15
VERBALIZATION OF ALLUSION IN TEXT HETEROGENEITY
Askarova Maftuna Tulkin kizi
Teacher at law lyceum named after M.S.Vosikova under
Tashkent State university of Law
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13898033
Abstract:
Allusion can be verbalized in various linguistic forms, ranging from explicit
references to more implicit and subtle expressions. These linguistic manifestations can include
direct quotations, indirect borrowings, lexical and syntactic echoes, and other textual elements
that signal the presence of an allusive reference. The specific verbalization strategies employed
by authors can significantly influence the reader's ability to recognize and interpret the
allusion.
Key words:
implicitness, emotiveness, imagery, text heterogeneity, concept,
conceptualization, intertextuality.
The verbalization of allusion contributes to the inherent heterogeneity of literary texts, as
it introduces multiple layers of meaning and intertextual relationships. This textual
heterogeneity can be further enhanced through the integration of other literary devices, such
as metaphor, irony, and parody, which may interact with and amplify the allusive elements
within the text.
In text category allusion is also mentioned and this will refer to how text heterogeneity
will appear. The category of the text is achieved by different means such as optional and
obligatory. So, main feature of text heterogeneity can be seen in the optional type of category in
the subgroup of intertextuality and it will help to create heterogeneity:
Now we will turn to text heterogeneity itself and its definitions and characteristics. Here
is some information on linguists and their opinions on the definition of text heterogeneity.
Text heterogeneity refers to the diversity and variation within a text or div of texts. It's
an important concept in discourse analysis and corpus linguistics. According to M.A.K. Halliday,
a prominent systemic functional linguist, describes text heterogeneity as the "diversity of
Optional
text
categories
The author`s
image
Implicitness
Emotiveness
Evaluative
Imagery
Intertextuality
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linguistic features" that can be observed within a text. He argues that heterogeneity arises from
the multiple functions and registers those texts can serve. So, we believe that features of the
text will vary from the purpose and style of the text which are supposed to face.
Deborah Tannen, an expert on discourse analysis, defines text heterogeneity as the
"internal diversity" of a text, including variations in vocabulary, syntax, and discourse patterns.
She sees heterogeneity as a natural byproduct of the multiple communicative purposes and
audience considerations that shape real-world texts.
Rens Bod, a computational linguist, conceptualizes text heterogeneity in terms of the
statistical distributions of linguistic features. He argues that heterogeneity can be quantified by
measuring the divergence from expected feature distributions within a text.
Overall, linguists tend to agree that text heterogeneity refers to the linguistic diversity and
variability that exists within individual texts or across a corpus. It's an important concept for
understanding the complexities of natural language use and communication. We agree that
analyzing and studying heterogeneity is a key measurement to comprehend the text in which
different styles or parts of other texts can be found. This will enable the readers to comprehend
the intention of the author that wanted to give real imagination and rich text.
Text heterogeneity plays an important role in complexing and enriching the text with the
help of differences in every aspect such as lexical diversity, style, linguistic and cultural
differences, multimodality, perspective, voices and others.
1
The following table will explore these aspects that can cause to appear text
heterogeneity:
23
Aspects
Explanation
Lexical diversity
Using a wide range of vocabulary like rare or specialized terms
ensuring lexical richness and variation in word choices.
Register and style
Shifting in formality, tone, and rhetorical purpose within the
text, using different genres or text types (such as formal vs
informal, academic vs conversational).
Linguistic
and
cultural aspect
Using words, phrases, or allusions from different languages and
cultural backgrounds.
Multimodality
Including non – textual elements such as images, graphs, or
multimedia content, interaction of textual and non -textual
mode of communication.
(“Little prince” Antoine de Saint-
Exupery)
Thematic
and
topical aspect
Covering multiple topics or themes within a single text or
corpus, shifting in the main focus/ subject matter
In the aspects that can make text heterogeneity, it can be seen that allusion also plays a
role of means of text heterogeneity. This will be developed in the further paragraphs below.
Now the focus will be given to functions of text heterogeneity.
According to Mikhail Bakhtin, text heterogeneity allows authors to represent diverse
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262298837_Homogeneity_and_heterogeneity_within_languag
es_and_texts_Theory_and_practice_of_word_length_modeling
2
Холбеков М. Матн, интерматн ва интерматнлик. Ўзбек тили, ва адабиёти журнали, 2013/6.
3
Лотман, Ю.М. Текст в тексте Текст. / Ю.М. Лотман // Избранные статьи в трех томах. — Т. 1: Статьи по
семиотике и типологии культуры. -Таллинн: «Александра», 1992. – С. 148-161. (150)
17
viewpoints, experiences and voices within a single text or corpus, according to his theory of
“polyphony”.
4
We believe that text heterogeneity enables authors go beyond the norms of text
category and feel free to make creative approaches.
According to William Labov, another function was analyzed. It is reflecting sociocultural
diversity. Text heterogeneity can serve as a means of representing the linguistic and cultural
diversity within a society or community. We believe that the reason is that text heterogeneity
allows using different cultural features to give clear imagination and overview to the reader.
In this case, there will appear need to study the relation between allusion and text
heterogeneity along with the role of allusion in making heterogenous feature. Allusion for this
reason possesses relation with heterogeneity as means of making heterogeneous features in
the text which will add quite different style or genre, tone to the source text.
Now the focus of the research will be drawn to samples of text heterogeneity and the role
of allusion in making it from samples of literary texts. We will delve into the analysis of an
autobiographical essay by
George Orwell
. In his essay, which is called
"Shooting an Elephant,"
the British writer George Orwell
presents a vivid account of his experiences as a colonial
police officer in Burma. The text exhibits a high degree of heterogeneity, as Orwell seamlessly
blends different linguistic and rhetorical elements. For example, we can be the shift in linguistic
choices and the following extract will illustrate it:
"
It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse into
the nature of
imperialism
- the
real motives
for which despotic governments act - than I had ever gained
before. I saw the
hollowness, the futility
of the white man's dominion in the East."
5
In this passage, Orwell's language shifts between formal, literary diction ("hollowness,"
"futility") and more colloquial phrasing ("the nature of imperialism," "the real motives"). This
linguistic heterogeneity serves to reflect the complexity of Orwell's perspective, as he struggles
with the moral and psychological implications of his role as a colonial enforcer.
Furthermore, the text contains an explicit allusion to Joseph Conrad's novella "Heart of
Darkness," a seminal work that also explores the themes of
imperialism
and the
moral ambiguity
of colonial power
.
6
Orwell's reference to "the white man's dominion in the East" refers to
Conrad's depiction of the Congo as a symbolic "heart of darkness" that reveals the darker
aspects of the European colonial enterprise
7
. Generally, this intertextual allusion contributes to
the overall heterogeneity of Orwell's essay, as it situates his personal experience within a
broader literary and cultural context. The interplay of multiple voices, styles, and references
creates a multilayered text that reflects the nuanced and often contradictory nature of Orwell's
perspectives on colonialism and the human condition.
The next example is from
Tohir Malik’s
novel called “
Alvido bolalik”.
The novel is
famous for its clear description of orphan and abandoned children and their upbringing. So, the
following piece will illustrate diversity in vocabulary to illustrate the manner of speech of those
children:
4
Mikhail Bakhtin, “Problems of Dostoevsky`s Poetics”, University of Minnesota Press, 1984
5
Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." The Complete Works of George Orwell, edited by Peter Davison, vol. 17,
Secker & Warburg, 1998.
6
Bakhtin, Mikhail. Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics. Translated by Caryl Emerson, University of Minnesota Press,
1984.
7
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Blackwood's Magazine, 1899
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-
Maladessan-da, boss, ketvorgan bolasan. Ertaga yigirma beshni beraman.
8
-
O‘pkangni bos, bratishka. Yaxshini yaxshi deyish kerak, podletsni podlets. Xohlasang otangni
podletsligini isbotlab beraman.
9
The choice of words by Qambar which is different from literary style will illustrate the
manner and somehow background of the speaker, which enables readers to imagine the
character of Qambar and the rest of the novel informing about him will deepen the
comprehension. The words like “bratishka”, “podlets”, “ketvorgan bola” are related to colloquial
style and some of them are vulgarisms and foreign derived words.
The same effect is achieved by a slight distortion of an English word or a morphological
word form so that grammatical aspect of a changed word will bear resemblance to the
morphology of the foreign tongue.
For example, to analyze the speech of a German emigrant in the story
“The Last Leaf”
O’Henry
uses the following distorted words with a slight German resemblance:
“
Vass! Is dere
people in de world mit der foolishness to die because leafs dey drop off from
a vine?
Vy
do you allow dot silly
pusiness
to come in der prain of her…”
10
Now here the author enriches the imagination of the readers with distorted words to give
a hint of German character and the atmosphere to feel real. To understand some of them, we
need to refer to German language.
In Uzbek literature this can be seen in the novel called “Todd” by Isajon Sulton, which the
title itself gives somehow different expectation and the beginning lines contain German
sentence to give full insight in to the context of the work. It is as follows:
“Qaydam, bundan ikki yil burunmidi, falsafaga qiziqqan paytlarim edi. Bu g`aroyib fan aql-
u hushimni shu qadar egallab olgandi-ki, har bir narsadan falsafiy xulosa chiqaraverardim.
Falsafa esa, asli
Olmoniyada
rosa rivojlangan emasmi, qay bir kitobda o`qigandim “
Der Todd
immer gevinnt
” degan nemischa so`z shuuurimga yopishib qoldi”.
11
The title will be clarified in the lines that we mentioned above. This is another text
heterogeneity in Uzbek literature and their linguistic diversity which was contributed by the
word “Olmoniya” which is a literary word. So, there is a feature of referencing to other sources
as well as the mixture of diverse sources within a text.
The further examples will be provided from both English and Uzbek literature that has
allusive heterogeneous feature. The first example is derived from David Mitchell’s “Cloud
Atlas”:
Rafael was next coerced to take his turn. He sat on the "widow maker" & sang these lines in
a voice unschooled yet honest & true:
– Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Hurrah, you rolling river.
Oh, Shenandoah, I'll not deceive you,
We're bound way 'cross the wide Missouri.
Oh, Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
I love the place across the water.
8
Tohir Malik, Alvido… bolalik, Yoshlar nashriyot uyi, Toshkent, 2019, 27p.
9
Tohir Malik, Alvido… bolalik, Yoshlar nashriyot uyi, Toshkent, 2019, 53p.
10
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/the-last-leaf
11
http://www.ziyouz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6638
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The ship sails free, the wind is blowing,
The braces taut, the sheets a-flowing.
Missouri, she's a mighty river,
We'll brace her up till her topsails shiver.
Oh, Shenandoah, I'll leave you never,
Till the day I die,
I'll love you ever.
Silence from rude mariners is a grander accolade than any erudite eulogy. Why should
Rafael, an Australian-born lad, have an American song by heart? "I didn't know 'twas a Yankee
un," he replied awkwardly. "My mam teached it me before she died. It's the only thing of hers I got
still. It stuck in me." He turned to his work, an awkward curtness in his manner. Henry & I sensed
anew the hostility that workers emanate at the by standing idler & so we left the toilers to their
industry.
12
The piece of poetry in the novel goes back to 19
th
century according to speculations and
it is one folklore tune in the period of Civil War. This poem will emphasize the situation that for
what it was chosen to, for the boy who is from Australia and sang American song. This literary
allusion requires cultural knowledge structure and it emphasizes that the boy from another
culture is singing it. The song is in poetic belles-lettres style and it is used in prose which is not
full of this style, but prominent style is neutral literary.
The next example from Uzbek literature will also illustrate literary allusion and it
activates cultural knowledge structure of the reader. This sample is from the work by Utkir
Hoshimov’s story titled “Oltin baldoq”:
Оtin хоlа yanа bir mаrtа tоmоq qirib, оvоzini sоzlаb оldi-dа, bоyagidаn hаm bаlаndrоq
hаyqirdi: – Assаlоmu аlаykum, kelin sаlо-о-о-m!
Kаrmоnni kаttа оchgаn
Ayamаy pulni sоchgаn,
Qоrinlаri qоpdаy,
Mo‘ylоvlаri shоpdаy
Qаynоtаsigа sаlо-о-m!
Оdаmlаr chekkа-chekkаdаn kulib yubоrishdi. Isrоil mo‘ylоv hоvli etаgidаgi хоnаdаn
kаrnаygа o‘хshаtib o‘rаlgаn kаttаkоn nаmаtni qo‘ltiqlаb chiqdi. Hоvli o‘rtаsidаn pishillаb o‘tdi-
dа, nаmаtni оbоrib kelinning оyog‘i tаgigа qo‘ydi.
13
In this story traditional folklore tune for post-wedding costumes is described and this
fragment is different from the precedent text with its structure and also vocabulary choice. The
fragment of folklore is colloquial style and very short sentences which are in speaking style and
format which will showcase the style of folklore. In this story the writer refers to folklore more
especially in the topic of wedding traditions. This text heterogeneity enriches the text
discussing topic and informs about costumes and effectively strengthens the imagination of the
reader. So, here the need for cultural background will be vital to comprehend the case in the
story.
Heterogeneous texts often bridge disciplinary boundaries, enabling readers to make
12
David Mitchell, “Cloud atlas”, 2004, 38p.
13
O‘tkir Hoshimov, “Dunyoning ishlari”, “Oltin baldoq”, Tashkent, 2015, 170-171p.
20
connections across fields and integrate knowledge from different domains. It illustrates the
inherent complexity and multifaceted nature of real-world phenomena, which are rarely
monolithic or uniform in their expression. The study of text heterogeneity can provide insights
into the socio-cultural, historical, and ideological forces that shape language use and
communication practices.
In summary, text heterogeneity is important for representing diverse perspectives,
improving comprehension, fostering critical thinking, promoting interdisciplinary connections,
reflecting real-world complexity, enabling textual analysis, and enhancing rhetorical
effectiveness.
References:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262298837_Homogeneity_and_heterogeneit
y_within_languages_and_texts_Theory_and_practice_of_word_length_modeling
2.
Холбеков М. Матн, интерматн ва интерматнлик. Ўзбек тили, ва адабиёти журнали,
2013/6.
3.
Лотман, Ю.М. Текст в тексте Текст. / Ю.М. Лотман // Избранные статьи в трех томах.
— Т. 1: Статьи по семиотике и типологии культуры. -Таллинн: «Александра», 1992. – С.
148-161. (150)
4.
Bakhtin, Mikhail. Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics. Translated by Caryl Emerson,
University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
5.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Blackwood's Magazine, 1899
6.
Tohir Malik, Alvido… bolalik, Yoshlar nashriyot uyi, Toshkent, 2019, 27p.
7.
Tohir Malik, Alvido… bolalik, Yoshlar nashriyot uyi, Toshkent, 2019, 53p.
8.
O‘tkir Hoshimov, “Dunyoning ishlari”, “Oltin baldoq”, Tashkent, 2015, 170-171p.
