What is the author's position? Ways to express author's position in the text

One of the most frequently used terms in literary criticism is the author's position. It can become the basis for the topic of writing, articles, abstracts or essays. The author's position in the text should be seen and understood as it is expressed.

Transformation of the term

It should be said that the author's position has undergone a number of qualitative changes throughout the development of literature. At the very beginning of the birth of mass literature (that is, when literature as an art form separated from folklore, ceased to be of a political or religious nature), the author's assessment was expressed directly in the work. The author could openly talk about what kind of hero seems positive or negative to him, expressed his attitude to what is happening in digressions, in conclusions. Over time, this way of the author's presence in the text became unacceptable, the creator of the text began to self-detach itself, giving the reader the opportunity to decide on whose side he was. This process was especially aggravated in the 20th century, this phenomenon was called R. Bart "the death of the author." However, not all researchers agree with him, noting that the author in any case evaluates the situation, expresses his opinion, he simply does it secretly, veiled, using different means.

Ways of expressing the author's position in drama, lyric and epic

Depending on the genre of literature and the genre of work, the method of expressing the evaluation may be different. The most difficult task is faced by writers who work with plays or with poems, because they are more limited in scope, choice of means.

Drama

The author, creating a dramatic work, must be a true master of the word. After all, in his arsenal are only replicas of heroes. Through speech, he must show the character of his character. He himself is present in the text only at the level of remarks. It is the remarks that are one way of expressing the author's position in the text. Consider the drama of M. Gorky "At the bottom." The author's position in relation to the residents of the doss house and the current situation is obvious: the extensive remarks at the beginning of each act show us horrendous pictures of the situation. These are shabby walls, looming ceilings, ripped sheets, a bunch of people indifferent to each other. Another important means of the author's assessment are the talking names. This technique was particularly used in the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, in the play Griboyedov "Woe from Wit" heroes - Famusov, Molchalin, Skalozub. Famusov - the surname, descended from the English "feimos", which means "famous". MOLCHALIN really tries to keep quiet, so as not to say too much and not lose hope for another rank. Skalozub - always friendly and deliberately courteous. Author's positions in the drama are also expressed by introducing into the canvas the works of the hero-reasoner. This character embodies the main ideas of the author. For example, in the drama of A. Ostrovsky "Storm" such a hero is Kuligin. It is he who expresses his attitude towards the provincial city of Kalinov: "Cruel customs, sir, in your city."

Lyrics

In the poem, the author's position can be represented on two levels: on the semantic and on the linguistic, external. Any lyrical work is filled with a feeling, moreover, poems are, for the most part, the embodiment of author's emotions. It's no accident that poets are often associated with their lyrical characters. At the level of language, the author's position can be represented by epithets, personification, metaphors, antitheses, author's neologisms. Consider a poem by Blok "Factory." The poet-symbolist expresses his attitude to what is happening through a gloomy color scale, he deliberately writes the word "zholt" unconventional. This strengthens the tension, gives verses a special rigidity.

Epos

In the epic, the author's position is much more important than in the lyrics. After all, in the center of the image of an epic work is a problem: philosophical, moral, social or political. The more unobtrusive and unobtrusive the author's opinion, the better the text looks.

The expression of the author's position is easiest to consider on the example of the Russian novel. One of the most popular ways, which was resorted to in his work by Leo Tolstoy, are lyrical digressions. Such digressions depict landscapes, reflections on important life issues. In the lyrical digression, the writer's opinion is expressed almost directly, but one can not always understand without much judgment. As an example, the ending of Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" can be cited. Turgenev draws us the picturesque nature that surrounds the grave of Bazarov. Thus, the author shows that Bazarov's ideas were erroneous, the hero was too mistaken when he called this wonderful God's creation of the workshop, in which the man is an employee.

It happens that the author's position is only at the level of symbolism. Writers resort to symbolism of names, colors, numbers. From this point of view, F. Dostoevsky 's novel "Crime and Punishment" looks very interesting . The author is eliminated in the text, which is why Bakhtin called it polyphonic. Indeed, the text contains a lot of votes, opinions and assessments, among which it is difficult to distinguish author's. However, everything in the novel says that it was most important for Dostoevsky to carry out the Gospel thought that the life of every person is valuable, that one can not transgress the main commandment of God either for the sake of an idea, or for money, or for good purposes. Actively, Dostoevsky attracts characters of various levels. The very name of the protagonist is considered by researchers from different perspectives, one of which recalls the schism that occurred in the history of the Russian Church. The repeated repetition of figures 7, 3 again refers us to religious books. It took 7 days for the Lord to create this world, 3 - sacred number for Christians, symbolizing God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit.

conclusions

Thus, author's positions are important for understanding the ideological design of works. They can be expressed in different ways. When reading the works, you should pay attention, first of all, to the names and names of the heroes, the details that are mentioned in the text, the clothes of the characters, their portrait characteristics. Also worth paying particular attention to the landscape sketches and lyrical digressions.