「メランクサ」における音声としてのコトバの力学(山縣敏夫先生退任記念号)
スポンサーリンク
概要
- 論文の詳細を見る
Gertrude Stein's 'Melanctha', the second novella in Three Lives is mainly based on the colloquial style in America, using limited punctuation marks and the repetitious expressions of simple sentences. In a way it shows a new tendency towards abstraction in style. Although some studies have been made on Stein's way of writings from a stylistic point of view, little attention has been given to her use of a language from the way of analyzing a language that exists basically as spoken and heard in oral tradition. The orality that Walter J. Ong centrally treated in his studies is that of persons totally unfamiliar with writing. Ong pointed out three propositions as to the characteristics of thought and expression in oral culture. His definition of sounded words may be used to study Stein's colloquial style in 'Melanctha'. The first factor, "additive rather than subordinate," signifies intentional repetition of the coordinate conjunction 'and' with the polysyndeton and asyndeton by rhetorical devices. The second factor, "aggregative rather than analytic" is linked with repeating significant words ("slow-minded" and "certainly") that centripetally reflect the personalities of the main characters, Melanctha and Jeff. Thirdly, the repetitive expressions of words eventually lead to encourage us in the sense of fluency, fulsomeness or volubility. Example of Ong's propositions of "redundant or 'copious' " writing can be found in Stein's works. It is natural from the viewpoint of orality that Stein quite intentionally repeats simple expressions in words over and over again in 'Melanctha.' The redundancy of doggedly repeating words and phrases produces a sense of "continuous present." This diction arises from her unique historical sense that past and future are wholly melded in the present tense. This story consists, in the main, of a single dialog between Melanctha and Jeff. The subtle variation of a combination of several paragraphs taken as an unit manages to convey emotional changes in Melanctha and Jeff that can transpire only in the present tense. The weight and rhythm of 'the significant words' that operate in each paragraph stand out as we go on reading this story. 'Melanctha' is based on a technique of writing which impresses upon us the rhythm of languages rather than merely the eccentricity of the colloquial style. To draw out the variation of the characters' emotions, Stein essayed to verbalize the dynamism of the sounded words so as to enlarge upon the oral culture. At the same time she unearthed the primitive energy of words. After 'Melanctha', she decided to write a prose poem using her "human mind" idea of intelligence.