Allusion. Meaning of the word allusion in the great Soviet encyclopedia, bse

allusion

g. A stylistic device, which consists in the use of a hint of a real well-known, political, historical or literary fact.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

allusion

ALLUSION (from Lat. Allusio - joke, hint) is a stylistic figure, a hint through a similar-sounding word or mention of a well-known real fact, historical event, literary work ("the glory of Herostratus" - cf. Herostratus).

Allusion

(from Lat. allusio - a joke, a hint), in fiction, oratory and colloquial speech, one of the stylistic figures: a hint of a real political, historical or literary fact, which is assumed to be generally known. As a hint, they often use winged words and expressions (for example, “glory of Herostratus”, “cross the Rubicon”, “came, saw, conquered”, “Demyanov's ear”).

Wikipedia

Allusion

Illusion ("Hint, joke") - a stylistic figure containing an indication, analogy or allusion to a literary, historical, mythological or political fact, fixed in textual culture or in colloquial speech. The material for formulating an analogy or a hint that forms an allusion is often a well-known historical statement or some kind of catch phrase. Including biblical stories can be used. For example, the title of the film "V. Davydov and Goliath" refers to the well-known biblical story about David and Goliath.

In other cases, the titles of earlier works may be used. For example, Dr. James Tiptree Jr. made her science fiction debut with the story "The Birth of a Salesman" (1968), in the title of which one can see an allusion, referring the reader to the title of the play by American playwright Arthur Miller "Death of a Salesman" (1949), and in the title of the series " Always Say Always is an allusion to the James Bond movie Never Say Never.

Unlike reminiscence, it is more often used as a rhetorical figure that requires unambiguous understanding and reading. Difficulties often arise with the use of the term allusion, namely with the choice of control. On the one hand, defining an allusion as hint prompts the writer to control with the preposition on ... On the other hand, an allusion like dispatch assumes that the preposition will be used to .

Examples of the use of the word allusion in literature.

Biblical allusion on the fall of Adam and Eve, who were seduced by Satan in the form of a serpent.

BMS BURDEN OF THE EARTH, THE GREAT MISSION OF HUMANITY - the terms used to justify the expansion of mankind, the first - allusion to the wording of R.

I entered into an intimate relationship - allusion to a joke: an interpreter leads a delegation around the plant and they ask him - what is the master talking about with the student?

Very important specific allusion contained in an appeal to Queen Anne, when the poetess says that her early years were illuminated by the favor of the great Elizabeth.

Obviously, Smirnov did not know allusion John Florio on the literary work of Ratland in the dedication of the Italian-English dictionary to him, Johnson's words in a message to Elizabeth Ratland that her husband loved the art of poetry, not to mention many other facts.

Interesting and allusion the fact that the Sydney family had income from publications.

Mourning allusion to John Salisbury, who died in the summer of 1612, allowed me to determine the true date of the book's appearance, and through it to identify the prototypes of the Dove and the Phoenix - an extraordinary couple of Ratlands who left this world at the same time as Salisbury.

However, in doing so, they removed a very important comma from the text, which makes it disappear. allusion, defining the meaning of the poem.

Description of the Lyapis-Trubetskoy scams in the editorial offices of departmental journals and the quote given by Persitsky - allusion to the story of V.

Oxfordians have to assume that the plays that appeared after this time were created before 1604, but were published later, although they contain allusions the events of 1605-1610 are definitely against such an assumption.

Numerous allusions show that the author of this additional epilogue poem describes the castle of the Ratlands Belvoir and is sad about the absence of its mistress Elizabeth Sidney-Ratland, who wrote the earlier appeals to the Queen and the noble ladies - her friends, and the poem about the Passion of Christ itself, which gave the title to the book.

Political allusions they were largely eliminated even during the preparation of the magazine version, and some parodies were also removed.

Details of these parodies, as well as some political allusions, discussed in the commentary.

The principles of commenting are traditional: first of all, realities, quotes and reminiscences, literary and political allusions, parodies, specific events, one way or another connected with episodes of the novel, textologically significant discrepancies.

Many compatriots and friends of the authors of the novel were published in this magazine, in particular - Kataev, allusions whose stories are found later.

Types of literary allusions

The most popular form of literary intertextuality is the introduction of some texts into another in a fragmentary form. Such "inclusions" and "references" to previous literary facts are usually called allusions and reminiscences. These forms of intertextuality are the most developed. The line between allusion and reminiscence is difficult to establish.

Following the previous traditions of literary criticism, NGVladimirova defined allusion as "a stylistic figure, an allusion to a well-known literary or historical fact, a rhetorical figure." Reminiscence, in her opinion, is a recollection of an artistic image, a work, or the author's borrowing (more often unconscious) of an artistic image or some elements of an “alien” work by NG Vladimirov. Conventionality that creates the world. V. Novgorod, 2001. P.144 .. V.E.Khalizev calls reminiscences “images of literature in literature” and considers their most common form to be a quotation, accurate or inaccurate. Reminiscences, in his opinion, can either be included in the work consciously and purposefully, or arise independently of the author's will, involuntarily ("literary recall") V.E. Khalizev. Literature theory. M., 1999. P.253 .. N.A. Fateeva believes that an allusion can often turn into a reminiscence, and vice versa. Following the concept of Jean Genette, who defines allusion and quotation by equivalent categories of intertextuality, the researcher focuses her attention on these forms. Fateeva defines the quote as "the reproduction of two or more components of the donor's text with its own predication." Allusion is the borrowing of certain elements of the pretext, according to which they are recognized in the recipient text, where their predication is carried out. An allusion from a quotation is distinguished by the fact that "the borrowing of elements occurs selectively, and the whole utterance or line of the donor text, correlated with the new text, is present in the latter, as if" behind the text ", only implicitly." Those. in the case of citation, the author predominantly exploits reconstructive intertextuality, registering the commonality of "his" and "someone else's" texts, and in the case of an allusion, constructive intertextuality takes the first place, the purpose of which is to organize the borrowed elements in such a way that they turn out to be nodes of cohesion of the semantic-compositional structure of the new text Fateeva N.A. Counterpoint of Intertextuality, or Intertext in the World of Texts. M., 2000.S. 122-129 ..

This study does not draw a clear line between quotation, allusion and reminiscence, since the researchers did not come to a consensus on the delineation of these phenomena. Based on the above statements about the existence of "direct" (quotation) and "indirect" (indirect) allusion, we designate the three above intertextual inclusions as allusive.

Many researchers have attempted to systematize the types and functions of allusions and allusive inclusions.

M.D. Tuhareli proposes the following classification of allusions according to their semantics:

1. Proper names are anthroponyms. The same group includes: zoonyms often found in a work of art - the names of animals, birds; toponyms - geographical names; cosmonyms - names of stars, planets; kthematonyms - the names of historical events, holidays, works of art, etc.; theonyms - the names of gods, demons, mythological characters, etc.

2. Biblical, mythological, literary, historical and other realities.

3. Echoes of quotes, popular utterances, contamination, reminiscences.

From the point of view of structure, allusion can be represented by a word, a combination of words, and larger verbal formations in terms of volume and construction. M.D. Tuhareli highlights allusions - superphrasal unity, allusions - paragraphs, allusions - stanzas, allusions - prosaic stanzas, allusions - chapters, and finally allusions - works of art by M.D. Tuhareli. Allusion in the system of a literary work: Author's abstract. dis. Cand. philol. sciences. - Tbilisi, 1984. - 18p .. As for the last kind of allusion, A. Mamaeva calls it architectonic. Such an allusion is represented by a whole piece of art, repeating the arrangement of parts and features of another piece of art. But in world literature, only one example of this kind of allusion has been found - Ullis by D. Joyce, duplicating Homer's Odyssey.

In our opinion, the most complete classification is proposed in the work of D. Dyurishin D. Dyurishin Theory of comparative study of literature. M., 1979. 397 p. Among the integral forms of perception, he considers the allusion to be the simplest, i.e. "An appeal to a certain artistic device, motive, idea and the like, mainly by the leading figures of world literature." Allusion is distinguished by "a one-time urge to associate with any component of the original source." Among the most popular allusions Dyurishin considers direct and veiled citation of the original source. Quotational allusions constitute an essential variety of the “non-author's” word. According to Dyurishin, this is "the simplest type of literary connection" [Diryushin D., 1979. 340]. Quotational allusions aimed at the "convex joy of recognition" can be both implicit and explicit. The purest form of direct citation can be considered citations with accurate attribution and identical reproduction of the sample.

In D. Fowles's novel The Magus, there is a direct citation of TS Eliot's poem: “One of them marked a page on which someone had drawn in red ink a quatrain from the poem Little Gidding:

We will wander in thought

And at the end of our wanderings we will come

Where we came from

And we will see our land for the first time.

(Per. A. Sergeev)

... I immediately realized that the owner of the villa was the same collaborator with whom Mitford had quarreled; but before he seemed to me to be a kind of cunning, grasping Greek Laval, and not a person of the level of culture that allows you to read - or receive guests who read - Eliot and Auden in the original. "

In this case, the poetic allusive inclusion clearly stands out in the prose text and has increased recognizability, since along with the quotation, the name of the cited work and the name of its author are mentioned. The quote from Eliot is an allusion to the future reincarnation of the novel's protagonist. Thus, by referring to a similar motive of a famous author, the writer enhances the sound of his own. The Magus also repeatedly quotes Shakespeare's The Tempest. This is due to the allusive personification of the heroes of the novel with the characters of this tragicomedy. O. Huxley also addresses the Tempest. The hero of Brave New World expresses himself in Shakespearean quotations, contrasting the natural (Shakespeare) with the artificial (utopian civilization), the natural with the dominance of technocracy.

An implicit quotation allusion does not give a direct indication of the author or work. Often we are talking about citing fragments of famous works, so that the association with the pretext is "implied by itself." An example of the simplest form of reference to Shakespeare is a quotation, for which the authorship is unmistakably guessed. Such an example is provided by Howard Brenton's play Hitler's Dances, which grew out of actors' improvisation on a given theme. Gradually, the improvisation takes shape in the story of a girl who decided to go to the front to avenge the death of her beloved. When the heroine arrives at the recruiting station, the raid begins. Her future mentor, Captain Potter, locked in a dark room, drinks, trembling with fear. When the heroine knocks on the door, he answers somewhat out of place: “Knock! Knock! " The fact that - out of place, indicates the quotation nature of the answer. These are the words of the Gatekeeper from Macbeth, probably known to any English schoolchild. As in the original, this replica serves as a means of retarding an action. In Brenton's work, this retardation is achieved due to the recognition of the words of the Shakespearean hero by the reader, which allows expanding the playing field and the playing context of his play. It also enhances the general comic character of the episode Korenev M.M. The Artistic World of Shakespeare and Contemporary English Drama // English Literature

tour of the twentieth century and the legacy of Shakespeare. M., 1997.S. 23-24 ..

Thus, “a conscious citation or allusion is such an inclusion of an element of an“ alien ”text into“ our own ”, which should modify the semantics of the latter due to associations associated with the source text, if such changes are not found, most likely we are dealing with unconscious borrowing ". Peculiar "quotation" dialogues often arise between the heroes of literary works. The intertextual link acts as the primary means of communication, the appeal of one character to another. The exchange of intertexts during communication, the clarification of the communicants' ability to adequately recognize them and guess the intention behind them allows to establish a common cultural memory and aesthetic preferences. An example of such "allusive-quotation" communication is presented in the novel by A. Merdock "The Black Prince". During a conversation with the daughter of his friend Arnold Baffin, the writer Bradley Pearson in love with her tries to praise her father's books: “There is a great love of life in his things, and he knows how to build a plot. To be able to build a plot is also an art. " Julian also calls his father's work "carrion." Pearson jokingly rebukes her with a quote from King Lear: "So young and so callous at heart!" To this follows the answer from the same work, moreover, from the same dialogue: "So young, my lord, and straightforward." Thus, the girl makes it clear that she has caught the communication code, recognized the quoted quote and is well acquainted with the source. "Quotation" here serves as a way of marking the quotation. Unattributed allusive inclusion is recognized and its meaning is expanded beyond a particular style.

A paraphrased quote has increased recognizability and sharpens the moment of the game in the text. So, in Fowles's "Ebony Tower" David Williams, characterizing Anna's rude straightforwardness and artlessness, says: "Blessed are the beggars of taste" Fowles D. Ebony Tower. Kiev, 2000. P.166 .. The paraphrase of one of the Gospel commandments: "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." as well emphasizes the identification of the intertextual element, as well as direct quotation.

Some literary texts become so popular that they turn into veritable "treasury of quotes". On the example of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this phenomenon is clearly characterized by the character of the novel The Black Prince by Bradley Pearson: Hamlet is the most widely known work of world literature. The cultivators of India, the lumberjacks of Australia, the herders of Argentina, the Norwegian sailors, the Americans - all the darkest and wildest members of the human race have heard of Hamlet. … From what other works of literature did so many passages become proverbs? ... "Hamlet" is a monument of words, the most rhetorical work of Shakespeare, his longest play, the most intricate invention of his mind. See how easily, with what unconstrained, transparent grace he lays the foundation for all modern English prose. " Indeed, many quotes, take, for example, the famous "to be or not to be" over time have become aphorisms. As a result, “popularized” quotations, separated from the general text, become like stereotyped speech metaphors and become elements of mass culture.

To eliminate the "worn-out" of well-known pretexts, writers use the technique of "defamiliarizing" them. One of these techniques is the use of allusion in the form of a paraphrase. It is more general in nature and less "recognizable" by the reader who is unfamiliar with the full range of literary associations evoked by the original source. Thus, Fowles's novel The Magus is permeated with paraphrases of Shakespeare's works. "We are all actors and actresses," Lilia says to Nicholas, which is vaguely reminiscent of Shakespeare's lines "The whole world is theater." In the "theatrical" context of the novel's events, the author lets us understand with the heroine's remark that everything that happens is just a game, and this game should not be taken seriously. An allusional allegory always goes the way of "deciphering", as a result of which projections onto the texts of predecessors are restored.

Later, the "new" criticism developed this kind of intertextual approach, in which the text is included in a dialogue not only with literature, but also with various types of art and culture. This phenomenon has received the names of "syncretic intertextuality" and "intermediality", which is understood as "intertextual relations between verbal and visual arts" Arnold I.V. Problems of intertextuality // Vestnik SPbU. - 1992. p.132 .. Such inclusions began to be called pictorial allusions. They are characterized by references to the creations of different types of art as real (numerous pictorial reminiscences in the novels by D. Fowles "The Collector", "Magus", "The Ebony Tower"), and a fictional writer ("Doctor Faustus" T. Mann, at length " painting "picturesque and musical creations," The Collector "with" invented "paintings by the artist George Paston). The last type of reference to non-existent works of art and literature was designated by scientists as pseudo-intertextuality. U. Gebel and G. Plett noticed that pseudo-intertextual allusions are distinguished by increased conventionality, emphasized playful character. It should be noted that such a "game" with the reader is an advanced technique of postmodern discourse.

The connections that exist between the characters of various works of art represent one of the most interesting and little-studied aspects of intertextuality. The introduction of the names of previously created characters, the allusive personification of “their” heroes with “aliens” are deliberately used by writers as references to other texts. This type of intertextual communication can be designated as interfigural allusions, using the term “interfigurality” by the German scientist W. Muller, Muller W. Interfigurality. A Study of Interdependence of Literary Figures // Intertextuality, Berlin and New

York, 1991. P.176-194 .. According to the researcher, the full or partial identity of the names of characters in various works of art is always an interfigurative element (with the exception of cases of unconscious borrowing). The scientist also argues that, like a quotation, the name of a famous literary character turns out to be an "alien" element, "embedded" in his text, and, like a quotation, a borrowed name is often doomed to transform not only form, but also content. For example, in T. Stoppard's play, the secondary characters in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, become central figures in the action. The author gives their names a modern touch, shortening them to the familiar "Roses" and "Gil". An adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth was Barbara Garzon's political satire, MacBed! ("MacBird!"): Duncan's name is transformed into O "Dunk, which is an allusion to the Irish roots of the Kennedy family.

Another form of interfigural transformation is the contextual adaptation of the names of characters in foreign language works. Thus, Don Juan Tenorio is "anglicized" in "Man and Superman" by B. Shaw. The result of this transformation is the name John Tanner. The “encoded” interfigurative allusion requires deciphering and is aimed at a competent readership. The unchanged name of a famous literary character is most recognizable in the context of a “new” work. It carries on itself a certain semantic load, is a repository of certain qualities, or "sem" (R. Barth), one way or another characterizing the "new" character. For example, in The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, the figures of the protagonists William of Baskerville and Adso are based on the images of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. But if the "detective in a monastic cassock" is given by his "Conandoyle" surname, then in the case of Adso we are faced with an allusive personification, as well as with a language game with a pretext: "Adso - Watson". Sometimes the characters themselves choose their "prototype", which is often determined by the circle of their reading. It is no coincidence that Miranda from Fowles' The Collector bears the name of Shakespeare's heroine. However, reading Jane Austen's novels, the girl more often personifies herself with their heroines than with the image of her namesake from The Tempest.

Allusions are deeply significant in the literary arts of different countries and eras. Such forms of allusivity as myth, texts of canonical religions, masterpieces of world literature have acquired in the modern literary process a number of specific features that distinguish them from their original forms. Using classical images and subjects, the artist expresses the ideals and moods of his era.

§1.3 Allusion functions

In the composition of a work of art, allusion has great potential for creating subtext. This technique gives the author the opportunity to convey a large amount of information in a concise form, to express his attitude to heroes or events, to guide the reader to a certain thought A.S. Evseev. Foundations of the theory of allusion. (In mat. Russian language): Author's abstract. dis. ... Cand. philol. Sciences / A.S. Evseev. - M., 1990. - 18 p .. Allusion performs the following functions:

Evaluative and characterizing;

“… Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there” (Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird”).

As you know, Everest is the highest mountain in the world, located in the Himalayas. Such a comparison of a character with a mountain cannot but do without additional decoding, since this allusion can cause a lot of different associations that will be individual for each reader. It gives rise to images of greatness, strength, superiority, on the one hand, and inaccessibility, mystery, on the other. In this context, such aspects of this toponym are distinguished as coldness and eternity of existence.

Occasional;

The use of references to historical facts and personalities recreates the spirit of the era in which the work took place. Suffice it to recall the well-known novel by Margaret Mitchell "Gone with the Wind", where the action takes place against the backdrop of the American Civil War in 1861-1865. The work contains many names of generals, battles and other realities associated with this historical event.

Text-structuring;

The text is a symbolic-thematic formation: the text reveals a certain topic, which unites all its parts into an informational unity.

Intra-textual communication carried out by allusion refers to the form of associative cohesion, since it helps in consolidating a work of art and at the same time brings additional information from the outside.

§1.4 The mechanism of action of allusions

The process of the reader's actualization of the allusion includes several stages:

1. Marker recognition. If the allusion is disguised or insignificant (it does not appear in quotes, has an attractive non-allusive interpretation, and so on), the reader may not understand that it is present. Some writers may use allusion techniques to satisfy some readers who enjoy the process of recognizing allusions. Nevertheless, this raises the risk that the allusion may be lost and the real meaning will be, albeit believable, but weak, that is, the reader may lose a lot. The writer can only hope that the reader will recognize the allusion later, or only a certain circle of readers will understand it;

2. Identification of readable text. Currently, there is no definite list of books that are required for everyone - the readership is wider, the Bible is less popular and there are many more books. Modern writers are more fond of allusion to dark, highly personal, short-lived or even non-existent texts. Deciphering many allusions is sometimes impossible without footnotes and author's explanations;

3. Modification of the original interpretation of a part of the text. At this stage, there is a change in the initial understanding of the text containing the allusion;

4. Activation of readable text. While reading the text, the reader consolidates what he read in short-term memory. Activation of each idea activates related ideas. In this way, the activation spreads through the entire structure of memory, determining what should be added and moved from the interpretation of the text. This process continues until further activation of related assumptions changes the assumption in the whole of the interpreted text.

A person always turns to primary sources and authority figures in order to strengthen his statement, to give it more significance, while telling about something unambiguously, without hints at another meaning. In the literary genre, many techniques are used, among which allusion is becoming common today. Until recently, few people thought about the concept of this technique, but examples of modern literary trends use various types of allusions.

An online magazine site, speaking of allusion, understands the reader's referral to a certain well-known literary person, event or phenomenon that has already been described earlier, has a clear understanding and image. Why would the author once again describe who Jesus or the goddess Venus is, if you can immediately apply these common nouns, which are known to everyone and have clear images that do not require explanation?

Thus, an allusion is a technique in the literary genre, when the author refers to a certain literary person or phenomenon that has already been described in other works and is known to all people, since it is considered a historical fact.

What is allusion?

In the literature, the authors use various methods of their presentation. At one time, allegory and symbolism were popular. Today, literary images and phenomena are often used that are described in other works, have a clear image, unambiguous understanding. In order not to spend a lot of time describing his phenomenon, the author can resort to an allusion - this is a literary method of borrowing, when a certain hero or phenomenon is taken from another literary work.

Allusion translated from Latin means "hint", "joke". Thus, the author refers to a certain character, which should be known to the reader and about whom there is no need to explain anything.

Why use allusion? It helps to enhance the image of the character in question. Since each reader can understand something of his own by the words that the author uses, he gives a link to the character with whom he compares his own. A parallel is drawn so that the reader understands what the author is talking about.

The illusion is often used in literary or public speaking. It helps the author to quickly convey his thought without additional explanation or clarification. It is worth using the common name of a famous character or a historical fact that is known to everyone, as listeners or readers will immediately understand what the author is talking about.

An allusion differs from a quote in that it conveys the meaning of a character or event, rather than retelling what was said. Although you can use quotes or catchphrases, which can also convey some meaning to which the author refers. The main thing here is the general knowledge of what the author is talking about. He does not use names or names events that other people know nothing about. He uses only those characters and facts that are known to all people and can even be used by them for comparison or reference, to strengthen their speech.

Another difference between a quote and an allusion is that:

The quote must be understood as it is pronounced. Her man might not have heard before. However, now he just needs to understand the information from the quote verbatim.
Allusion requires knowledge and erudition from listeners and readers. If a certain person does not know who Cleopatra is, how she was known and how she became famous, then he will not be able to understand why the author refers to this image. A person will need explanations not only of the image that is described by the author himself, but also an explanation of the concept of Cleopatra in order to understand why he is being referred to.

Thus, the allusion is a source of knowledge and education of a person who will not understand what the author is talking about if he is not well-read and erudite.

An allusion is a symbolic image that can be historical, biblical, or even fictional. However, if a lot is known about him, he has already become a household name, then he can be used to enhance and give his words a certain color.

It is easy enough to say "Strong as Hercules" rather than using a large set of words to describe what strength is. Hercules is a mythical hero who possessed the greatest strength, capable of moving and lifting any objects, no matter how heavy they may be. No one could compare with him in strength, since such natural data were not given to an ordinary person. But Hercules was considered a demigod who was worthy of having supernatural powers.

If the reader or listener knows what the image of this or that hero or event that the author uses, then a certain mood is created. The author does not have to use many words to convey his thought, while he creates a certain mood. It is easier to write about the anger that was inherent in Hitler than to describe in many words about what feelings the author's hero experienced.

Close in meaning to allusion is reminiscence - this is also a reference to some event that was previously read or heard. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between reminiscence and allusion, but it is generally accepted that allusion is one of the directions of reminiscence.

Allusion includes catch phrases that are also known to many people and which can be referred to. Examples would be:

"The less we love a woman, the more she likes us."
"I came, I saw, I conquered."
"Seven times measure cut once".

Allusion is used in psychocorrection, when it is necessary to remove protective barriers and mechanisms, which is possible if a person does not experience a negative attitude towards the link that is applied. Thus, allusion can be used to reorient a person, reduce defense mechanisms and evoke certain emotions.

Often people write diaries using allusion as a diversion of negative emotions or transmission of their thoughts. Of course, in order for the allusion to be understood, the listener or reader had to encounter the image or event referred to by the author in other works that precisely reveal the concepts. If the reader / listener is not familiar with the allusion, then they may miss it, not notice it, or simply not understand it.

The illusion must have the following characteristics in order to be understandable to the reader or listener:

Be recognizable, that is, it should not be too disguised.
To be understandable, or at least the author must indicate the source to which he refers so that, at the request of the reader himself, he could familiarize himself with the definition in full.
To be introduced into the context correctly and correctly, which requires the author to change the structure of his presentation.

Using the allusion method, you can refer to anything: not only a character, but even a historical event. Depending on how the author uses the allusion, it is possible not only to enhance the significance of the text itself, but also to find out the attitude of the author himself to what is happening. There are different types of allusion:

Mythological.
Literary.
Historical.
Biblical.
Philosophical and aesthetic.

The type of allusion is influenced by where the character or event comes from. For example, “his nose grows like Pinocchio's” is a literary allusion, since Pinocchio is a fictional character from a literary work. The property of Pinocchio was that he was made of wood, animated and his nose grew when he lied (deceived).

An illusion can replace a whole context, be used to reinforce an image or explain the meaning that the author wants to express.

Consider some examples of allusions:

Biblical or religious: "Good Samaritan", "Hit on one cheek, turn the other."
Historical: The names of historical figures are most often used to add accuracy and emotion. For example, “Bloodthirsty like Elizabeth Bathory”, “Fearless like Alexander the Great”, “Great like Julius Caesar”.
Mythological - the use of heroes, names of gods, phenomena. For example, the Great Flood, Zeus, Titans.

To understand the allusion, it is necessary that the knowledge and understanding of individual characters and facts coincide between the author and the reader / listener. Otherwise, the reader / listener will not understand what is being said to him, will not notice the link, will ignore it. It is also important how both sides relate to the same phenomenon or character. The author may express a negative attitude towards the behavior of the great conqueror Napoleon, while the reader may have positive feelings that the person possessed such intelligence and courage to perform such historical actions (despite the fact that they were harmful to ordinary people).

Thus, allusion becomes necessary to add richness to the text of the speaker or writer:

Link to determine the unambiguity of what you want to say.
Giving more emotion and feeling to what is said.
Enriching the meaning of the words conveyed by the author.

Outcome

Allusion is a literary technique that can be used not only when writing texts, but also in oratory. A person considers himself to be an educated and cultured creature who must know his history and cultural heritage. The more a person knows and is educated, the greater the baggage of words he possesses. After all, you can refer to historical events or biblical heroes in order to just name them and convey the whole range of feelings or concepts that you want to express.

At the same time, the author should understand that not everyone can understand his text. To eliminate this gap, it is necessary to make footnotes, explanations, at least in a short form. If the listener / reader is interested in learning more about the event or character to which the link occurred, then he will be able to get acquainted with it on his own.

Allusion helps to enrich the author's text, moreover, to present him as an educated person, to link his text with other well-known texts. A person wants to refer to catch phrases and famous characters or events in order to strengthen what he said. After all, if a person uses what is known and has long been accepted, his words do not lend themselves to criticism and evaluation.

Thus, to some extent, allusion helps to influence the perception of the text as unconditionally and without judgment. And this helps the author to have the desired impact on listeners or readers. The more well-known and understandable the links are for the audience, the more the author is understood, agreed with him and filled with the necessary emotions. And what else does an author need, who has remained heard, understood and positively evaluated ?!

In the creation of works, Russian and Western classics used various means and techniques. At the beginning of the last century, a tendency towards symbolism and allegory began to appear in world literature. Such features are not only present in modern prose, but are also the subject of close study of literary scholars today. Allusions have become the artistic figures that researchers have paid special attention to in the 20th century. What it is? What are they needed for? And what forms can allusions have?

Origin of the term

More recently, literary theorists have formulated a definition of allusion. What this phenomenon is, previously few people thought, and not because the masters of the artistic word did not apply it. Examples of allusion are found already in the poetry of the Middle Ages. Rather, the fact is that literary criticism did not develop so actively until the beginning of the last century.

In modern philology, this term is used to refer to one of the stylistic devices. Translated from Latin, it means "hint". Allusion is an artistic image that the author borrows from biblical subjects, ancient or medieval mythology, or in the works of other writers. The purpose of such borrowing is to draw a parallel between one's own literary creation and a well-known work already created before it. Thus, we can say that the author, using an already existing image, "hints" at his resemblance to the hero, plot or idea of \u200b\u200bhis novel, short story or story.

Types of allusion

With the help of such stylistic devices, the author can refer not only to a well-known literary work, but also to some historical fact. Various elements from biblical or mythical stories can act as an allusion. It is impossible to answer within the framework of one article what this artistic phenomenon is. Many literary researchers devote their works to this topic, each of which offers its own interpretation and classification. To get a general idea of \u200b\u200bthe allusion, one should give several examples from the literature and classify them according to the main criterion, namely, the source from which it can be borrowed. So, such artistic images can be:

mythological;
biblical;
historical;
literary;
philosophical and aesthetic.

Allusions are used to form a plot, to reveal the image of a hero or an idea of \u200b\u200bthe author. They can be found in the title of the work or in its ending. Also, these can take a medial position.

"In the first circle"

The allusion in the novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is in the title of the work. In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri formed the strict structure of the afterlife, dividing it into nine circles. The sinful soul, according to the plot of the poem by the Italian author, finds itself in one of them. But each of the circles corresponds to the severity of the offenses committed during life. The first contains the most harmless sinners, whose guilt is highly questionable: unbaptized babies, virtuous but unbaptized people. In Solzhenitsyn's novel, Dante's first circle is taken as an allusion. What kind of allegorical device it is and what function it performs can be understood by remembering the words of the author: "The most expensive thing in the world is to realize that you are not participating in injustice." The heroes of the Russian writer are punished, suffer, like the inhabitants of the first circle of the Italian philosopher, innocently and are victims of a huge terrible system.

Shakespearean allusions

Elements borrowed from the works of William Shakespeare are actively used in the works of modern authors, primarily English-speaking ones. One of these allusions is the image of the black prince from the novel. The plot of this work is a prehistory to the legend of the Danish prince.

The English writer draws a parallel between the heroes of his novel "The Collector" and Shakespearean characters from the tragedy "The Tempest". In both the first and second cases, the symbols occupy a medial position.

As for the works of Russian classical literature, a vivid example of an allusion to images from the work of the English playwright is Leskov's story "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District."

Other artistic allusions

The choice of the source of allusions depends on the time in which the author lives, on his ideas. In the novel "The Master and Margarita" there are allegories everywhere, subtle allusions to biblical images and plots. Bulgakov's work raises many questions and riddles. But the references of the author of the cult work of the 20th century to Goethe's "Faust" are obvious. The name of the main character is the main allusion. Bulgakov dedicated the main storyline to love and the theme of fleeting happiness, which is also an interesting subject of study by critics due to the abundance of images of the German poet in it.

Reminiscence is a more general concept. The use of various images and elements from the known can take various forms. The stylistic device to which this article is devoted implies the most unambiguous reading.

Allusion and reminiscence are generally understood to be almost synonymous. Great characters and plots may have already been created. Modern authors can only rethink them and transfer them to our time. And it should be said that similar ones are used not only in literature, but also in cinema. An example from Soviet cinema is the film Children of Don Quixote. The protagonist of this film does good without expecting a reward. He devotes himself to work with all his heart, not paying attention to ridicule. His actions may seem insane to ordinary people. But these follies are noble. And this is the similarity of the movie hero with the character of Cervantes.

Hello dear readers of the blog site. Today we will talk about such a little-known term in the Russian language and literature as ALLUSION.

This word has Latin roots and literally translated "allusio" means "Hint" or "joke».

Allusion is ...

Allusion is a stylistic device that contains an indication or analogy to a certain historical, mythological, political or literary fact that is generally known and has long become a part of culture or colloquial speech.

To better understand what is at stake, we will immediately cite example... Have you often heard the phrase "Strong as Hercules"? Here is a clear reference to the hero of ancient Greek myths.

Hercules is the son of the god Zeus, he possessed superhuman strength and performed 12 feats, for example, he held the sky on his shoulders or defeated a huge lion, tearing his mouth apart with his hands. And when we hear such a comparison "strong as Hercules", we understand that a person is really very strong.

Examples of popular allusions

Very often examples of allusions can be found in winged expressions and sayings:

The main thing, do not confuse an allusion with a quote... The latter is an accurate reproduction of someone's sayings, thoughts.

For example, the phrase "The die is cast" refers to the already mentioned Julius Caesar. But, not an allusion, although the phrase itself is widely used by many in everyday speech.

Allusions in literature

Many authors use this stylistic device in their works. It allows them to briefly describe the character of the characters, their actions or the situation in general. And the image turns out much more colorfulthan if they described it all in their own words.

And it happens that writers take the lines of some famous work and alter them a little, putting a completely different meaning in the famous expressions. For example, the famous remark of Chatsky in the monologue "Who are the judges?" - from "Woe from Wit" by Griboyedov:

And the world of the Fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us ...

Few people know that Griboyedov used the lines of another Russian poet - Gabriel Derzhavin:

Good news to us about our side
Fatherland and smoke are sweet and pleasant to us.

And what is interesting is that Derzhavin's phrase has a clear positive connotation. He is openly proud of his Fatherland, so that nothing happens to him and inside him. But Griboyedov, through the lips of Chatsky, on the contrary, ridicules this blind worship. By the way, Vladimir Mayakovsky will do the same much later, using all the same words:

For such a Fatherland, is such smoke really so pleasant?

And it so happens that allusions are used in the title of literary works... A striking example is Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel In the First Circle. After all, here is a clear reference to Dante and his "Divine Comedy", where all the circles of Hell are vividly painted.

In Dante, each circle is intended for certain sinners, depending on the severity of their deeds. So, in the first circle there are the most harmless, whose guilt may seem questionable at all. For example, Dante put unbaptized babies there, as well as good, but again unbaptized adults.

And Solzhenitsyn already in the title of the novel indicates that the heroes of his work are people who are not guilty of anything. They are victims who have fallen under the millstones of a huge system. Indeed, the novel “The First Circle” is about scientists who were locked in “sharashkas” as prisoners and forced to work for the state.

Instead of a conclusion

Allusion is a beautiful technique that allows a person not only to decorate his speech, but also to shine with erudition. After all, it implies the presence of certain knowledge.

The main thing is that the interlocutor to whom they are addressing is also was intellectually savvy... Otherwise, he may simply not understand what they are saying to him.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site