Lecture
Composition (from Latin compositio — putting together, joining) — the joining of parts, or components, into a whole; the structure of a literary-artistic form. Composition is the joining of parts, but not the parts themselves; depending on which level (layer) of artistic form is being discussed, different aspects of composition are distinguished. These include the arrangement of characters, the event-based (plot) connections of the work, the montage of details (psychological, portrait-related, landscape, etc.), the repetition of symbolic details (forming motifs and leitmotifs), the alternation in the flow of speech of such forms as narration, description, dialogue, and reasoning, as well as the change of speaking subjects, the division of the text into parts (including framing and main text), the discrepancy between poetic rhythm and meter, the dynamics of speech style, and much more. The aspects of composition are manifold. At the same time, an approach to the work as an aesthetic object reveals within its artistic form at least two layers and, accordingly, two compositions, uniting components of different natures.
A literary work presents itself to the reader as a verbal text, perceived in time, having linear extent. Yet behind the verbal fabric there arises a correlation of images. Words are signs of objects (in the broad sense) which, taken together, are structured into the world (the object world) of the work.
- The composition of a literary work. This is the relationship and arrangement of parts, elements within the work.
The composition of plot, scenes, episodes. The relationship of plot elements: retardation, inversion, etc.
Retardation (from Latin retardatio — slowing down) — a literary-artistic device: delaying the development of the action by including non-plot elements in the text — lyrical digressions, various descriptions (landscape, interior, characterization).
Inversion in literature — the violation of the usual word order in a sentence. In analytic languages (for example, English, French), where word order is strictly fixed, stylistic inversion is relatively rare; in inflected languages, including Russian, with a fairly free word order, it is very widespread.
Gusev, «The Art of Prose»: composition of reverse time (Bunin's «Light Breathing»). Composition of forward time. Retrospective (Joyce's «Ulysses», Bulgakov's «The Master and Margarita») – different eras become independent objects of depiction. Accumulation of phenomena – often in lyric texts – Lermontov.
Compositional contrast («War and Peace») – antithesis. Plot-compositional inversion («Onegin», «Dead Souls»). The principle of parallelism – in lyric poetry, Ostrovsky's «The Storm». Compositional ring – «The Government Inspector».
Composition of the figurative system. The character exists in interaction. There are main, secondary, off-stage, real, and historical characters. Catherine and Pugachev are linked together through an act of mercy.
Composition. This is the makeup and definite arrangement of the parts, elements, and images of a work in temporal sequence. It carries a substantive and semantic load. External composition – the division of a work into books, volumes / is auxiliary in nature and serves reading purposes. More substantive elements: prefaces, epigraphs, prologues, / they help reveal the main idea of the work or indicate its central problem. Internal composition – includes various types of descriptions (portraits, landscapes, interiors), non-plot elements, inserted episodes, all sorts of digressions, various forms of characters' speech, and points of view. The main task of composition is the orderliness of the depiction of the artistic world. This orderliness is achieved through a range of compositional devices – repetition is one of the simplest and most effective, allowing a work to be easily rounded off, especially ring composition, where a correspondence is established between the beginning and end of the work, carrying special artistic meaning. Composition of motifs: 1. motifs (in music), 2. juxtaposition (combining repetition and juxtaposition produces mirror compositions), 3. details, montage, 4. omission (reticence), 5. point of view – the position from which stories are told or from which the characters' events or the narration are perceived. Types of points of view: ideologically unified, linguistic, spatiotemporal, psychological, external and internal. Types of composition: simple and complex.
Plot and story (siuzhet and fabula). The categories of material and device (material and form) in V.B. Shklovsky's conception and their contemporary understanding. Automatization and defamiliarization. The relationship between the concepts of "siuzhet" (plot) and "fabula" (story) in the structure of the artistic world. The significance of distinguishing these concepts for the interpretation of a work. Stages in the development of the plot.
The composition of a work as its construction, as the organization of its figurative system in accordance with the author's conception. The subordination of composition to authorial intent. The reflection in composition of the intensity of the conflict. The art of composition, the compositional center. The criterion of artistry – the correspondence of form to conception.
Architectonics — the construction of a work of art. The term «composition» is more often used in the same sense, applied not only to the work as a whole but also to its individual elements: the composition of an image, a plot, a stanza, etc.
The concept of architectonics unites the relationship of the parts of a work, the arrangement and mutual connection of its components, which together form a certain artistic unity. The concept of architectonics includes both the external structure of the work and the construction of the plot: the division of the work into parts, the type of narration (from the author or from a particular narrator), the role of dialogue, the sequence of events (chronological or with a violation of the chronological principle), the introduction into the narrative fabric of various descriptions, authorial reflections and lyrical digressions, the grouping of characters, etc. The devices of architectonics constitute one of the essential elements of style (in the broad sense of the word) and, together with it, are socially conditioned. Therefore they change in connection with the socio-economic life of a given society, with the appearance on the historical stage of new classes and groups. If we take, for example, Turgenev's novels, we find in them a sequential unfolding of events, a smoothness in the course of the narration, an emphasis on the harmonious coherence of the whole, and an important compositional role for landscape. These features are easily explained both by the way of life of the manor estate and by the psychology of its inhabitants. Dostoevsky's novels are built according to entirely different laws: the action begins in the middle, the narration flows quickly, in leaps, and an external disproportion of parts is also noticeable. These properties of architectonics are likewise determined by the peculiarities of the milieu being depicted — the urban petty bourgeoisie of the capital. Within the bounds of one and the same literary style, the devices of architectonics vary depending on the artistic genre (novel, novella, short story, narrative poem, dramatic work, lyric poem). Each genre is characterized by a number of specific features that require a particular kind of composition.
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