ETHNOCULTURAL SPECIFICS OF THE CONCEPT "CITY" IN O. PAMUK’S NOVEL "ISTANBUL. CITY OF MEMORIES"
Section: PHILOLOGY
Abstract and keywords
Abstract (English):
The object of study of the article is the mechanisms of formation and description of the concept "city" in the book of the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk "Istanbul. The City of Memories". The purpose of the article is to describe the linguistic means by which the discriptive analysis of this concept is carried out. When considering texts, a complex methodology is used, including component, contextual and comparative types of analysis. It turns out that the concept of "city" is realized in the texts of the writer through certain meanings, images, patterns and assessments inherent in the national mentality and worldview, as well as Turk-ish cultural traditions and customs. The scientific and practical significance of the work is due to the fact that the concept of "city" remains still poorly understood. The paper concludes that the expressive means in the language are represented by units of different levels. The basis of the system of expressiveness is the lexical means that most fully express this category, while syntactic means are considered as peripheral.

Keywords:
city, concept, national culture, national mentality, Turkish tradi-tions and customs
Text
Publication text (PDF): Read Download

Introduction

An individual picture of the world, reflected in a separate text or in a set of texts by one author, is a part of the general linguistic picture of the world. It is based on basic concepts, the features of which are that the realities reflected by them combine the main criteria of human life and are reflected in such macro concepts as "live", "move", "work", "have".

Acting as the main unit of cognition, the concept allows to unify and categorize both linguistically and mentally representatives of a certain ethnolinguocultural community. Approximately in this way, one can imagine the combination and unification of spiritual and practical, aesthetic, religious and mythological ideals that serve as the basis for a certain picture of the world. Therefore, we can conclude that the concept, as a generalization of knowledge about the real world, allows both to reorganize the mental world of the subject of the conceptual system, and to build his ethno-cultural image [1]. Remarkable is the fact that writers in their works strive to present a picture of the national perception of the world, and this creates an opportunity not only to comprehend the ethnic originality of concepts, but also to establish their functional parameters within the framework of the author's picture of the world [2]. In the concept of "live", for example, the main criteria that unite it with the concept of "person" are the concepts of time and place [3], which are leading in the verbalization of the concept "city" [4], which is a complex phenomenon, interest in which is noted by many sciences, including the humanities. In philosophy and psychology, the "city" is perceived as a special environment in which the formation of a personality takes place with its inherent character traits and peculiarities of the worldview. This concept, as evidenced by our observations, in spite of its significance, is still a poorly studied concept in cultural linguistics. Nevertheless, this concept reflects a rather complex system of spiritual-moral and moral-ethical dimensions of the picture of the world.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study - linguistic means with which one can characterize and carry out a descriptive analysis of this concept. That is why the main emphasis in our study is made on the analysis of the specifics of the verbalization of the concept of "city" in the individual author's picture of the world of Orhan Pamuk based on the material of his book "Istanbul. City of Memories".

Materials and methods

The article, based on the Russian translation of the novel by the Turkish writer O. Pamuk, provides a linguistic analysis of the implementation of the concept of "city" through certain meanings, images, patterns and assessments inherent in the national mentality and worldview, as well as Turkish cultural traditions and customs. When examining texts, a complex technique is used, including component, contextual and comparative types of analysis.

Results and discussion

Perhaps, it is not often possible to meet a person in the world who does not know about the existence of the ancient and fabulous city of Istanbul on the shores of the famous Bosphorus Strait. The city is a kind of connecting link between two continents - Asia and Europe and is located on seven hills, each of which - is the owner of a majestic mosque and a Byzantine church.

Orkhan Pamuk, with the brush of a real artist, presents in all its glory the abundance of historical monuments, lovely streets, magnificent villas and canals, directly and indirectly introduces the reader to famous artists and journalists, as well as to a whole galaxy of crazy historians who have displayed all the "transformations" over a century and a half this still regal city.

An unusual biography, begun as a portrait of a young artist, turns into a wonderful and fascinating image of an artist who paints a unique city.

Linguistic analysis of the language of feelings and emotions in the writer's works allows us to see the variety of means of their expression in an artistic context [5].

Orkhan Pamuk is precisely that citizen, patriot and writer who survived a difficult time for the country: «дело в том, что за всю свою жизнь я так никуда и не переехал из своего рай­она, со своей улицы, из своего дома. И я уверен – то, что сейчас, пятьдесят лет спустя, я по-прежнему живу в нашем ста­ром доме…  мне кажется, что и своеобра­зие моего рассказа о себе – и, стало быть, о Стамбуле – про­истекает из того, что в эпоху миграций и писателей-пересе­ленцев я умудрился прожить пятьдесят лет на одном месте, более того, в одном и том же доме…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. Even in this small "confession" we see the author's desire for an appropriate figurative design, which helps to keep in sight any changes in feelings and experiences, which serves as the basis for a subjective assessment of the dynamics of the intensity of a personal emotional state, allows us to feel the writer's immeasurable love for to your city. With special pain and sorrow, the writer shares with the reader the fabulous beauty of the city: the remains of its former inimitable greatness, unique monuments and objects of Istria.

In the 19–20s, cardinal political and economic events took place in the country. The Ottoman Empire disappears into oblivion, Istanbul ceases to be the capital (1923).

The first thing that catches the eye of visitors to the city is the indifference of its inhabitants to the ubiquitous historical dilapidated buildings and numerous ruins. This feature is not at all typical for European cities, in which historical buildings and structures that have survived to our times are considered museum values ​​and are protected by law. Of course, modern civilization has "Turkishized" Istanbul and it has already largely lost the greatness of the Ottomans, who were admired and marveled at by Théophile Gaultier, European ambassadors, as well as guests and travelers of the period in the XIX century: «Древний центр Стамбула, находящийся на полуострове, ограниченном Мраморным морем, Босфором и заливом Золотой Рог, начиная с середины XIX века стал во многом те­рять свой исторический облик; по мере того как империя рушилась, проигрывала одну за другой войны и разорялась, европеизирующиеся османские чиновники возводили в беднеющем и испытывающем демографический взрыв го­роде большие уродливые здания» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. In this case, we have a positional, syntagmatically correlated set of metaphor and metonymy. The first of them in a functional relation has a close connection with the predicate, and the ratio of the second is more correlated with the position of the predicate and other members of the syntactic construction. For metonymy, the focus of attention is an individualizing feature that helps the recipient to quickly distinguish, and with the help of metaphor, characterize an object from a number of similar ones.

Автор подробно рассказывает о своей семье, а история этой турецкой семьи – это тоже история Стамбула: «…нужно обратиться к истории города после падения Османской империи и взглянуть на то, как последствия этого падения отразились на внешнем виде Стамбула, и на то, как они сказались на его обитателях. Пе­чаль Стамбула – это и настроение его музыки, и главное по­нятие его поэзии, и определенный взгляд на жизнь, и состояние души, и некая субстанция, без которой Стамбул не был бы Стамбулом,все сразу…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. In this example, the writer uses a wide variety of language tools. By immersing the metaphor in a new phrasal environment for it, he achieves a renewal of the traditional metaphor and endows it with a new quality. Such an unusual rethinking of the trope in a new verbal environment expands the area of its lexical and stylistic use, reveals the hidden possibilities inherent in it.

The image of the pictures of the transformed and old city, running like a red thread through the entire content, evokes a deep melancholy in the writer's soul and is reflected in the pages of the novel in the form of a heap of ruins, wretched and dirty streets, old and dilapidated monuments, and of course evokes similar feelings in the reader.

Assuming such a reaction, the writer seeks to forestall it and fully achieves the intended goal. This sadness is especially close and understandable to a middle-aged Russian reader who has seen with his own eyes and deeply felt the stages of a difficult transition period: «…не забывайте, что это я, сегодняшний, пятидесятилет­ний писатель, пытаюсь связно и занимательно изложить поток ощущений растерянного юноши. Как бы то ни было, в шестнадцать восемнадцать лет я испытывал отвращение не только к себе самому, но и к окружающей меня культуре, к речам официальных и неофициальных лиц, объясняю­щих нам, как следует понимать те или иные события, к ар­шинным заголовкам газет, к стремлению всего города и от­дельных его жителей казаться лучше, чем они есть на самом деле, и к их упорному нежеланию понять что-либо о самих себе, к отдающимся болью в моей голове буквам вывесок и рекламных плакатов. И к себе, и к городу я относился с оди­наковым презрительным пренебрежением. Дело, видимо, осложнялось еще и тем, что после пятнадцати лет я уже не мог с прежней легкостью укрываться в своем "другом ми­ре", благодаря которому мое детство было таким красоч­ным и счастливым…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories].  In this passage, the tropes present have a rather high expressive potential, which allows them, in combination with other linguistic means, to give the context a sublime style. The modal effect is formed by the presence of metaphors, metonymy, epithets and other means, the skillful use of which has a rather strong emotional impact on the reader.

Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul is the antithesis of Constantinople. The writer spares no pains, depicting the indescribable grandeur and beauty of the city during the Ottoman Empire and uses only black tones, depicting it in the period of transition to the European model and secular life: «…говорю я и о цвете покинутых, опустевших и заброшенных ялы и невесть чем груженных дряхлых ржавых судов; о сти­хах, которые может понять только тот, кто прожил на этих берегах всю свою жизнь, ибо говорится в них о кораблях, плывущих по Босфору,  и стоящих над его водами особняках; о том, каково жить среди развалин некогда великой и могу­чей цивилизации, создавшей уникальное, ни на что не похо­жее искусство…; Черно-белая атмосфера Стамбула… всё еще живет на улочках Тепебаши, Джихангира, Галаты, Фатиха, Зейрека, Ускюдара  и некоторых бос­форских деревень» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. By selecting and using lexical and semantic constructions, O. Pamuk manages to implicitly represent in the texts his direct relationship to everything that happens. The close connection of a number of metaphors with other referent members of sentences allows them, together with the main function, to explicate and also aesthetic, cognitive, characterizing and text-forming.

The writer assigns a significant place in the description of the city to streets, mansions and other structures of Ottoman times, ships sailing along the Bosphorus, weaving his own thoughts into the canvas of the main narrative: «Единственным старым особняком в нашей округе, находившимся в хоро­шем состоянии, было построенное в конце XIX века камен­ное здание, которое в свое время служило резиденцией ве­ликих визирей. Когда Османская империя рухнула, а столи­ца была перенесена в Анкару, оно перешло в распоряжение губернаторов Стамбула…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. The description of the old mansion and the emerging feeling of stability and warmth at the sight of it brings the space of Istanbul closer and awakens in the writer's soul a feeling of something "our own", "close", "home".

When Orhan Pamuk describes Istanbul as an organized space, for example, lexemes such as дворцы, мечети, мосты, ограды and etc. acquire textual significance.: «… красота мечети Сулейманийе стро­гость линий, изящная организация внутреннего простран­ства, соразмерность пропорций белоснежных стен, поисти­не музыкальная гармония несущих башен и маленьких арок, замечательно выбранное расположение, благородная простота свинцового покрытия куполов. <…> Вид на исторический центр Стамбула производит такое сильное впечатление, поскольку грандиозные соборные мечети Сулсйманийе, Айя-София, Явуз-Султан-Селим, Бейазыт и другие все еще сохраняют свою первозданную красоту…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. The modal means present not only expand the artistic possibilities of depicting the canvases of the city, but also closely intertwine them with the social, ethical and aesthetic values of society.

Conclusion

It turns out that the concept of "city" is realized in the writer's texts by means of certain meanings, images, patterns and assessments inherent in the national mentality and perception of the world, as well as in Turkish cultural traditions and customs. It is also noteworthy that the concept of "home" in his artistic picture of the world is primarily identified with an independent closed space controlled by a person, a dwelling limited from the outside world, with a rigid taboo on openness, unlimitedness, uncertainty. At the same time, a home in the concept of a writer is not only a family, close people, but also a city, in this case Istanbul: «я жил на стамбульских холмах, и мои ок­на неизменно выходили на Босфор, пусть даже порой обзор немного загораживали дома, купола мечетей и вершины других холмов. Возможность видеть Босфор, даже издале­ка, имеет для стамбульцев, очевидно, своего рода духовную значимость, поэтому окна, выходящие на него, становятся в наших квартирах чем-то вроде михраба в мечети или алта­ря в церкви <…>  Когда я смотрю на черно-белые фигуры людей, торопящихся домой в рано сгустив­шейся темноте зимнего вечера, то чувствую себя частью этого города, чувствую, что я не чужой этим людям…» [Pamuk. Istanbul: City of Memories]. The given example clearly testifies to the systemic nature of expressive means, implemented, as a rule, by a variety of language units, the initial base of which is lexical means. The role of syntactic means is much less and is considered as peripheral. The concept of "city", realized in the texts of the novel by means of various kinds of concepts, ideas, images and assessments, reveals to the reader the originality of not only the national mentality of the writer, but also the set of inherent traditions and customs underlying Turkish culture.

References

1. Akhidzhakova M.P. Verbalization of the mental space of the author's linguistic personality in a literary text: on the material of the work of Asker Yevtykh: autoref. dis. ... Doctor of Philology. - Krasnodar, 2007. - 50 P.

2. Malova N.E. Ethnocultural specifics of a concept of «art» in fiction works of J. Fowles // Bulletin of Adyghe State University. - Ser.: Philology and the Arts. - 2014. Iss. 4 (149). - P. 54-57.

3. Ubiyko V.I. The concept sphere of a person in the semantic space of a language // Bulletin of the Orenburg State University. - 2004. - N 5. - P. 37-40.

4. Melikhov S.V. Characteristics of the author as a factor in the presentation of the concepts "City" and "Village" // Bulletin of the Pskov State University. Series: Social-humanitarian and psychological-pedagogical sciences. 2011. - No. 13. P. 142-146.

5. Iriolova A.D. Linguistic realization of the emotions and feelings related to love (as shown by U.S. Maugham's works // Bulletin of Adyghe State University. Ser. Philology and the Arts. Maikop, 2012. Iss. 1 (96) - P. 234-237.]

6. Pamuk O. Istanbul: The City of Memories / Translated from the Turkish by M. Sharov and T. Melnikov. - Ed. Olga Morozova, 2006 - 504 P.

Login or Create
* Forgot password?