scholarly journals Applicability of Rhetorical Structure Theory for Representing Logical-Cognitive Organization of Poetic Texts: Empirical Investigation

Author(s):  
Mariya K. Timofeeva

Rhetorical Structure Theory is popular in theoretical and applied investigations for representing discourse structures and corresponding relational propositions that play the key role in the process of text comprehension. The aim of the article is to explore possibilities and principles of applying the RST for displaying logical and cognitive organization of Russian poetic texts. Driven by the aim of exploring possible applications of RST, its authors and their proponents have analyzed up till now numerous prosaic texts and types of texts. And yet, studying its potential in the field of poetic analysis remains relevant. Since the Theory has never been applied to Russian poetry, an empirical stage of research is necessary. This stage consists in elaborating the principles of dividing a written poetic text into elementary segments, specifying logical relations, constructing structures of poems on this logical basis, completing preliminary analysis of this experience to single out its possibilities and prospects. The article presents the results of such a work. The empirical sample consists of short lyric poems (from 9 to 34 lines); it includes ten texts by A. K. Tolstoy and the same number of texts by I. F. Annensky. The total number of relations, used for representing the structures of these texts, is equal to 26. Frequency ratio of these relations was calculated. Comparative analysis of the poetic structures constructed revealed several differences between the two authors concerning their usage of relations. The results of the investigation evidenced the applicability of Rhetorical Structure Theory to poetry. They show that more research projects in this field are needed to refine its techniques, as well as greater material, including these and other authors, other poetic genres, etc.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8665
Author(s):  
Mariya Timofeeva

The paper considers the pragmatic textual level and focuses on peculiarities of reasoning realized in the lyric verses written by the representatives of Russian classic poetry. The investigated material of poetic texts includes the verses written by A.K. Tolstoy, K.K. Sluchevsky, and I.F. Annensky. The purposes of the study involve adapting the rhetorical structure theory (RST) to poetic texts, annotating these texts, searching for regularities of poetic reasoning specific to the considered authors. Applying RST to poetic texts was a novel task; the lack of experience made it necessary to adapt the method, that is, to elaborate the adequate set of rhetorical relations and to specify two sets of criteria: segmenting a text and identifying the relations. The resulting set of relations consists of 34 items. After annotating the texts in terms of the adopted RST, several lines of comparison were the objects of investigation. They include collating the frequency spectrums of relations and the semantical groups of relations for the three authors, as well as comparing two periods of creativity for A.K. Tolstoy and K.K. Sluchevsky. The results of the comparative investigation revealed certain regularities both in the distribution of isolated relations and the distribution of semantically grouped relations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Nina S. Bolotnova

This article is aimed at presenting a methodology for the conceptual analysis of poetic texts based on their lexical structure using the theory of communicative stylistics. The lexical structure of the literary text is considered to be a means of aсquainting the reader with the values manifested therein. The study of values intertwined within written works is particularly significant for the development of an axiological approach to teaching the Russian language. This article proposes a method for a sequential analysis of the lexical structure of a poetic text, which can be used at Russian language lessons.


Author(s):  
Andrew Potter

Abstract Rhetorical structure theory (RST) and relational propositions have been shown useful in analyzing texts as expressions in propositional logic. Because these expressions are systematically derived, they may be expected to model discursive reasoning as articulated in the text. If this is the case, it would follow that logical operations performed on the expressions would be reflected in the texts. In this paper the logic of relational propositions is used to demonstrate the applicability of transitive inference to discourse. Starting with a selection of RST analyses from the research literature, analyses of the logic of relational propositions are performed to identify their corresponding logical expressions and within each expression to identify the inference path implicit within the text. By eliminating intermediary relational propositions, transitivity is then used to progressively compress the expression. The resulting compressions are applied to the corresponding texts and their compressed RST analyses. The application of transitive inference to logical expressions results in abridged texts that are intuitively coherent and logically compatible with their originals. This indicates an underlying isomorphism between the inferential structure of logical expressions and discursive coherence, and it confirms that these expressions function as logical models of the text. Potential areas for application include knowledge representation, logic and argumentation, and RST validation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Yaron

AbstractModern poetry developed and transformed difficulty into a prominent aesthetic norm of poetry. The abundance of difficult poetic texts necessitates a study of the corpus. After differentiating between the way difficulty is perceived in poetry and in other communicative acts, I present the approach that I have adopted for the purpose of studying difficult poetry. In contrast to other studies which have examined difficulty from the author's perspective and, as a consequence, described factors that cause textual difficulty, I propose to examine the subject from the reader's point of view. The reader, after all, is the one who feels or does not feel the difficulty. The concept ‘difficult poem’ is necessarily interdisciplinary and the question of what is “difficult” involves cognitive psychology and its models of text comprehension. Following a discussion of these domains, I present the “definition” that I propose for the ‘difficult poem’.


Author(s):  
Алена Владимировна Шутова

Введение. Изучение особенностей восприятия поэтических текстов читателями является одной из актуальных проблем современной стилистики. Теория регулятивности как одно из направлений коммуникативной стилистики текста позволяет выявлять средства и способы воздействия текста на адресата. На основе анализа регулятивных средств и структур разных типов в лирике О. Э. Мандельштама можно исследовать характер возникающих в сознании читателя ярких образов в поэтическом тексте как форме коммуникации. Материал и методы. Гипотеза о том, что об особенностях регулятивных возможностей текста можно судить по реакции информантов, воспринимающих текст и его элементы, проверяется на основе проведенного рецептивного эксперимента, основанного на показаниях языкового сознания участников. Материалом исследования послужили поэтические тексты О. Э. Мандельштама разных лет: «На темном небе, как узор» (1909), «Из омута злого и вязкого» (1910), «Как люб мне натугой живущий...» (1930), «Мы живем, под собою не чуя страны» (1933). Выбор данных поэтических текстов обусловлен их идейной значимостью и временем создания (два первых стихотворения относятся к ранней лирике автора, два других – к позднему творчеству). Перечисленные факторы позволяют проследить характер их восприятия информантами с учетом отражения эволюции поэтической картины мира О. Э. Мандельштама. Результаты и обсуждение. Согласно условно взятой пятибалльной шкале воздействия, максимальным баллом респондентами были оценены стихотворения, относящиеся к гражданской лирике автора. Это связано с тематикой данных поэтических текстов (для большинства информантов она показалась знакомой и злободневной), их идейным своеобразием и большим количеством использованных в текстах регулятивных средств и структур, а также их спецификой (в стихотворении «Мы живем, под собою не чуя страны…» – яркие метафоры и эпитеты; в стихотворении «Как люб мне натугой живущий…» – ряд эпитетов). Заключение. Получены данные о факторах, определяющих регулятивный потенциал текста и характер интерпретационной деятельности адресата. Среди них можно отметить тематическое и идейное своеобразие поэтических текстов О. Э. Мандельштама, количество и разнообразие использованных автором лексических регулятивных средств и структур. Introduction. The studying of the peculiarities of readers’ perception of poetic texts is one of the relevant problems of modern stylistic. The theory of regulativity as one of the text`s stylistic communicative directions, allows identifying of means and methods of text influence on the addressee. Based on analysis of regulatory tools and various types of structures, in O. E. Mandelstam`s lyrics the nature of vivid images that appear in reader`s mind in a poetic text can be explored as a form of communication. Material and methods. The hypothesis that the features of the regulatory capabilities can be judged by the reaction of informants who perceive the text and its parts, is tested on the basis on the receptive experiment based on the indications of the participants’ language consciousness. O. E. Mandelstam’s poetic texts of different years were the study materials: «In the dark sky, like a pattern» (1909); «Up out of an evil clinging pool» (1910); «How do I love the strain of living» (1930); «We are living, but can’t feel the land where we stay» (1933). The choice of these poetic texts is caused by its ideological significance and time of creation (the first and the second poem belongs to author`s early lyrics, the last two – his latest works). All these factors allow us to follow the nature of their perception by informants, taking into account the reflection of the evolution O. E. Mandelstam’s poetic picture of the world. Results and discussion. According to conventional five-point scale of impact, respondents gave the maximum score to poems related to the author’s civil lyrics. It is connected with the theme of these poetic texts (for most informants it seemed urgent and familiar), its ideological originality and its large number of regulatory methods that was used in text, srtuctures and its specific (in the poem «We are living, but can’t feel the land where we stay...» – vivid metaphors and epithets; in the poem «How I love the strain of living...» – a number of epithets). Conclusion. As a result of this research, data about factors that determine regulatory potential of the text and the nature of the interpretative activity of addressee were obtained. Among them, we can note thematic and ideological originality of O. E. Mandelstam`s poetic texts, the number and variety of lexical regulatory tools and structures used by author.


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