MACROTEXT METAPHOR “SHEVCHENKO TALKS TO US”

Svitlana YERMOLENKO,
Doctor of Philology, Professor, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine,
Chief Researcher of the Department of Stylistics, Culture of the Language and Sociolinguistics,
Institute of the Ukrainian Language of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
4 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho St., Kyiv 01001, Ukraine;
e-mail: svitlana.yermolenko@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9916-4915

Heading: LINGVISTIC SHEVCHENKO STUDIES
Language: Ukrainian

Abstract
The article substantiates the selection of the macrotextual metaphor SHEVCHENKO IS TALKING TO US (hereinafter referred to as the “conversation”) in the poetic texts of the Kobzar. It is proposed to take into account its stylistic functions in the rhythmic and intonation construction of poetic mini-texts, during the reception of key Shevchenko thought images in modern poetic creativity, as well as as a way of decoding “dark” places in the poet’s texts. The indicated macrotextual metaphor is interpreted not as a verbal figurative phrase, but as (1) a structural and textual unit of Shevchenko’s entire speech creativity, which makes his idiostyle recognizable by rhythmic and intonation transitions; (2) a reflection of Ukrainian society on evaluative and prognostic aphorisms and quotes, which are assigned the function of signs of national-cultural and socio-mental identity; (3) the process of decoding incompletely understood or newly perceived minitexts.
To characterize the Kobzar’s language creativity, the verb construct-metaphor was chosen, which expresses Shevchenko’s act as an individual, verbal-artistic creativity-conversation and a continuation of the modern national-cultural dialogue – immersion in the poet’s contexts with the aim of decoding them, capturing them-reception.
In the proposed fragment of the analysis of Taras Shevchenko’s idiostyle, the philosophy of his language, three blocks of the deployment of the macrotext metaphor “conversation” are proposed: rhythmic-intonational structure and alternation of tonalities of mini-text fragments as dialogic unity; reception of Shevchenko’s thought image in modern poetic practice; decoding of the author’s word usage for modern readers.
Key words: metaphor, Shevchenko’s language, macrotext, minitext, decoding, dialogue, tonality, rhythm-melodic, reception.

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