Филологические науки / 3. Теоретические и методологические проблемы исследования языка.

Darya A. Mironova

Chelyabinsk State University, Russia

Functionality of Shakespearean Intertextual Elements in Newspaper Discourse and Their Perception by English Native Speakers

Bright, witty phrases by W. Shakespeare date back to the 16^th century, however, they haven’t lost their luster and remain to be popular today. Their widespread usage by newspaper journalists serves as a proof to it. Our observations are based on the thorough analysis of more than 412 examples of shakespearisms used in the articles of 16 American (the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, etc.), British (the Independent, the Guardian, the London Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, etc.) and Canadian (the Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail) online newspapers. We define shakespearisms as those quotes by W. Shakespeare that are interpolated into a new text, therefore functioning as intertextual elements that create interrelationship between a source text and a target one. Terms ‘shakespearean intertextual elements’ and ‘shakespearisms’ are used as synonyms. 86 quotes by W. Shakespeare out of the total included in the dictionaries of quotes have been found functioning as intertextual elements in their initial or modified form in modern newspaper discourse. Shakepeare’s quotes included into a new text entail revitalization of the information stored in reader’s memory and therefore the transition from its static nature to the dynamic one. The situation of the insertion of a quote into a new text possesses both individual and objective characteristics. On the one hand, an author expects his texts to be perceived by a target language speaker who supposedly possesses deep knowledge of certain language frames. On the other hand, a reader needs to be alert and able to discover hidden signs pointing to the presence of the phrase borrowed from external source and extract its meaning and origin out of his/her memory, which makes the process of text perception more “energy consuming”.

Shakespeare’s works are productive texts that function as a source for numerous intertextual elements that make referential connection between the literary works of the English bard and contemporary newspaper articles. We depicted these intertextual relations in the Figure.

There are three participants involved in the situation: W. Shakespeare (the author of numerous monumental literature works), a journalist (the author of a newspaper article) and a reader (a target recipient). Arrows symbolize correlation between all the elements. The dotted line refers to the fact that a journalist may bring modifications to a quote, while asterisk put in parenthesis shows possible change in the structure and semantics of the phrase initiated by an author of a newspaper article.

Functionality of intertextual elements that originate from Shakespeare’s works and that are incorporated into newspaper discourse is twofold. On the one hand, they are instruments of author’s creativity and self-expression. On the other hand, they do not exist autonomously and are always targeted at the readers. Quotations that represent the object of our study perform various functions in newspaper discourse, among them are 1) referential; 2) nominative; 3) expressive. Referential function is defined as the ability of a quote to evoke connections with a source text and/or an author. Nominative function can be characterized as quote’s ability to signal a certain message and reveal the meaning that stands behind it. Expressive function is realized when an author plays upon the original meaning and / or the original structure of a quote. Ex: Bolívar's exhumation: TB or not TB (the Economist, 2010: URL) ß To be or not to be – that is the question (“Hamlet”, 1602).

Shakespearisms used in modified forms demonstrate the intention of journalists to attract readers’ attention, as well as stimulate their interest. By means of altering a fixed, widely-known pattern authors strive for novelty and originality that contributes to the expressiveness of a new formation.

The research of the way the mentioned functions perform and the depth at which Shakespearean intertext is perceived by readers was carried out using the method of testing. The test was conducted in a distant mode, all data was received via e-mail; no time limits were set for those who did the tasks. The testees included 32 English native speakers from the UK, the USA and Canada aged from 16 to 68. Indication of age and level of education, apart from home country and mother tongue, was made obligatory with the assumption that these factors can influence the mode of shakespearisms’ perception and are basic contributors to the image of one’s intertextual competence. Certain education level can signify the extent of knowledge of and exposure to the source texts - literary works by W. Shakespeare, whereas age speaks of a certain amount of experience that can influence the process of recognition and interpretation of shakespearisms.

Based on the collected data the testees were divided into the following groups according to the level of education at the time of testing: Group А1: students, school and college graduates; Group B1: bachelors and bachelor’s degree students; Group С1: masters and master’s degree students. The groups the participants were divided into based on the age criterion are the following: Group А2: from 16 to 25 years; Group B2: from 25 to 40 years; Group С2: from 40 to 68 years. The test that was provided for carrying out consisted of three sections corresponding to the functions of three types. The first section aimed at studying referential function challenged the testees to read 13 fragments from online publicist resources and indicate which of them contain a quote by W. Shakespeare and underline them. 54% of the sentences include unmodified Shakespearean intertextual elements that do not have verbalized reference to the source. Ex.: Working on the assumption that brevity is the soul of wit, Alfred Hitchcock and Joe Pesci, made do with a simple "thank you" (the Observer, 2009: URL).The rest fragments include quotes from Bible (Ex. Man does not live on bread alone, but Americans have become increasingly reliant on doughy carbohydrates in their diet (The Guardian, 2005: URL)), as well as by B. Franklin, Nietzsche, and Caesar. The participants were asked not to use additional sources. The results of the tasks are presented in the Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1 illustrates the fact that the highest percentage of correct answers was given by groups C1 and B1. Group A1, in comparison, has considerably lower portion of correct answers, which can be explained by appreciable difference in erudition, as well as in the scope of a personal ‘intertextual encyclopedia’ gained thorough educational process.

Table 2 data shows that the results of group A2 remained on the same level as in Table 1, whereas, the results of group B2 are superior to group C2. The lowest portion of correct answers provided y group C2 can be due to such factor as: deteriorated memory, lower cognitive activities, deficient access to information resources, etc.

The results shown in Tables 1 and 2 allow us draw the following conclusion: the level of education is directly proportional to recipient’s awareness of an intertextual element’s source. Moreover, age and, therefore, experience and the fund of knowledge acquired through time, also influence the efficiency of referential functionality of shakespearisms.

In general, the quality of tasks’ accomplishment in Section 1 is rather low. This indicates the insufficient level of intertextual competence of all groups, which prevents them from correctly defining the source of all quotes. Another possible reason is the high level of assimilation of quotes in the language, which results in them being perceived as hackney expressions that lost link to their original source. However, in 90% of cases intertextual elements were underlined correctly (even by those testees who attributed them to the wrong source), which demonstrates that the overwhelming majority can correctly identify an intertextual insertion and determine the boundaries of its structure.

Section 2 of the test consists of six fragments from online publicist resources that contain unmodified quotes by W. Shakespeare accompanied by six interpretations of a corresponding fragment. E.g.: At the end, quoting from St Luke, he announced "he that is lost is found": a reminder of the fact that even the devil can cite scripture for his purpose (The Guardian, 2002: URL) - Although he quoted from the Bible, it was known that we was a malicious and immoral person.

50% of interpretations that are provided were intentionally distorted. E.g. Once more unto the breach. Athens has agreed another package of last-minute measures to secure another €8-billion of emergency funding (the Globe and Mail, 2011: URL). - Athens has taken another wrong decision having agreed a package of last-minute measures in attempt to secure €8-billion of emergency funding. The testees were challenged to choose the sentence with the quote, the explanation of which is incorrect. This task aims at revealing the ability of recipients to fully understand the meaning behind a quote. The results are presented in Tables 3 and 4.

The results demonstrate a high quality of Section 3 tasks’ accomplishment, which means that nominative function of Shakespeare’s quotes is realized efficiently. One of the factors contributing to better understanding of shakespearisms is the context of the fragments that they are included into. According to Table 4, the percentage range of correct answers provided by groups A1 equal the one of group B1, the results of group C1 are higher, but not considerably. The difference is more distinct as presented in Table 5. The data illustrates 16% gap between the results of group A1 and groups B2 and C2 (that showed equal results).

Data revealed after analyzing the answers given in Section 2 manifests the fact that with reference to nominative function the major determinative factor is the age of a recipient rather than his level of education. Age range of groups B2 and C2 implies larger fund of background knowledge in comparison to group A1, which facilitates the process of decoding the meaning of a quote and helps efficiently determine wrong interpretation of a fragment containing it.

Section 3 of the test consists of fragments, all of which contain quotes originated from W. Shakespeare. 75% of shakespearisms are used in modified form. By modification we understand intentional changes that are made in the structure of a quote (for example, including such techniques as expanding, cutting, transposition, or replacement of the elements), which entails semantic change as well. E.g.: There's something rotten in the court of King Elton (The Independent, 2008: URL) ß Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (‘Hamlet’). The second type of modification is solely semantic, it brings no alteration to the original structure but results in the shift in meaning, accentuation of literal meaning or appearance of an additional shade of meaning in a new context. E.g: Ay, there's the rub. A couple’s massage is not our idea of quality together time (the Boston Globe, 2011: URL).

The task is to find modified quotations and then put down the original variants of Shakespeare’s quotes that underwent structural modifications. The task is aimed at revealing the way expressive function of shakespearisms is realized in newspaper discourse. We find it essential to determine, whether communicative intentions of authors are understood by recipients, whether the irony of the puns they use, as well as new connotative shades implied by them while altering intertextual elements are decoded. The results are shown in Tables 5 and 6.

According to the data presented in the tables, the lowest results again belong to groups A1 and A2 presumably owing to insufficient cultural erudition and knowledge of the original quote, which prevents these testees from detecting modified shakespearisms. Groups C1 and B2 carried out the tasks most successfully, which points out the fact that the biggest influence on the ability to decode expressive implications of puns based on modified Shakespeare’s quotes is exerted by such factors as high education level and wide experience.

The results of the task which challenged the testees to put down the original form of the quotes that had structural modifications are the following: only 12% completed the task with no or one mistake, 56% correctly indicated from four to five quotes out of seven, whereas 32% successfully restored the original structure of from one to three quotes by Shakespeare. This data reveals that despite generally high level of awareness of whether the destruction of an original form of a quote took or didn’t take place, the given level of intertextual competence of the majority of the testees prevented them from the accurate reproduction of a source phrase for a modified quote used in newspaper discourse.

The analyzed results of the test let us arrive at the following conclusions. Firstly, nominative, referential and expressive functions of shakespearisms are realized in newspaper discourse differently and to a different extent. Secondly, realization of these functions is greatly influenced by such factors as: age and educational level of a recipient. It is necessary, however, to take into account that possible reasons that determine certain depth of understanding and perception of shakespearisms by readers of a newspaper article are not exhaustive. Factors of subjective character also play an important role, for example: reader’s profession, personal preferences and literary taste, traditions of the social group that he/she is affiliated with, etc.

In general, on the basis of the collected data we can draw conclusions about the peculiarities of the perception of shakespearisms by different groups of recipients. The readers whose perception and understanding of the quotes (whether modified or not) are the most efficient are people aged from 25 to 40, with post-secondary education level. This group is the one that has the quality of deep mental penetration into the fund of intertextual resources, which provides it the opportunity to identify the fact of reference to the external source and its origin, as well as decode blending of information that belongs to original quote and the one added by a journalist by means of structural and semantic or solely semantic modifications.

Less efficient realization of the functions of intertextual elements under consideration among other age and education groups can be explained by lower cognitive activity and poorer exposure to the literary legacy of given cultural and language community, as well as by limited experience and background knowledge. It is important to note that these results also highlight high level of assimilation of shakespearisms in the English language to the point when their meaning is successfully decoded, however the origin is hard to trace back. All groups equally well identify the fact of the inclusion of intertextual elements into publicist text, which demonstrates that the intention of a journalist to dialogize newspaper text is understood by a wide range of readers. Thus, successful establishment of intertextual connection (in the form of shakespearisms’ insertion) at “journalist – newspaper reader” level is conditioned by the target audience. The efficiency of understanding is directly proportionate to the age and the level of education of recipients.

REFERENCES

1. The Economist; ‘Bolívar's exhumation: TB or not TB’; 22 Jul 2010 [Electronic resource] — http://www.economist.com/node/16646439

2. The Observer; ‘Winners and losers’; 1 Feb 2009 [Electronic resource] —http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/01/oscars-winners-losers-speeches

3. The Guardian; ‘Americans seek bodily salvation through Jesus diet’; 12 May 2005; J. Borger [Electronic resource] — http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/may/12/usa.julianborger

4. The Guardian; ‘Sketches’; 9 February 2002; M. Billington [Electronic resource] —http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2002/feb/09/theatre.artsfeatures

5. The Globe and Mail; ‘Greece: Postponing the inevitable’; 22 September 2011 [Electronic resource] — http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/global-exchange/financial-times/greece-postponing-the-inevitable/article2175666/]

6. The Independent; ‘There's something rotten in the court of King Elton’; 21 December 2008; S. Price [Electronic resource] — http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19649898.html

7. The Boston Globe; ‘Ay, there's the rub. A couples massage is not our idea of quality together time’; 21 November 2010; S. Peters [Electronic resource] —http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/relationships/articles/2010/11/21/ay_theres_the_rub/