Національна Академія Мистецтв України Інститут культурології
жүктеу/скачать 6.92 Mb.
|
| chant vs. colloquy that stands behind that of verse vs. prose. Thus one can say of a kind of “cantabile” / “colloquialism” confrontation that lies as the foundation for such an oppositions, and it is the reason why the verse / prose relationship does partly overlap with that of lyrics / epics division: in contrast to epic approximation to colloquial expressions that enables the width of the representation of the chosen subject the lyrical approach presupposes the rise of an abstract poetic space opposed to colloquialisms. In particular folk epics of oral traditions are imbued with formulaic expressions that had their sources in the phraseology of colloquial speech whereas lyrics differ from it with peculiar idioms that are not for the common use. One has also to bear in mind the difference between epic and lyric verse: the first one being homogeneous and causing the impression of monotony it is lyrics that demonstrate diversity. In its turn epic monotony and uniformity act as levelling forces that make a text resemble prosaic and colloquial speech.
Such a treatment of an opposition between prose and verse enables the elaboration of new approaches to the nature of the rhythm of drama texts. To cope with such a task one should bear in mind some generalities concerning the very nature of drama as such. First of all it is to be stressed that both verse and prose in drama do not work as genuine texts of the kind being reflected and represented through scenic play. Drama resembles the case of echo in the sense that speech is presented here “as if split” and becomes “a secondary speech event” [Долгова, 1980, 161]. In other words dramatic texts are “echoed” texts already due to the fact that they are uttered with the tongues of dramatis personae as their direct speech. Furthermore it gives still additional arguments for conceiving drama as what is called “metatext” arising as an epic epiphenomenon that is as a reflected text, both verse and prose. At the same time one observes also a priority of versified texts through the history of European drama. For the first time prosaic texts were here introduced only by Hrotswith (X c.) in her remakes of Terence’s comedies, and it has occurred as a result of misinterpreted Latin verse due to the loss of cue for the adequate reading of metric verse with its elongated and shortened syllables [Андреев, 1989, 23]. The true revival of drama in occidental world begins with the so called elegiac comedy written in verse. At the same time traditional dramatic verse forms suffer the same confinements that the epic ones: they bear outspoken features of monotony staying thus in the nearest proximity to prose. Drama was originally conceived as a versified text and at the same time as a secondary form of versification capable to reproduce prosaic flexibility. Moreover due to such monotony dramatic verse forms have become the origin for the development of rhythmic prose (one can cite the above discussed experiments of C. Spitteler in German literature). Only much later it has acquired prosaic insertions acceptable only within comedies (the last dealing with private persons and finishing with a happy end, according to early definitions). Bearing these premises in mind one can say that a drama does not have immediate relationship towards colloquial speech as it is the case within the sphere of epics and lyrics. In particular when lyric and epic idioms are immediately confronted with colloquialisms they themselves serve simultaneously as an intermediary link in such a relationship. Dramatic texts demonstrate a kind of “double reflection” (using G. Lukacs’s concepts) towards colloquial speech as a secondary degree of literature, the first grade being occupied with lyrics and epics. One can call drama an “echo” of literature that in its turn “echoes” colloquial speech. From here the conclusion ensues that the conditions for verse / prose interplay arising in drama differ radically from those in literature. Consequently it is not to wonder that it is just the problem of such an interplay that was being scrutinized and discussed throughout all the history of drama. As one of the most famous testimonies to such an attention let the romantic manifesto “Racine and Shakespeare” by Stendhal be cited. It is the right of tragic play to be written in prose has been substantiated here with the so called doctrine of scenic illusion. The principal reason for the rejection of versified forms in drama is seen in their role as the obstacles for scenic illusion. It is just the illusion that enables distinguishing drama from epics and thus determines specific dramatic peculiarities, so that versification hinders the development of these peculiarities: “Le public … aime à entendre réciter des sentiments généreux exprimés en beaux vers. Mais c’est là un plaisir épique, et non pas dramatique” (The publicity likes to hear how the noble sentiments are recited being expressed with beautiful verses. But it is epic pleasure and not dramatic one). The necessity arises to create “… des pièces qui fassent pleurer et frémir … qui donnent des plaisirs dramatiques au lieu des plaisirs épiqes” (the plays that make us cry and tremble … that give us dramatic pleasure instead of epic pleasures) [Stendhal, 1928, 20 – 21]. In other words prose is regarded here as the means for creating the illusion of reality and of approximation to colloquial speech. Such an attitude towards drama presupposes in itself the reticent recognition of its primary versified sources. In its turn “une des choses qui s’opposent le plus à la naissance … d’illusion, c’est l’admiration pour les beaux vers d’une tragedie” (one of the things that oppose mostly to the rise of illusion is the admiration for the beautiful verse of a tragedy) [Stendhal, 1928, 31]. From here the evaluation ensues (in the Supplement – Reponse. Romantique au classique. Ce 26 avril) that versified drama must be regarded as unproductive artificiality. After having discussed “plusieurs petites conspirations” the author declares that “C’est depuis que je meprise les conspirations en vers alexandrins et que je desire une tragedie en prose” (It is thereafter that I disdain the conjuration in alexandrine verses and desire a tragedy in prose) [Stendhal, 1928, 88]. Apparently conspiracy (conjuration) would here mean artificial convention, and it is for the reason of this artificiality having lost its productivity that versified drama is criticized. This reasoning comes to the final conclusion that “une tragedie romantique est écrite en prose” (the romantic tragedy must be written in prose) [Stendhal, 1928, 89]. The author has enunciated still more sharp statement (in the supplement to it entitled “Lanfranc ou le poète. Comedie en cinq actes”) against the versified dramas: “Le vers alexandrine n’est souvent que cache-sottise” (The alexandrine verse often becomes only concealed folly) [Stendhal, 1928, 95] that’s the verse is perceived as identified with farcical whimsies. Then the reproduction of colloquial speech is to be regarded as the genuine source for scenic speech. To return to the sources of the discussion it is to remind that the generic dramatic features were identified with those of the romantic style: “il faut du courage pour être romantique car il faut hasarder” (one needs courage to be romantic because it is necessary to make a risk) [Stendhal, 1928, 52]. Therefore the substantiation for such rejection of the verse in drama in favor of prosaic speech is found in the reasons of the generic dramatic peculiarities of risk and hazard as distinct from epics and identified with the stylistic principles of romanticism (as it has been put still in another supplement (Lettre VI. 30.04.1824): “… c’est le plaisir dramatique qu’il faut aller chercher au theâtre et non pas le plaisir èpique d’entendre citer de beaux vers bien ronflants” (it is dramatic pleasure that is to be sought in theatre and not the epic pleasure to listen to high-sounding verses) [Stendhal, 1928, 134]. The witnesses originating from Stendhal are to be supplemented with those from perfectly other scenic observations that belong to S.T. Aksakov. The author doesn’t protest against conventionality, vice versa he acknowledges that the very reproduction of nature presumes conventions. The argument for prosaic speech is borrowed from the actual practice of dramatic performance where verses were pronounced as prosaic lines1255. The thoughts of the kind were generally the commonplace of the time1256. Thus one combines the license of writing tragedy in prose with the audacity of risk & hazard as the distinctive features of dramatic rhythm in romanticism. Such programs (one may cite also other proponents of romanticism as, for example, F. Hebbel in Germany) presume first of all the reticent recognition of the seclusion and self-sufficiency of dramatic space and, as a consequence, the necessity of approaching drama towards colloquial speech. At the same time we have already seen that it is the relationship of a text towards colloquialisms that marks a border within verse / prose opposition. Subsequently, the modification of such a relationship entails the respected attribution of the text, and it is just the case that takes place in drama. The abovementioned “double reflection” of colloquialisms in drama determines the specific use of verse / prose opposition that becomes deeply different from that in literature, so that the rhythm of dramatic text being purposed for scenic declamation turns out to reveal peculiarities that are not identical with those of versified or prosaic text in literature. This statement supports the searches for comparison of drama with some extremities of verse / prose opposition that belong to the space of rhythmic prose and free verse. One regards these novelties usually as the inventions of modernist movement. Nevertheless, there are strong reasons to seek for traditional roots of them and to direct such searches towards the terrain of drama. It is known that free verse in its nature is built as an ultimate contradiction of text to metre scheme in opposite to rhythmic prose where the text acquires metric patterns and shows clearly their presence. Meanwhile the very history of these phenomena in German literature in particular shows their dependence upon the habits of scenic speech. As a bright example here the creative work of A.Holz (1863-1929) may serve. There exists the deep connection of his experiments in free verse with the style of dramatic monologues, especially as to the field of the specific use of syntactic constructions directed to exert an impact of suggestive force. In particular the especially intensified intentional load in A. Holz’s verses is seen in the manner of as if assigning names to things instead of designating them.
One can unmistakably find here the typical features of theatrical tirades. In particular the figures of gradual intensification of expressive means bring together the device of scenic growing tension. While encumbering the speech with the conglomeration of epithets the author refers apparently to the attempts of imparting to the speech the elevated outlook. This entails respective rhythmical structure of enunciation. It was in the romantic epoch that the transfer of rhythm from form to contents began to be conceived vividly with the transition from epic to drama. Its intentional essence has become comprehensible here at the decline of the epoch within the works of the predecessor of expressionism Arno Holz who proclaimed the respective concepts. It is known also that the French poet G. Kahn who is said to be the founder of the free verse repeated the principles already formulated by A. Holz who “proposed to regard a line as a countable unit of rhythm … refusing from the principle of the counting of syllables” [Кудрявцева, 2006, 85]. Our observations upon the connections of his free verse with drama are supported with A. Holz’s own viewpoint upon drama as, according to his proper words, upon “mediated lyrics” [Кудрявцева, 2006, 54]. It means that drama was conceived by him as a kind of derivative and reflected poetry, or, as has been above mentioned, a reflection of second degree. In this case A. Holz’s concept of the so called “necessary rhythm” (“der notwendige Rhythmus” where “the rhythm must be born from the contents of a sentence” [Кудрявцева, 2006, 34]) explains the specific referential forces of rhythm in drama. Obviously such rhythm is conceived as the semantic rhythm first of all that finds its incarnation in sound substance as the consequence of specific contents and intents. It is the nature of reflection in dramatic work that causes such transformation of rhythm as motivational and intentional force that contributes to textual integration and therefore obtains the representation with the means of outer form. While considering such ties between scenic recitative and free verse it is necessary to stress the radical opposition from the so called rhythmical prose. It was already J. Goethe who described the efforts of F. Klopstock to reproduce in “vers blanc” ancient complicated meters as the so called “poetic prose”1257. Vice versa free verse presupposes the existence of a strict metrical scheme concealed behind the surface structure of and revealing itself as a latent force. Such is the case with formulaic locutions of proverbial kind that can be regarded as the immediate sources for epigrammatic “free verses”. In particular such impression is attested with the Church Slavonic phraseology estimated by the poet1258. The clearest feature of mutuality between free verse and scenic recitative is the role of intention as the metrical foundation of rhythm in both cases. Meter appears here as the sign of intention without achieving the given purpose. In this respect free verse intersects with the effect of enjambment as the interrupted expectation. Such metrical effect can be found for instance in D.H. Lawrence’s lines: “There is rain in me / running down, running down, trickling / away from memory”. The places of the division coincide here with the moment of expectations. We can see here very clear and outspoken connection between the concept of drama as “mediated lyrics” and the “necessary rhythm” as the premise for the development of versification. In other words, the structure of a verse and the very attribution of a text as verse or prose depend upon its contents, and a drama being “mediated” or reflected, its text’s attribution depends upon its contents. This statement entails very important implication that drama text with its possibilities of multiple scenic interpretations can’t be regarded simply as a prose or verse. Being the reflected prose or verse dramatic text will not remain the same. That is why this text trespasses the limitations of verse or prose thus giving birth for free verse. Such an evolution from drama to free verse can be traced immediately in the works of E. Verhaeren in French literature. His dramatic experiment “The Dawns” (“Les aubes”) is especially interesting because there “the City-Octopus has sucked off the blood from the Village and closed itself upon having killed it” [Шкунаева, 1973, 177]. In this closed, secluded, separated urban space the qualities of dramatic space are best represented. And as the consequence all the utterances of dramatis personae acquire such peculiar qualities that enable distinguishing them from those of literature. As an example let the passages from the monologue of Père Ghislain be cited where free verse is imperceptibly passing to prose. It begins with the free verse of typical exhortations and imprecations: “Je demande, vraiment, pourquoi je vis encore / Je bêche un champ que le gel rape / Je cultive des prés que les sorts frappent :::” (I ask, indeed, why I am still alive / I dig the field that was raped with a hoar-frost / I till the meadow that was struck with he fate …). And further the speech is continued in prose: “Non, non, le père Ghislain n’est pas un pauvre homme. Il est celui – peut-être le seul – qui voie clair …” (No; no; father Ghislain is not a poor man. It is he – perhaps the only one – who sees clearly) [Verhaeren, 59]. In its turn E. Verhaeren continued the traditions that began with V. Hugo’s. “Hernani” that met the Stendhal’s demands form romantic drama. Although written in verse this tragedy radically rejected verse structure being famous for the frequency of enjambments that abused the division of the lines. Not to say about dialogues where such transfers take place at every step let be a passage from the monologue of Don Carlos be quoted where even the absence of so frequent transfers does not help supporting the verse structure that is loosening due to the scope of subordinate clauses: “Base de nations portant sur leurs épaules / La pyramide énorme appuyée aux deux pôles / Flots vivants, qui toujours l’étreignant de leurs pils, / La balancent, …” (The base of nations bearing upon their arms / The enormous pyramid that leans upon two poles / Vivid waves that always encircling it with their piles / Balance it) [Hugo, 1986, 320]. Meanwhile there are also grounds to generalize the cited observations and to detect the indefiniteness of the borderline between verse and prose in the very nature of drama. One can say about the ubiquitous presence of the demonstrated qualities of dramatic text as such and to link it to the immanent peculiarities of drama. Such peculiarities are those ensuing from the role of the intention in drama speech that is always charged with a certain purport. This speech always is determined with the aim of exerting impact and thus presupposes the implicit or explicit purposes of the reading person. In contrast to lyrics and epics drama is exclusively restricted in the possibilities of the scope of speech that has to be limited with minimal devices and at the same time it is strictly directed with the purport of speech where the intention plays decisive role. Thus the sense of idioms and respectively their mutual references that determine the rhythm of prose or verse depend first of all upon intention. It is obvious that this circumstance is universal and does not depend upon any stylistic (romantic or modernist) program. The intentional determination of dramatic rhythm reveals itself differently in dialogues and in monologues, both versified and prosaic ones. Each dialogue as such abuses the unity of verse while disrupting its fluency with the pauses between replicas. Such disruptions are to be found even in Racine’s most regular verses. Even when he tries to follow the rule of the so called “stichomithy” (where each utterance strictly corresponds to a single line) the hidden dangers to a verse structure become obvious especially when such passages contain a case of a latent disputation, because in such cases hidden debates reveal themselves on the background of metrical similarity as in the following. As an evidence may the passage from “Iphigenie en Aulide” (act 2. scene 2) serve which is built as an isocolon: “Iphigenie: Les dieux daignent surtout prendre soin de vos jours! Agamemnon: Les dieux depuis longtemps me sont cruels et sourds” (I.: The gods are gracious to take care of Your days. A.: The gods for a long time are cruel and deaf towards me) [Racine, 225]. From such examples one may come to a conclusion that already baroque genre of the so called declamations (the manner of alternative declamation of a text by different persons by lines in a way of the mentioned one sentence – one line correspondence) creates prerequisites for ultimate contradictions of text to metrical scheme. The reason is that each utterance in such alternative scheme becomes charged with new intentional load and bears new purport that contradict each other and abuse the verse scheme. Meanwhile there are not only dialogues with their fragmentation of text that promote the loosening of versification. In the very nature of dramatic monologues one observes similar forces. Here again one ought to take into consideration first of all the intention that directs the tasks of a monologue. Famous Shakespearean monologues may here serve as evidence. For instance, in “Macbeth” one of the monologues of the principal character (act 1. scene 7) shows hesitation and the confrontation of different arguments. Such hesitation obviously loosens the verse structure: “… that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, / We’ll jump the life to come. But in these cases …” [Wagner, 1872, 27]. Constant repetitions of an adversative “but” here become the means of the loosening of verse rhythm. In another monologue (act 2, scene 1) the character demonstrates the rise of the vision of bloody dagger so that the respect utterances disrupt the lines in various places destroying thus verse structure^ “Is this a dagger that I see before me …? / … or art thou but / A dagger of the mind …”. The commentator of the edition underlines “the abrupt transition from habitual to fantastic and spiritual reality” that becomes a difficult task for an actor who performs this role [Wagner, 1872, 33]. Moreover, there are special observations enabling the conclusion as to the versifying means of the characters’ portrayal in Shakespearean dramas1259. The very reasons that promote loosening and disappearance of metrical scheme in verse do act just in an opposite direction in prosaic texts making them acquire the features of a rhythmic discourse. Prosaic dialogues in drama are built from mutually adjusted common places so that a verse - like structure arises from the patterns that they bring with them. For instance, in Moliere’s comedies the conversational formulae, in particular those of politeness become a thesaurus for expanded dialogues thus imparting them their rhythmic patterns. As an example may a dialogue between Cleante and Harpagon from “L’avare” (the avarice, act 4, scene 5) serve: “C.: Je vous assure que j’en ai tous les regrets du monde. H.: Et moi, j’ai toutes les joies du monde de te voir raisonable” (I assure You that I regret very much. H.: And as to myself, I enjoy myself very much with seeing Thou reasonable) [Moliere, 24]. Later such a way of patterning the rhythm from common places of colloquial speech in the dialogues in prose was developed by P. Marivaux and called “marivaudage” (from the confusion of French “bavardage” chatter with the name of playwright). The same concerns prosaic monologues of a drama. Each monologue acts as a kind of an enchantment as it bears clear suggestive destination. Being recited in a manner of a magic spell it evokes implicit rhythmic structures that reveal their explicit forms in interpretative versions. As an example let the monologue of Justice (as an allegorical personification) from Ben Jonson’s “Barholomew Fair” (act 3, scene 3) be cited. One encounters here long enumerations that give rise to verse-like structures on the way of parallelism: “The care I had of that civil young man I took fancy to this morning (and have not left it yet) drew me to that exhortation, which drew the company, indeed, which drew the cutpurse; which drew the money; …” [Jonson, 1978, 153]. Here a constant repetition of the key-word “drew” creates premises for the revelation of rhythm structure of versification. To demonstrate the stability of the effects of the kind the whole text of Jean Cocteau’s monodrama “La voix humaine” (The human voice, put to music by Fr. Poulinc) would be cited that is a monologue of a young woman who has a phone chat with her former boy-friend before committing suicide. The monologue is filled with common places of a usual conversation, but each of such phrases acts as a rhythmical pattern that imparts verse structure to the text. It is known for ages that habitual colloquialisms serve as a patterns for developed musical rhythm if recited in a proper manner. For instance it was N.Hogols “The Wedding” put to music by M.Mussorgski where such recited verbal colloquial idioms become the source for operatic stuff. The same took place in the work by F.Poulinc where “separate short phrases of recitative astonish with the diversity of rhythm” [Медведева, 1969, 191]. As to the monodrama itself it would be convenient here to cite an expanded and short phrase to show the use of rhythmical structures of plain and ordinary sentences in dramatic recitative: “Je sais bien que je n’ai plus aucune chance à attendre, mais mentir ne porte pas la chance et puis je n’aime pas te mentir, je ne peux pas, je ne veux pas te mentir, même pour ton bien” (I know well that I have no chance for expectations, but to cheat will not bring the chance, and, then, I don’t like to cheat you, I can’t, I won’t cheat you, even for your benefice) [Cocteau, 1976, 49]. Here the whole utterance becomes a verbal tissue where repeated words impart rhythmic structure building thus a kind of recited verse. The connection between the fascinating rhythm of scenic “conversation about nothing” and the resulting effect of humor despite the vacuity of such conversation has been attested in the mentioned “mariveaudages”. It is here wit for wit’s sake that entails such effects. One can refer to F.W. Schelling who differed the demonstrative wit (Witzigkeit)°from wit in proper sense1260. It is apparent that such effect is not attained with the verbal means only, the sources being enrooted in the stream of scenic speech as a whole. In particular it is the device of unfinished (abrupt) phrases that five together a particular rhythm of humoristic dialogue. On can guess the termination and this ambiguity is the premise for humor. It is the intention that is only slightly marked with the commencements and remains suspected. In a way such rhythmic device can be regarded as the inversion of childish scansion. Such comical effect of unfinished phrases can be exemplified with the works of the Austrian playwright J.N. Nestroy where they are frequented.
The expectations and the responses meet apparent cognitive dissonances as the basis for humoristic consequences. In such cases situational comprehensibility is partly retained even for the persons that don’t understand the language. There are non-verbal means that render humor. In a dramatic work the intentions of dramatis personae play the role of a metrical background as far as they determine the sense of reciprocal references of lexical units. In its turn the intentional load of utterances causes an essential specific weight of commonly acceptable and comprehensible idioms that serve as a mediator for communicating suggestive influence of theatre speech. Due to the intentional nature of dramatic text the concepts of speech acts (those of perlocution and illocution) disclose their explanatory validity as to the rhythmic structure of drama in the way that it is intention that determines the selection of such idioms. As a conclusion we can substantiate the statement that free verse by no means belong to the inventions of the twentieth century. Vice versa it is deeply rooted in the very nature of recited dramatic speech and in particular in that of dramatic scansion. It means in its turn that the commonly recognized and respectable verse / prose opposition does not exhaust all the opportunities of verbal rhythm. There are not only intermediary and transitive forms between them such as free versed or rhythmic prose. It goes about dramatic recitative that suggests bilateral negation of the both of them suggesting thus a third way of rhythmic development. Scenic scansion can be said to deal with the task of overcoming the resistance of constantly appearing жүктеу/скачать 6.92 Mb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
|