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ICONICITY AS A COGNITIVE PRINCIPLE IN LITERARY DISCOURSE
Askarova Maftuna To‘lqin qizi
First year PhD student Tashkent state university of Uzbek language and
literature named after Alisher Navai mrsmodest51@gmail.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15726717
Abstract:
The article discusses one type of cognitive principle called
iconicity. It is devoted to stylistic analysis of iconicity as a cognitive principle.
The article outlines three distinct types of iconicity and their role in forming
some cognitive stylistic devices. The article provides literary extracts to
illustrate stylistic devices used.
Key words
: iconicity, proximity, sequencing, quantity, foregrounding,
phonetic iconicity, conceptual information The term "iconicity" refers to the
similarity between the verbal sign and its denotate. The issue of the
conventionality and motive of linguistic signs serves as the foundation for the
notion of iconicity. It is impossible to alter the sequence of homogenous phrases
or the logical order of the event sequence. Linguists differentiate between three
categories of iconicity.
Both cognitive and stylistic research are very interested in the issue of the
iconicity of language signs, which was established in the works of renowned
academics such as Peirce, Haiman, Jakobson, Lotman, Eco, Kibrik. The semiotic
theory of language's creator, C. Peirce, distinguished three categories of iconic
signs—image, metaphor, and diagram—that indicate the relationship between
the signified and the signifier based on similarities. From a cognitive-stylistic
standpoint, metaphorical and figurative depictions of iconicity are particularly
intriguing. We must stress that metaphorical representations of iconicity in our
work are generally understood to mean iconicity expressed through all
figurative language, including phraseological units, derived and compound
words, and stylistic techniques for generating imagery (metaphor, metonymy,
antonomasia, allusion, symbol, metaphorical epithet, and metaphorical
paraphrase).
In her work, G.G. Molchanova addresses stylistic iconicity in relation to the
issue of stylistic device typology. In line with J. Haiman, she makes a distinction
between the iconicity of quantity, distance, and sequence and classifies stylistic
devices based on these categories. Gradation, zeugma, and phraseological
epithet are examples of stylistic elements that are based on the iconic principle
of distance. The violation of the concept of sequence serves as the foundation for
the construction of stylistic devices such as chiasmus and inversion. All forms of
parallelism, antithesis, and repetition are infused with the principle of quantity1.
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The study by N.M. Dzhusupov, which focusses on the cognitive-stylistic
analysis of the foregrounding strategy in discourse, also looks at the cognitive
principle of iconicity. N.M. Dzhusupov claims that many of the foregrounding
strategies, which the author views as involving parallelisms and language
deviations, are founded on the principle of iconicity, suggesting a relationship
between foregrounding and the cognitive principles of iconicity2.
The iconic sequencing principle. It demands that the events in the text
match those that actually happened. As an example, the text's overall phrase
structure should follow a chronological sequence of events. It deals with the
spatial, causal, and socially conditioned regularities of the text organisation that
represent the actual occurrences in addition to chronological regularities. The
iconic sequence principle
(He arrived, he saw, he conquered) provides the foundation for linguistic
phenomena including word order, tenses, and successive phrase structure in the
text3.
It should be mentioned that this rule may be wilfully broken in a literary
work. G.G. Molchanova highlights stylistic phenomena that defy the text's logical
sentence structure, including retrospection, prospection, represented speech,
and stream of consciousness4. Such stylistic strategies as inversion and
chiasmus, which position the inverted elements in "the active zone," are based
on the breach of conventional word order. R. Langacker coined this phrase,
which refers to the activation of the meanings' most conceptually significant
subparts.
The violation of iconic sequencing can be seen clearly in the novel “The
sound and the fury” by William Faulkner. The main character in the novel is a
disabled man Benjy. The story opens with his narration of past events which
requires reader’s reconstruction of events and chronological orders of them. The
writer uses this iconic sequencing in violated form so that he can illustrate
Benjy’s subjective perception of time, but emphasizing inner consciousness over
objective chronology. This was deliberately used by the author as a stylistic and
cognitive tool and was so common in Modernist literature. The following
extracts from the novel will illustrate this:
“Caddy smelled like trees. We played in the branch and Caddy smelled like
trees.”5…
“Caddy was walking. Then she was crying. She was in the swing. Then
Father died.”6
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Following the volumetric-pragmatic segmentation principles, which state
that the principle of distance governs segmentation, is essential to the iconicity
principle. This indicates that linguistic units are either near or far from one
another, depending on the level of semantic relatedness. The author's aesthetic
aims define deliberate transgressions of the iconic principle of distance, which
help to generate new conceptual interpretations. For example, “The Sick Rose”
by William Blake contains following lines which can be seen iconic proximity in:
O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm, Has found
out thy bed Of crimson joy; And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.7 In
the line “Has found out thy bed/ Of crimson joy;” the words “bed” and “crimson
joy” are places close as they are conceptually linked. “bed” symbolizes intimacy,
and “crimson joy” represents passion and love. The following lines put two
opposite concepts against each other: “love” and “destroy” to form paradox:
what should bring joy instead causes a destruction. The linguistic closeness
reflects the conceptual contradiction and tension at the heart of the author. The
foundation of the iconic principle of quantity is the idea that the quantity of
verbal cues determines informativity. "More form - more meaning; less form -
less meaning" is one way to put it8. The issue of redundancy, which is also seen
to
be one of the cognitive principles of textual information presentation, is
related to this principle. We'll talk more about the redundancy issue.
Reduplication, all forms of repetition, phonetic devices (onomatopoeia,
alliteration), paronimic attraction, periphrasis, and parallel constructions are
just a few of the language phenomena that are founded on the famous principle
of quantity.
Clear example can be seen in the “Bleak house” by Charles Dickens. Opening
paragraph of the novel starts as follows: “Fog everywhere. Fog up the river,
where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river... Fog on the
Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of
collier-brigs... Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners...”9
Dickens illustrates how the word fog permeates every part of London with a
lengthy list and repetition. A sense of immensity, suffocation, and social
paralysis are produced by the length and accumulation of details. The fog
becomes more intrusive and suffocating the more words are used in the
description; this aligns the reader's perspective with that of the protagonists.
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It is possible to intentionally employ the iconic principle of number in
speaking acts and literary compositions. It serves a number of purposes: a) to
draw the reader's or listener's attention; b) to emphasise the redundant
element; c) to understand the politeness principle; d) to affect the reader
emotionally; and e) to function as the literary text’s motive10.
The iconic signs that function as the text's overall semiotic dominant are the
most intriguing feature in terms of foregrounding interpretation. Let's take
phonetic conicity as an example, whose importance cannot be overstated. In this
sense, E. Poe's poem "The Bells" is a classic example.
Hear the sledges with the bellsSilver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle,
tinkle, In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a
crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the
tintinabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells,
bells, bells From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells11.
Rich in iconic signs, this poetry piece uses paronymic appeal (tinkle -
twinkle - oversprinkle), alliterations, onomatopoeias (tinkle, tintinabulation,
jingling, tinkling), and repeats of sounds [t], [b], [m], among others to create a
sound image of silver bells. The phenomena known as "a phonetically motivated
connection between phonemes and the non-sound (non-acoustic characteristic)
of the denotatum (the motive) underlying the nomination" should be highlighted
in particular. According to this definition, sound symbolism is based on certain
motivated linkages between the signifier and the signified in terms of form,
movement type, size, etc., even though it is not an imitation of sound.
The contextual characteristics of the use of the lexemes time and bells in
this example condition the sound symbolism. These lexemes, when employed
repeatedly, produce new kinetic meanings, giving the impression that the bells
are swinging rhythmically due to the movement of the harnessed sleds. The
reader is deeply affected emotionally and aesthetically by the combination of all
the distinctive signals that paint a clear picture of a winter environment,
complete with sleds sliding across the snow, horses pulling them, and the
glittering ringing of bells. Thus, the text's semiotic dominant is phonetic
iconicity.
To sum up, it’s critical to stress that the iconicity of foregrounding is
defined by: a. The relative, conditional nature of likeness between the fictitious
and real worlds within the antithesis of "fictionality - factuality"; b. The artistic
SCIENCE AND INNOVATION IN THE
EDUCATION SYSTEM
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representation of real reality based on relationships of similarity and
resemblance between the author's imagined world and true reality; c. Iconic
verbal cues in foregrounding: a) help create new conceptual meanings that are
emotional-expressive in nature, and b) are important in the process of
foregrounding conceptualisation and interpretation.
In conclusion, it is clear that iconicity as cognitive principle can be bases for
several stylistic devices to form conceptual and cognitive effect. The study of
iconicity can reveal cognitive basis of some stylistic devices which can prove the
cognitive features of modern stylistics developed under the effect of
anthropocentric paradigm.
References:
1.
Ashurova, D. Cognitive Linguistics, Tashkent, 2018, p. 66.
2.
Ashurova D.U. Text Linguistics. – Tashkent: Tafakkur Qanoti, 2012
Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. М.:
Просвещение, 1990
3.
Джусупов, Н.М. Когнитивная стилистика. Теория и практика
стратегии
выдвижения
в
художественном
тексте.
Ташкент:
Vneshinvestprom, 2019. 464 с.
4.
Молчанова, Г.Г. Английский язык как неродной. Текст, стиль,
культура, коммуникация. – М.: Олма Медиа Групп, 2007.
5.
Jakobson R. Linguistics and Poetics// Style and Language. Ed. by Th. A.
Sebeok. Massachusets Inst. Of Technology, 1960
6.
Caddy Smelled like Trees – “The Sound and the Fury” by William Faulkner
(Part 1)
7.
The Sick Rose 9. Excerpt from Bleak House 10. The Bells by Edgar Allan
Poe
