. Kalashnikov, but of course, with its own individual and genre features.

The main attention in this work is paid to metatextual means with verbs to speak-to say, to name-to name, 154 units were selected, among them 61 in the texts of K. Rokossovsky (43 for the introduction of his own speech, 18 for someone else's) and 93 in the texts of M. Kalashnikov (70 for his own, 23 for someone else's). Let us first consider the metatextual means in Rokossovsky's texts.

1. Metatext means introducing their speech.

In the language of Rokossovsky, there are meta-means that characterize the author's attitude to his own nomination and characteristics, which are often presented in quotation marks: The Fascist command "recognized" us, if I may say so. It pulled up and pulled up its troops to the Yartsev area, inflicted massive air strikes on the crossings and battle formations of our group ^{[6, p. 40]}. The use of the word recognize, which has the meaning of expressing consent, is inappropriate at first glance, if one can say so, reflects the author's non-categorical attitude to the selection of this verb. But it demonstrates the increased strength of the Soviet troops in front of the enemy, who has always enjoyed an advantage. And the metaphorical description of military tactics is more visual and perceptible for readers: If this maneuver had succeeded, the so–called layer cake would have turned out - an environment in an environment ^{[6, p. 179]}.

The meta-media of this group often attract the reader's attention to the author's assessment highlighted by them: it is necessary / possible / necessary / must say, sometimes the verb to say is colored by an adverb or a noun in the creative case, for example, you can safely say, you should say it directly, you could say with confidence. In rare cases, the verb to say is used in a personal form: I would say, frankly, frankly. For example, the attitude towards prisoners of war on the part of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army was truly humane, I would say more – noble ^{[6, p. 206]}. The word more shows the author's attitude to the choice of an adjective, which differs from humane by the degree of characterization.

The assessment can be positive or negative, when expressing a negative assessment, an auxiliary meta-means is often added to mitigate categoricality and reflects the responsible personality of the commander, who considers it necessary to express his opinion: Frankly, such operations, one might say, of local significance, carried out in isolation from the general in individual army areas, have never justified themselves and entailedsignificant losses ^{[6, p. 125]}.

Separately, we highlight the analysis of the enemy's strength or position: I must say that the German-Fascist command began to make mistakes more and more often. Even now, it did not understand the situation in time and did not have time to parry the blow ^{[6, p. 259]}.

The author's reasoning is often final in nature, so meta-means with the verb to say are used to introduce a final comment: Summing up, we can say that a group of fronts under the leadership of the Stavka brilliantly carried out the Belarusian operation ^{[6, p. 302]}. Summing up indicates the final status of the subsequent statement. Here, as already analyzed above, assessment and reality are closely combined.

Finally, we want to note one more touch: Rokossovsky is not a man who likes to brag about his merit, but he does not hide the fact of his efforts: I must say that we received these four days of postponement only after I revealed all the difficulties that faced us ^{[6, p. 372]}.

2. Metatext means introducing the speech of others.

This function is performed primarily by the so-called and as they say/say, which can characterize the nomination of the enemy: The operation came out narrowed, since all attention and significant forces were diverted to the so-called Manstein group ^{[6, p. 217]}. In an attempt to detain them, the Nazi command moved fresh reserves here - the so–called Ost-See combat group, one of the officer schools and the 1st Marine Division ^{[6, p. 388]}. But there is no pronounced negative attitude towards the enemy.

The so-called often conveys a negative assessment of the author, which is especially characteristic in the initial part of the memoirs, when the army was poorly provided and suffered due to an underestimation of the Rate, or illogical strategies and tactics were adopted: Having made a 50-kilometer crossing on the first day, the main part of the corps, which was infantry, was completely exhausted and lost all combat capability. <...> This circumstance forced to reduce the crossings for infantry to 30-35 km, which led to a slowdown and the advance of the 35th and 20th so-called tank divisions ^{[6, p. 12]}. Our statutes, which existed before the war, taught us to build defense according to the so-called cellular system ^{[6, p. 48]}. The so-called meta-medium in the examples given reflects the author's disapproving, even ironic attitude to the nomination.

Metatext means also introduce a generally accepted nomination denoting a person, troops, military event, etc., For example, at the end of December, the so-called Zhytomyr-Berdichev offensive operation began ^{[6, p. 278]}. Among them, first of all, I would like to single out the chief of staff of the thirty-nine-year-old Major General Alexei Gavrilovich Maslov. He was, as it was said then, an "academician" (that is, he graduated from the Frunze Academy) ^{[6, p. 6]}. The nomination is presented in quotation marks, followed by an additional explanation in parentheses.

The use of phraseological units (in the broad understanding of this term) in Rokossovsky's memoirs is not frequent, they are included in the author's speech with the help of meta-means as they say, as they say, etc.: Among these comrades was Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Pavlovich Tarasov. He became the head of our improvised headquarters, he also headed the operational department. As they say, "both the seamstress and the reaper..." ^{[6, p. 37]}. Phraseology is used for figurative and adequate characteristics of the person or object being described.

It should be noted that the verb to say in these cases can be replaced by other verbs, in particular to explain, to notice, not to keep silent, etc.: It should be noted that by this time, which I mention, the situation was extremely bad with the information of the troops about the situation at the front ^{[6, p. 27]}.

Now we pay attention to the meta-textual means in the texts of M. Kalashnikov. We immediately note that M. Kalashnikov in his notes prefers to use the verbs to say, to name in a personal form (instead of you can say, I can say) or add a verb in a personal form that reflects the mode of speaking (I'm not afraid to say). Among the 94 units we selected, 54 were in personal form.

1. Metatext tools that introduce their own speech.

M. Kalashnikov is more willing to give his own nomination and characteristics than K. Rokossovsky. For this purpose, such meta-means are used, as I call them, let's say, I call them, I would call them. For example, there was, let's say, an unplanned puncture here ^{[7, p. 104]}. You can understand the young specialists: they were still at the institute preparing to say their own, unique word in design. And the fact that there is a practical, I would call it, alphabet - sketches, drawings, detailing of mechanisms, assemblies, switching to the design of simple parts, manufacturing, assembly, debugging them in a pilot shop, testing in a shooting gallery - some somehow do not fit in their heads ^{[7, p. 222-223]}. An alphabet is a collection of letters that are the basis of a particular language. In this case, the metaphorical nomination of the author conveys the idea that the listed aspects (sketches, drawings, etc.) are necessary for the formation and development of a design personality with a strengthened foundation of knowledge and skills.

The author's attitude to his speech can be classified according to the modality of confidence / uncertainty in his presentation, or the adequacy /inadequacy of expression. Meta-means expressing an affirmative attitude are used: I can say, you can safely/with all responsibility to say, to be more precise, and meta-means expressing the inadequacy of expression: I can't say, it's not enough to say. For example, we can safely say that it was the work at the landfill that gave Nikolai Mikhailovich a start in a great design life. He became one of the leading designers of aviation weapons ^{[7, p. 86]}. If I say that I was overcome with joy then, it probably won't be enough. It's like I've gained wings. I wanted to sing ^{[7, p. 41]}.

Another pair is the opposition of brevity and detail of presentation, which are implemented by meta-means with verbs to speak-to say with an additional mode, for example: without going into details, I will say ..., I will not list them. I will only say ..., there is a need to say more about this plant, etc.

In M. Kalashnikov's notes, the illustration is introduced into the text with the word let's say: Colonel V. V. Glukhov did not accidentally talk about the ability of factory workers to maneuver quickly during production. <...> Here, for example, having received a task for the manufacture of anti-tank guns in November 1941, the plant launched the production of PTRD at the end of the month, and the PTRS rifle - in the second half of December of the same year ^{[7, p.147]}.

Metatext means convey the author's assessment, and the same meta-medium can have different tones in different situations, as an example, let's say bluntly: In his publication, obviously wanting to somehow "brighter" to show the character of the professor, he (journalist – Zh.M.), frankly, distorted the image of Blagonravov ^{[7, p.45]}. Frankly speaking, it reflects the author's negative attitude to the distortion of the journalist, he considers it necessary to state a fact, the opening of which may be unpleasant for some people (but the author does not indicate the surname of this journalist, saving mercy). And in the following example, one feels a positive attitude, more precisely, the author's respect for the merit of the plant to the Motherland during the war: So I think there is a need to say more about this plant, to give a few touches from his, frankly speaking, combat biography ^{[7, p. 108-109]}.

2. Metatext means introducing the speech of others.

According to the affiliation of the speech, the following can be distinguished: a) to an individual: "forever penultimate", as the company foreman called me (MK: 7); b) to the collective in which the author participates: We have, one might say, a permanent exhibition in the Design Bureau. We call it a collection of weapons of our and foreign samples ^{[7, p.142]}; c) to a specialized team: the so-called rastsekhovka was carried out ^{[7, p. 188]}; d) to everything, regardless of the field of activity: Baryshev, as they say, continued to design without interruption from scientific work ^{[7, p. 90]}. This includes the introduction of phraseological units: Ballistics for me was still, one might say, a secret behind seven locks ^{[7, p. 92]}.

Like K. Rokossovsky, M. Kalashnikov also uses to notice, to note, not to keep silent to replace the verbs to say. But in M. Kalashnikov's texts, the verbs tell and write also belong to this category: I want to tell you more about this constructor ^{[7, p. 151]}. I can't help but write about another meeting ^{[7, p. 288]}. Two verbs characterize the author as a narrator and a writer, and the text as a narrative genre and written speech. In these meta–means, the author's strong desire for further narration is manifested, in the first it is realized through an impersonal sentence, and in the second - a double negation.

Another graphic meta–textual means should be noted - the bracket, which is observed in both memoirs. Sometimes the considered meta-means with the verbs to say and name are located in parentheses, for example, everything was done that was within our powers and rights <...> Unfortunately, in civil organizations this issue was not given due attention. (I will say right away: due to the difficult situation that has developed since June 22 in the border zone, the 9th Mechanized Corps has not received a single vehicle from those assigned according to the mobilization plan; by the way, it was announced already at the time of the corps' performance in a combat campaign.) ^{[6, p. 9]} And Sudaev is rapidlythey joined the ranks of designers-gunsmiths ^{[7, p. 72]}. The purpose of the parenthesis is to introduce additional information into the text (explanation, clarification, evaluation, expression of psychological state, etc.) with minimal interruption of the narrative sequence.

Thus, the observation of a meta-text containing a subjective modality allows us to judge the peculiarities of the individual personality of the author and the genre of his work. Metatextual means, introducing their own and someone else's speech, serve to express the author's attitude to the surrounding reality and the language means selected by him, to include his assessment in messages about events, to get closer to the reader and facilitate his perception, and thereby, the manifestation of the linguistic personality of the author-narrator.

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