FUNCTIONAL PECULIARITIES OF LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTIONS IN ENGLISH REALISTIC DISCOURSE (BASED ON CH. BRONTE’S “SHIRLEY”)

Abstract

The article deals with functional peculiarities of landscape descriptions in a literary discourse. The author points out that the speech genre ‘description’ is the most relevant for a specific research of landscape descriptions. A landscape description is a part and parcel of a work of fiction from the viewpoint of its composition and structure. The study is based on multi-functional character of landscape descriptions.

Landscape descriptions as a constituent of literary discourse are a crucial element of a literary work. Its definition varies from source to source: some understand it as a description of nature or an open space of any kind and various natural phenomena; some define it as an image of wildlife and some involve anthropogenic landscape depictions; some include interior and urban landscape. Nevertheless one commonly accepted definition can be drawn: landscape description in literary discourse is a description of nature in a work of literature. Hence the objective of the present article is to analyse the role landscape descriptions play in literary discourse on the base of Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley, to define and to formulate their main functions.

At the contemporary stage of development of the linguistic science the interest towards literary work as a separate entity has been heightened substantially. Landscape descriptions form a significant part of a literary work’s composition and structure, being invested with both figurative and literal significance.

The author illustrates the functions of landscape descriptions on the example of "Shirley" by Ch.Bronte who is one of the bright representatives of the English realistic literature of the 19th century. The setting of the novel is the early 19th century Yorkshire. Although the plot is far from being romantic, though it is “something unromantic as Monday morning” it displays frequent use of landscape descriptions. Their functions can be divided into the following: action background, symbolization, temporal and emotional shift, social criticism, etc.