Lecture
Scientific research is the elementary fact of scientific-research activity aimed at obtaining a new scientific result.
Scientific research begins with the emergence of a problem situation, «when the subject finds himself in a relatively “unfamiliar” situation, in relatively new and unusual conditions for him.
...A. Koestler calls the problem situation a challenge thrown by the world at the person, to which he is forced to seek a creative response: “Shock serves as a trigger for the creative
response” (The Ghost in the Machine / / Voprosy Filosofii. 1993. No. 10.
P. 95)»2. The point is that in a cognitive situation the subject discovers a certain gap in the existing scientific knowledge.
The cognitive situation cements all the basic elements of the structure of scientific research: the object of research, the subject of research, the means of research, the factual domain. The entire research is aimed at resolving
this particular problem and posing... a new one. (On science and
scientific research, see the excerpts from an article by M. Epstein in the
reading materials given below.)
Let us illustrate the point made above with material from a study devoted to the change in the paragraph structure of a text when it is translated from one language into another3. Readers who know two
or more languages, and philologist specialists, have long noted
that when a text is translated from one language into another, the translator changes the paragraph structure of the text: some paragraphs disappear, others
appear. What happens in the translated text in comparison
with the original text? why do paragraphs of the original text disappear and how do paragraphs appear in the translated text? For these and many
other questions, science had no answer for some time. This is how a cognitive situation arises.
The object of research consists of certain aspects,
phenomena, facts making up the factual domain of the research and expressed in theoretical knowledge prior to the conduct of
this particular study.
Let us continue examining the example given above. Before
the study described here was conducted, the theory of the text already
had the concepts of the paragraph, the original and translated
text; the relation of the latter to the former was sometimes classified as «derivative,» implying not identity of the texts, but the derivation of one from the other. Judgments regarding
these (and a number of other) facts constitute the object of the study under consideration.
The subject of research is the «blank spot» in the picture of the object, at the elimination of which (the «blank spot») the research is aimed.
In our example, the main question, on the answer to which
the elimination of the «blank spot» depends, is the question of the methods
of research: how can answers to the questions described above be found?
Thus, the subject of research represents a certain aspect, facet of the object of research, the unknown within the known. In philological research, two
main types of research subject are distinguished:
1) individual phenomena, facts, or their aspects;
2) connections and relations between phenomena, facts, and their aspects.
In the example given, a subject of research of the second type is created.
How does one find the subject of research within the object of research? This task is solved
1) by studying the scholarly literature devoted to the area of interest to the researcher. As one reads the literature, a theoretical picture
of the object of research takes shape in the researcher's mind in its contradictory essence;
2) by comparing the data of the factual domain with the theoretical
picture of the object. In the process of comparison, facts are found
that are either not explained by the theory or that contradict it.
In our example: the fact of the change in the paragraph structure of the original and translated texts turned out to lie outside the theory
of the paragraph.
The means of research are the research methods
and instrumental tools (audio and video equipment, catalog cards, etc.).
Methods for solving the problem associated with studying the change of
paragraph structure when translating a text from one language into
another are absent in text theory. However, linguistic theory does have some analogues: these are the methods for
studying the relations between the original and derived
word (table — small table), between the original and derived
sentence (I love you — Love you), between the original
and derived text (see section 4.3), etc. The principles for studying the relations of original and derived objects can
be extended to the study of the research subject described here.
The factual domain of research consists of its material: facts of language, texts, questionnaire and survey materials,
the impression produced by a literary work,
manifestations of the effectiveness of an utterance, etc. The materials making up the factual domain of research are found by the
method of observation (see below).
The research demonstrated here was carried out on the material of the text of the novel «Kassandra» (1983) by the German writer
Ch. Wolf and its Russian translation «Kassandra» (1985).
Let us present another group of concepts.
The aim of research. The general aim pursued by any
scientific research is to obtain a new theoretical result.
Each particular study is determined by what
meaning the examination of the research subject has. A beginning philologist usually conducts research to achieve one of the following goals: introducing new facts,
phenomena, processes, relations, etc. into scholarly circulation; discovering interactions among facts, processes, etc.; interpreting new or already known material under present-day
conditions, building a model, etc. More complex studies
set as their goal the construction of a concept, the establishment of
trends in the development of the factual domain, etc.
The aim of the research devoted to paragraphing consisted
in seeking an appropriate research methodology.
The objectives of research are the intermediate actions that must be carried out on the way to achieving the aim.
Let us return once more to our example. The objectives of the study described are as follows:
1) to identify the specifics of a literary text as a component of the system
speaker — text — listener;
2) based on the linguistic characteristics of the paragraph, to examine the role of paragraphing in the formation of the literary picture of the world;
3) to develop a methodology enabling a comparison of the features of paragraphing in the original text and its translation, etc.
Let us turn to the research methods.
In the science of science, general scientific and specific scientific methods are distinguished. General scientific methods are applied in all sciences
or in many of them, while specific scientific methods are applied in a single science or in a
small group of sciences. This textbook presents the most important general scientific methods (observation, experiment, classification, and modeling). They are applied both in linguistics
and in literary studies, as well as in philological
disciplines. Specific scientific methods characteristic of linguistics and literary studies are studied in the corresponding
academic disciplines.
General scientific methods of research differ according to their orientation toward solving empirical (Ancient Greek empeiria —
experience) or theoretical (Ancient Greek theōria — observation, investigation) problems. The first group includes observation and
experiment; the second — classification and modeling.
Below we present the general scientific methods in their application to philology.
Observation is a research method expressed in
the deliberate and purposeful perception by a cognizing
subject of objects and phenomena. In philology, this usually means
finding in a text phenomena of interest to the researcher.
A situation in which the method of observation is used is described in B. Shaw's play «Pygmalion» (1912—1913). The phonetician Henry Higgins, listening to the speech of the flower girl Eliza Doolittle, writes
down her utterances. In these utterances
Higgins is interested in their sound aspect. By the sound of the speech
sounds contained in the utterances, he determines the heroine's place of birth and residence. Higgins repeats Eliza's phrase: Don't
get upset, captain; buy some flowers from a poor girl.
He establishes that Eliza was born in the area of Lisson Grove.
In the same way, by the sound of the utterances of the other characters
who took part in the scene, Higgins determines their place of birth or residence. Answering the question of one of the characters,
Higgins explained «how he does it»: Phonetics — and nothing else.
The science of pronunciation. It is my profession and at the same time my
hobby. Happy is he whose hobby can provide him with a
livelihood. It is not difficult to at once distinguish by pronunciation an Irishman or
a Yorkshireman, but I can determine to within six miles the place of birth of any Englishman. If it is in London, then even to
within two miles. Sometimes one can even point to the street.
Perceiving the stream of speech, in the example from B. Shaw, the researcher
picks out certain sound segments; on the basis of
the knowledge he has of English phonetics, of the territorial distribution of certain speech sounds, he identifies the facts obtained and gives them a preliminary classification —
according to the criterion of territorial distribution.
Observation makes it possible to find the factual material of research. This is its main value as a research method.
In the process of finding, or collecting, material it is recorded
on special cards, magnetic media, film,
entered into a computer's memory, etc. The choice of recording method is determined by the texture of the material (oral, written,
etc.), the aim, and the objectives of the research.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the observation method, its application raises a number of difficulties.
The question of sources of material is a complex one. The main problem here is the selection of sources and the establishment of their degree of reliability. Thus, when studying a literary text,
the choice of the most authoritative source is of almost primary importance. These include, for example, the
academic or complete collected works of the writer. In the absence of
such editions, an edition of selected works is used. One should distinguish between the first and the last lifetime
edition of a work, and its magazine version. The point is that
the texts of different editions may not coincide: when preparing a work for republication, the author often makes changes to it; the magazine version, as a rule, differs by some
brevity.
Another complex question: what to look for? For a linguist, such a question seemingly does not arise. For example, when studying the conjunction «and»
in Russian, the linguist selects from an oral or written
text utterances with «and». These include, for example, the following: I write and read; and I write and read; I write, and I read too; I write,
and I even read; I read and write lying down and with a pencil. The fact that
fragments of all these utterances contain the graphic «and» is obvious. However, a question arises: do we, in all cases,
deal with the conjunction «and»? (Recall the definition of a conjunction and try to solve this problem on your own.) Here we shall give a preliminary answer: no, not in all cases. If this is so, one can assert that the «and»s given belong to different facts.
The concept of a fact is even more complicated in literary studies. The point
is that a text does not represent a fact for literary studies in itself:
the text is considered separately from the author and even more so from the reader. A text «turns into» a literary fact only when
the researcher regards it as a fact of «artistic impression» (M.M. Bakhtin). In order to consider
the text in this way, it is «placed» in the space of author —
text — reader. Literary studies deal with a text
placed in the space of author — text — reader (or
at least in one part of this scheme: author — text; text — reader). The same applies to a fragment of text. Indeed, when
studying any literary phenomenon outside the relation of the text
to the author and/or reader, the researcher will remain a «pure»
linguist: a philologist studying language as a system or
language in action (see Chapter 3). The text does not itself give either the composition,
nor the image of the character, nor the artistic detail: they all «appear» only when the condition formulated by M.M. Bakhtin is fulfilled.
Material found in the course of observation is further studied by means of other methods.
Experiment (Latin experimentum — trial, test) is expressed
in the deliberate and purposeful influence of a cognizing subject on objects and phenomena. A classic example
of an experiment is the «school» task of replacing a highlighted word with another one close in meaning.
The deliberateness and purposefulness of the influence
of the philologist-researcher on the object under study is manifested in
operations that are either real or mental. In the first case,
a new reality appears: linguistic, textual, artistic, political, etc., while in the second, only the
model is modified. Accordingly, real and mental experiments
are distinguished.
In the first case, the object itself is subjected to influence.
Thus, studying the differences between an adverb and a short-form adjective in contemporary Russian, a researcher can place a word form in one or another context characteristic of
the use of the adverb or the short adjective. Compare: to write
finely (melko) — a combination with a verb; therefore, melko in this
usage is an adverb word form; the lake is shallow (melko) — a combination
with a noun; therefore, the second melko is an adjective
word form. The basis of such a conclusion lies in the knowledge
of the principle of compatibility of the adverb and the short adjective.
In the case given, the influence consists in the fact that one
and the same word is moved into different word combinations.
In the second case, the model of the object is modified. A thought
experiment is often conducted in literary studies,
when, interpreting various psychological conflicts,
complex relations between the characters of a work, the researcher places them in possible situations, «plays out» several
variants he has created, in order to prove the legitimacy
of the author's decision (or to refute it!). An example of a thought experiment is the researcher's search for an answer to
the question: What would have changed in A. Pushkin's novel «Eugene Onegin» if Lensky had not been killed in the duel? In such cases,
a real experiment, for obvious reasons, is impossible.
The experiment deals with facts found in the course of observation, considering the object under study in dynamics: with a change in the object itself, its model (our second example), or
the conditions of its existence (the first example). The researcher
gains knowledge about the life of the object, which is the cognitive value of the experimental method in philology.
Sometimes surveying is also classed as an experiment, as a way of obtaining information from native speakers, readers, and specialists by influencing them through a questionnaire.
Surveying is widespread, for example, in studying reader demand, the level of aesthetic development of students, in
psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, in establishing the degree of
language proficiency under conditions of bilingualism or multilingualism, etc. Compilers of advertising texts often resort to surveying
in order to understand which of the texts has a greater degree of influence on the potential consumer of services and goods.
Let us give an example. To establish the degree of effectiveness of
a text advertising a certain item (a jewelry box), a survey was conducted whose objectives
were to obtain from an audience of potential buyers information about their perception of the advertised product, about the verbal
and non-verbal (drawing of the box) components of the advertising
text, and about the advertising text as a whole. In the example described here, information of the first kind was obtained on the basis of a questionnaire.
It contained a number of questions, including:
1. What is your first impression of the box?
2. What associations does it evoke for you?
3. What did you like about it?
4. What did you not like?
5. Complete the sentence:
— When I take this thing in my hands...
— The most important thing in jewelry is...
— A person who owns this box...
6. Write a short story (of 3—5 sentences) about
this item.
7. Come up with as many names as possible for this
box.
8. What can you compare this item to?
....
14. About yourself: sex: m / f, age:
Thank you!
(The set of questions given here was compiled by a philology student. These questions made it possible to find out what
a potential buyer sees in this item and, most importantly,
what the advertising text should be like4.)
Let us turn to a consideration of the methods of theoretical research.
Classification (Latin classic — rank/class and facere — to make) is a research method expressed in the deliberate and purposeful generalization and systematization of the objects and
phenomena under study on the basis of a single principle (the basis of classification) and by establishing connections between the resulting types.
Examples of classifications: the genus-species classification of works of fiction; the classification of speech genres; the division of speech sounds into vowels and consonants, etc.
Classification is based on the logical operation of dividing
a set into subsets (classes).
In philological research, two types of classification are important: descriptive and explanatory.
1) Systematization of material according to bases already known in science.
For example: among the ways of conveying another's speech, free indirect speech is distinguished.
Its task consists in
conveying, by means of a text fragment formally belonging to the narrator, the judgments and reflections of a character, the picture observed by him.
In other words, the text is structured so that, while
formally belonging to the narrator, in content it also belongs to the character.
See the text from L. Tolstoy's novel «Anna Karenina»: She wanted to fall under the first carriage as it drew level with her middle. But
the red bag, which she began removing from her arm, delayed
her, and it was already too late: the middle had passed her. She had to wait for
the next carriage.
The part of the text not marked in bold is
the narrator's words: he sees what is happening. The last sentence, however,
marked in bold, while not differing formally from the narrator's words, conveys the sense of the necessity
of doing this or that, arising in the character (here: in Anna
Karenina): she must — this is the decision of precisely the character (not the narrator).
Free indirect speech can be used
to convey a character's utterance or his inner speech.
If, turning to a new, not yet studied text, the researcher subsumes the facts of free indirect speech he has discovered under already established classes recorded in science,
then in this case he is applying classification of the first
type. This classification is descriptive.
2) Systematization of material on the basis of principles, procedures, and grounds not yet known to science and being developed in the given study simultaneously with the study of the material.
Thus, the study of V. Vysotsky's songwriting posed
for researchers the task of «placing» his songs within the system
of literary genres. Vysotsky's songs did not «fit» into
the traditional system of genres, in which a genre is regarded as a typical form of a whole work, a type of verbal-artistic structure, a type of literary work, etc.
T.V. Safarova5, who studied V. Vysotsky's songwriting, found another basis for singling out the class of author's
song: the dominant authorial stance as the primary element
of the genre and the principle of its formation. The material of V. Vysotsky's songwriting made it possible to distinguish, for example, authorial
stances oriented toward instruction, denunciation, praise; the affirmation or negation of various kinds of values; toward
a certain type of communication between the author and the potential reader,
etc.
Thus, a basis was found that both unites Vysotsky's author's songs into a single class and, at the same time,
serves to explain their diversity (bases for dividing the material at a second, lower level). Classification of this
type is explanatory.
In philology, classifications of both types are called for.
One of them makes it possible to prove the fact of the stability of the object under study; the other demonstrates the moment of its dynamics (development,
functioning).
When applying the method of classification, the material that does not fit into the already established classes is particularly significant.
Thus, it is traditionally held that in French the basis of a sentence is a combination of subject and predicate: Pierre lit un livre with possible expansions (Pierre
is reading a book). At the same time, in many cases the structural basis of
the sentence contains three members: Pierre a un livre (Pierre has
a book). Taking this situation into account, facts of the second kind can
either be recognized as an exception, or the classification can be restructured,
holding that the structural basis of a sentence may consist of two or three members (and possibly more). Specialists in French syntax6, taking into account that in contemporary French there is a large group of verbs not used without an object, recognize that sentences, from the point of
view of their structural basis, form two classes: sentences with a two-member basis and with a basis of more than two members.
Thus, linguistic material and the researchers' desire to comprehend
it as fully, precisely, and consistently as possible compel them to
adjust an already known classification.
The example considered prompts us to introduce one rule of
classification:
not to leave a single discovered fact unaccounted for. Otherwise the systematization
of the material carried out will not reflect the actual state of affairs.
This means that the resulting explanation will suffer from inaccuracy and incorrectness.
Modeling (Latin modulus — measure, pattern) is a method based on the study of objects of cognition through their analogues. These analogues, whose similarity to the object under study is essential while their difference is inessential, are the models.
For example, in studying the problem of the creation and comprehension of
a text, both linguistics and literary studies use a whole series of models of communication. These models, with varying degrees of detail, demonstrate the tasks solved in the processes of
creating and perceiving a text by the speaker (author), the listener (reader), and the text itself (the work). One of the
most complete models of the communicative act includes
the following components: the communicants, the processes of verbalization and comprehension, language, text, the circumstances of the communicative
act, and practical and communicative goals.
Depending on the type of activity (everyday, business, political, advertising, aesthetic, etc., which is generalized under the concept of the circumstances of the communicative act), this
model has different content. Thus, in acts of literary-artistic activity the communicants function as
author and reader, and language functions as a natural language,
transformed into the language of fiction.
The study of the creation and comprehension of a literary text will require foregrounding, for example, one of the components
of the model, while all the others «turn into» background. If we are studying the activity of the speaker in creating a text, then all the other
components of the model are considered as ones that help
to examine the one under study: the text is the product of activity, the listener is the recipient of the text and the interpreter of the meaning, at the origin of
which stands the speaker (author), and language is the instrument used
by the creator of the text, etc.
In philology, sign models are most often applied
(diagrams, formulas, drawings, pictures, linguistic expressions,
etc.). The choice of model is made in accordance with the task
of the research: the model replaces the object under study.
Modeling makes it possible to study an object in dynamics, in
its development and functioning; the object of modeling
is often the communicative, speech, or literary
behavior of a person. Herein lies the significance of modeling
as a research method in philology.
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