The task of the textologist is not only to establish the exact text of the author's work, but also to comment on it. The first scientific commentary edition was Pushkin's edition edited by Annenkov (1857).
Comment- this is an interpretation of the text of the work as a whole from one side or another.
Types of comments:
1) Textological - a set of information characterizing the state of the literary heritage of the writer, and highlighting the direction and nature of the work of the editor-textologist in preparing the text of each work included in the publication. Accordingly, the textual commentary should contain the following sections:
2) Historical literary commentary. It aims to put this work in connection with the era, the history of the country's life, to explain to the reader its ideological content and the artistic skill of the writer, to tell how the work was received by readers and critics of that time. This type of commentary should help the reader more correctly and better assimilate, understand, comprehend the work of the writer, his artistic skill, his ideological positions.
3) Dictionary comment. Its goal is to explain to the reader those words and turns of speech that differ from the usual word usage in the modern literary language and therefore can be. not understood by the reader or misunderstood. Such words and phrases include archaisms, professionalisms, dialectisms, neologisms, words with a changed meaning, etc.
4) Real comments. In fact, this is a system of references to the author's text, which should pursue three main goals:
Disclosure of names, hints, allegories.
Communication to the reader of the factual information necessary for understanding the text.
Textual commentary. Its structure and characteristics
Textological - a set of information characterizing the state of the literary heritage of the writer, and highlighting the direction and nature of the work of the editor-textologist in preparing the text of each work included in the publication. Accordingly, the textual commentary should contain the following sections:
List of all text sources.
Justification of the attribution of works.
Substantiation of the dating of works.
Brief review of text theory.
List of corrections made to the text.
The first section of the textological commentary provides an exhaustive list of all sources of the text, arranged in chronological order, and handwritten and printed sources should be grouped separately.
The second section is found only in cases where the published work is not signed by the name of the author, and if its belonging to this author has been proven long ago, the textologist is limited to a brief reference, indicates by whom, when and where the attribution was made, what additions were later in it, new arguments and arguments. But if the work is published for the first time as belonging to the author in this particular edition, then the editor in the commentary is obliged to give a full statement of the attribution arguments.
The third is given in all cases. Here the editor should not be limited to referring to predecessors, so the commentary on each work should contain information about the date. Sometimes it might. simple reference.
In other cases, the editor should give an extended reasoning for the date, especially in cases where he has set a date for a given edition or changed an earlier one. In cases where there is an author's date that the editor rejects, he should give the necessary extended argumentation.
The fourth gives a coherent account of the history of the text from conception to the last authorized edition. It is always a research work of a textologist who logically reveals all stages of the author's work and gives a detailed description of the sources that were listed in the first section, necessarily with their description, features of the form and content of the text, with an analysis of the change in the author's intention. It is in this section that the editor must prove the correct choice of the source of the main text.
The fifth should give the necessary list of corrections made by the editor to the main text. Since the main text can almost never simply be retyped, because various kinds of distortions are found in it, which the editor has the right and must correct. It is this work of the editor on the main text that this section of the commentary should reflect.
So, at the beginning of the essay, we formulated one of the problems that the author of the text was thinking about. Then, in a commentary, we showed exactly how this problem is revealed in the source text. The next step is to identify the position of the author.
Remember that if the problem of the text is a question, then the position of the author is the answer to the question posed in the text, what the author sees as a solution to the problem.
If this does not happen, the logic of the presentation of thoughts in the essay is violated.
The author's position is manifested, first of all, in the attitude of the author to the depicted phenomena, events, heroes and their actions. Therefore, when reading the text, pay attention to the language means in which the author's attitude to the subject of the image is expressed (see the table on the next page).
When identifying the author's position, it is important to take into account that the text can use such a technique as irony - the use of a word or expression in a context that gives the word (expression) the exact opposite meaning. As a rule, irony is a condemnation under the guise of praise: My God, what wonderful positions and services there are! How they uplift and delight the soul! But, alas! I do not serve and am deprived of the pleasure of seeing the subtle treatment of my superiors(N. Gogol). A literal reading of ironic statements leads to a distorted understanding of the content of the text and the author's intention.
In addition, proving their point of view, many authors start from various statements of their real or potential opponents, that is, they cite statements with which they do not agree: “Take care of honor from an early age,” Pushkin bequeathed in his “Captain’s Daughter”. "What for?" - asks another modern "ideologist" of our market life. Why save a product for which there is a demand: if I am well paid for this very “honor”, then I will sell it (S. Kudryashov). Unfortunately, students often attribute such statements to the author himself, which leads to a misunderstanding of the author's position.
For example, in the text below by V. Belov, the author's position is not expressed verbally and can only be identified by carefully reading the fragment and a comparative analysis of all its parts.
Everything has already been learned two weeks after returning to his native village, everything has been bypassed, discussed with almost everyone. And only I try not to look at my own home and bypass it. I think: why reopen the past? Why remember what is forgotten even by my countrymen? Everything is gone forever - good and bad, - you don’t feel sorry for the bad, but you can’t return the good. I will erase this past from my heart, never return to it again.
You have to be modern.
We must be ruthless to the past.
Enough to walk through the ashes of Timonikha, sit on the stoves. We must remember that day and night on earth - as Hikmet said - reactors and phasotrons work. That one calculating machine operates faster than a million collective farm accountants, that ...
In general, you don’t need to look at your home, you don’t need to go there, you don’t need anything.
But one day I crumple my writing in my fist and throw it in a corner. I run up the stairs. In the alley, I look around.
Our house protruded from the settlement down to the river. As in a dream I approach our birch. Hello. Didn't recognize me? Has become tall. The bark has broken in many places. Ants run along the trunk. The lower branches are cut off so as not to obscure the windows of the winter hut. The top has become higher than the pipe. Please don't wear your jacket. When I was looking for you with my brother Yurka, you were frail, thin. I remember it was spring and your leaves were already hatching. They could be counted, you were so small then. My brother and I found you in the dirt on the Vakhrunin mountain. I remember the cuckoo cuckooed. We cut off two big roots from you. They carried it through the lava, and my brother said that you would wither, you would not take root under the winter window. Planted, poured two buckets of water. True, you barely survived, for two summers the leaves were small, pale. Brother was no longer at home when you got stronger and gained strength. And where did you get this power under the winter window? Gotta get it out like that! Already above the father's house.
You have to be modern. And I push off the birch like a poisonous tree. (According to V. Belov)
At first glance, the author calls for abandoning the past in favor of the present: “You have to be modern. You have to be ruthless to the past." However, the true attitude of the author to the past is manifested in his touching memories of the birch, which in fact represent a living dialogue with the tree. We see that behind the outward indifference (“You have to be modern. And I push off the birch like a poisonous tree”), there is a love for childhood, for the past, which cannot be erased from human life.
For a correct understanding of the text, it is also important to distinguish between the concepts of author and narrator (narrator). The author of a work of art can tell his story on his own behalf or on behalf of one of the characters. But the first person in whose name the work is written is still the narrator, even if the writer uses the pronoun "I": after all, when the author creates a work of art, he describes life, introducing his fiction, his assessments, his likes, likes and dislikes. . In any case, one should not put an equal sign between the author and the hero-narrator.
Such a discrepancy can be found, for example, in the following text.
I still remember that jar of ink. In the morning, she stood on the table near her father's drawings, and by noon, a huge black ink appeared on a piece of drawing paper from nowhere, through which the results of a painstaking week's work vaguely looked through ...
Sergey, tell me honestly: did you spill your mascara? the father asked sternly.
No. It's not me.
Who then?
I don't know... Probably a cat.
The cat Mashka, my mother's favorite, was sitting on the edge of the sofa and somehow frightened looked at us with her yellow eyes.
Well, she must be punished. From that moment on, the entrance to the house was ordered to her. Will live in a closet. However, maybe it's not her fault? My father looked at me searchingly.
Honestly! I have nothing to do with it! I answered, looking him straight in the eyes.
A couple of days later, Masha disappeared without a trace, apparently unable to endure the unjust expulsion from the house. Mom was upset. The father never mentioned the incident again. I forgot, probably. And I still washed my soccer ball from treacherous black spots ...
Then I was naively convinced that relationships between people are most important, the main thing is not to upset your parents. As for the cat... She's just an animal, she can't speak or think. And yet, until now, in any cat's eyes, I see a dumb reproach ... (G. Andreev)
The position of the author is not stated directly. However, in the reflections of the hero about his act, we hear the voice of a sick conscience. It is no coincidence that the punishment of the cat is called unfair, and in the cat's eyes Sergey reads a "mute reproach". Of course, the author condemns the hero, convincing us that it is dishonorable and low to shift the blame on another, especially on a defenseless creature who cannot answer and stand up for himself.
Typical designs
The author believes that...
The author leads the reader to the conclusion that ...
Arguing over the problem, the author comes to the following conclusion...
The position of the author is...
The position of the author, it seems to me, can be formulated as follows...
The author calls us (to what)
The author assures us that...
The author condemns (who / what, for what)
The attitude of the author to the problem posed is ambiguous.
The author's main goal is to...
Although the position of the author is not expressed explicitly, the logic of the text convinces us that...
Typical mistakes in formulating the position of the author
Tips
1)
Usually the position of the author is contained in the final part of the text, where the author sums up what has been said, reflects on the above events, the actions of the characters, etc.
2)
Pay attention to the evaluative vocabulary of the text, lexical repetitions, introductory words, exclamatory and incentive sentences - all these are means of expressing the author's position.
3)
Be sure to highlight the wording of the author's position in a separate paragraph of your essay.
4)
Try to formulate the author's position in your own words, avoiding complex metaphors.
5)
When quoting, choose sentences in which the author's thought is expressed clearly and clearly, if possible. (Remember that not every text contains quotations that accurately express the opinion of the author!)
What does an expert check?
The expert checks the ability to adequately perceive and correctly formulate the position of the author: positive, negative, neutral, ambiguous, etc. attitude to what is told, the proposed response of the author to the questions posed by him in the text.
1 point is assigned by an expert if you correctly formulated the position of the author of the source text on the commented problem and did not make any factual errors related to understanding the position of the author of the source text.
Practice
Typical designs
Typical mistakes in formulating the position of the author
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Error type |
Essay example |
Expert comment |
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1. There is no wording of the author's position in the essay. |
The text raises the problem of patriotism. I agree with the position of the author and I can cite the following as proof. |
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Thus, the position of the author is expressed in the fact that he describes with pleasure the beauty of a summer meadow. The author of the text tells about the love of man and nature. And I completely agree with him. |
The "vague" phrases of the essay can hardly claim to complete coverage of the author's position. It should be remembered that the formulation of the author's position should be clearly related to the stated problem. |
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At the beginning of the essay, the student states the problem of the role of the individual in history, while the author's position is connected with another problem - the problem of an objective assessment of historical events and persons. The essay clearly violated the logic of the presentation of thought. |
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4. The position of the author is replaced by the opinion of the hero-narrator. |
The author convinces us that the most important thing is to maintain good relations between people. But as a result, an innocent animal suffers! I cannot agree with the author. (From an essay based on the above text by G. Andreev.) |
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5. The position of the author is replaced by quoting a fragment of the text. |
An unsuccessful quote is given that does not reflect the opinion of the author, in addition, a mixture of direct and indirect speech is allowed in the essay. |
Problem comment
Commenting on the problem is one of the most difficult stages of work. By it is meant the "interpretation" of one of the problems of the text, explanatory remarks, reasoning about it. The volume of the commentary is small: three to four detailed phrases will be enough.
There are two types of problem comments:textual and conceptual (conceptual).
Textual The commentary assumes consideration of the problem in its numerous connections with other components of the text (composition, system of characters, figurative means, etc.), without breaking away from it.
Conceptual the commentary implies isolating the problem and considering it in other, broader contexts: the author's biography, the demands of today's time, tradition, reader's perception.
To give textual A comment means to consistently answer a series of questions:
What aspects of the problem does he pay attention to (what does he emphasize)?
How does he argue his reasoning (if the argument is present)?
It is important to remember that a textual commentary is not a paraphrase. By paraphrasing, we convey the entire content of the text. In the textual commentary, we only focus on on the problem of text, we follow author's train of thought revealing the problem.
An example of a textual commentary to the text by K.G. Paustovsky:
“K. G. Paustovsky tells about the dramatic fate of an elderly woman - Katerina Ivanovna - lonely, abandoned by her grown daughter. Dreaming of meeting her, the old woman asks for help from an outsider, whose sympathy sounds genuine, sincere. It is no coincidence that he deserves her appeal “my dear”, it is no coincidence that his confession: “How happy I would be if I had such a mother!”
The problem of lonely old age permeates the entire text. The narrator, on behalf of whom the story is being told, conveys to us the feeling of longing that fills the soul of a person before death, a lonely and loving soul. This poignant feeling is enhanced by landscape sketches: the image of an overflowing garden, with which Katerina Ivanovna's youth is associated, a lone star in the sky, reminds her of the irreversibility of time. The feelings of the narrator are undoubtedly close to the author. They are passed on to the reader…”
Using conceptual comments, you need to find answers to the following questions:
What type of problem does this problem belong to? , economic, socio-economic, political, socio-political, ecological, eternal, philosophical, religious-philosophical, moral, psychological, moral-psychological, etc.)?
Why did this problem attract the attention of the author, how is it related to his biography and work?
Who, where and when else addressed this problem, is there a tradition associated with it in literature, journalism (this question should be answered in general terms)?
Is this problem relevant today? What is its significance for society?
How often do we face this problem? Does it concern each of us or only people of a certain age, occupation, etc.? Is she new to you?
How does the reader perceive the author's reasoning on this problem (does the author's excitement convey to him, does the problem leave him indifferent)?
An example of a conceptual commentary to the text by K.G. Paustovsky:
“K. G. Paustovsky is known as a successor to the best traditions of Russian classical literature. Being a master of subtle, psychological stories, a wonderful landscape painter, he addresses the problem of loneliness, old age, farewell to the world and life gradually - through a series of artistic images.
This problem is not new for Russian literature; it can be classified as an eternal philosophical and psychological problem and is relevant at all times. And today it sounds even sharper, given the increasing passage of time and alienation between people. That is why the story of K. G. Paustovsky cannot leave the modern reader indifferent.
maybe combination of textual and conceptual comment.
An example of a combined commentary on the text by K.G. Paustovsky:
The text of K.G. Paustovsky refers to the artistic style, and fiction creates a believable yet fictional world. Therefore, the problem of the loneliness of an elderly person is revealed on the example of the fate of the heroine of the story - Katerina Ivanovna - a suffering and close person to us, whose experiences cannot but touch the soul.
Katerina Ivanovna, living out her last days, is deeply unhappy. To express her despair and longing, the author resorts to expressive repetitions (“God forbid you, my dear! God forbid you!”). Phraseologism "alone in the world" most fully characterizes the situation in which the heroine finds herself. The image of an empty autumn garden only enhances the experiences of the characters and the reader.
The invisible connection between native people is broken, the most intimate, the strongest. "What's happening?" - as if the author asks a question, and does not find an answer, offering the reader to do this. The eternal problem, which has a long tradition in human culture, sounds acute precisely because it is given not in speculative reasoning, but through a specific life situation. This problem is very relevant today: the pursuit of pleasure and success leads to alienation between people, to the loneliness of the weakening old people.
Template schemacombined comment Problems:
Question about… (describe the problem) can not leave anyone indifferent, it affects each of us to a greater or lesser extent. The problem raised (raised, marked, etc.) NN (specify author) , especially relevant (topical, important, significant) these days because... (give an explanation) .
The narrator does not discuss the issue raised by him in a detached way, his interest in what he writes about is felt. His relation to agreed on a hero, a situation, a problem ) is felt in an excited, emotional manner of writing (give examples, you can quote) , in an effort to make the reader your like-minded person. Reasoning over (repeat problem) , NN is drawn ( indicate on what material the author considers the problem: maybe these are memories, anecdotes, dialogues, artistic narration, an excited monologue, quoting the thoughts of great people, reasoning, describing pictures of nature, statistical data, etc.).
Speech clichés that help to formulate a comment on the problem
There are special constructions, speech clichés for making comments. it "markers" indicating that we
Schedule your comment. Write down the key points that need to be noted. Arrange them in a logical order so that your comment doesn't get crumpled. Find quotes from the text for each paragraph. You must comment all of the following (though not necessarily in that order): Template:textscroller
- Topic/Subtopic/Subject– What is the essence of the text? There may be many topics, but try to find one or two key ones to discuss. It may help if you pay attention to information such as the writer's name or the date it was written.
- Tone- From whose perspective is the story being told? Determine if the story is in the first or third person. If from the first, is it the author or someone else who narrates? To whom is the text addressed? You should also consider the setting and how it affects the tone of the story and the overall meaning of the text.
- Shape/Structure– Define the genre (fiction/non-fiction, essay, article, travel notes, etc.) of the text. Is the text circular or retrospective? Think of obvious ways to divide text into sections (physically or otherwise). Think about how the chosen structure and form affect the essence or message of the text.
- Idea/Goal- Determine the goals of the writer. Is the text persuasive, informative, or descriptive? Determine the subtext and find satire or irony in the text.
- Tone/Atmosphere- define the atmosphere of the text. Is there an intensity of feelings or some special mood in it? Describe how the author achieved this effect (think about word choice, rhythm, syntax). Again look at the environment and its effect on tone and atmosphere.
- Touch Details– Describe how the author appeals to the senses to create a brighter picture for the reader. Remember to always link your observations to the overall meaning of the text.
- Imagery“It's one of the most important sensory details. Are there any visual images in the text? Describe metaphors and comparisons here (both individual examples and in general throughout the text).
- Manner of presentation- describe the vocabulary of the text. Observe what kind of words the author uses - are they grouped around a theme (happiness, anxiety, etc.)? You should also mention words that seem out of place - what impact do they have on the reader/viewers? Do they somehow help to more accurately reveal the topic of the text?
- Rhythm/Rhyme/Audio effects- describe the type of rhyming (if any). What effect does it create in the context common theme? Reveal the essence of the rhythmic pattern of the text (this can be done both by considering a poetic text and prose). Does the rhythm change? Also look for examples of alliteration in the text. True, you should be more careful in this - if the rhythm / rhyme / auditory effects have no effect, it is better not to mention them at all.