The motivic complexes of "deception" and "lies" in E. Jelinek's novel "The Pianist"

Pokhalenkov Oleg Evgen'evich Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Literature, Kaluga State University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky 248002, Russia, Kaluzhskaya oblast', g. Kaluga, ul. Nikolo-Kozinskaya, 56, kv. 8 olegpokhalenkov@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

Gluhova Kseniya Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0009-0000-7607-7096 Student, Department of Literature, Kaluga state university named after K.E. Tsiolkovski 26 Stepan Razin str., Kaluga, Kaluga region, 248023, Russia glukhovaka@studklg.ru

"Deception" and "lies," their classifications and differences– are the subject of study by many researchers: some focus on the lexical features of semantics, others on the social side of the reasons for their existence and emergence in society, while others focus on the factual aspects. These aspects are discussed in detail in the works of D.I. Dubrovsky ^[2], who examines the structure of deception and its possible virtue, V.I. Shakhovsky ^[12], who analyzes the semantic features of terminology and the phenomenon of lying in society as a whole, Yu.V. Shcherbatykh ^[13], who analyzes the nature of this phenomenon and its history from the point of view of psychophysiology, and other scientists, among whom the work of B.F. Egorov "Deception in Russian Culture" (2012) ^[3] is particularly noteworthy. It provides the most complete definitions of these phenomena, the scope of their functioning and manifestation in the cultures of peoples.

B. F. Egorov pays special attention to the question of how literature can lie, cites numerous hoaxes and forgeries as an example, but does not touch on the cases of the artistic significance of the motives of deception and lies, when they become significant narrative units for the plot.

The possibilities of realizing "deception" and "lies" in literary texts at different levels have been considered in scientific works based on materials from both foreign and domestic literature: N.M. Zalesova ^[6] and G.O. Portnov ^[9] in their articles analyze these phenomena in works, paying special attention to the fact that how they affect poetics. Portnov concludes that in the early works of Fyodor Dostoevsky ("Poor People", "The Double", "Mr. Prokharchin") deception is noticeable at the motivational level and in the narrative organization, as well as in metaphors, which is achieved through the use of plots, characters of folk theater and masquerade. In the work of N.M. Zalesova, special attention is paid to the structure of deception, its moral aspects, studied on the basis of the novel "The magus" by J. Fowles. A.V. Lenets and M.A. Khatlamadzhiyan resort to the character level and its analysis from the point of view of deception in their work ^[8]. In their article, they describe the specifics of the linguistic representation of the portrait of a lying character. Linguists have not bypassed these categories either: in the articles of V.I. Zabotkina and E.L. Boyarskaya ^[5], the axiological concepts included in "deception" and "lies" are considered, and in the work of A.V. Lenets and G.G. Matveeva ^[7], lies become the object of pragmalinguistic research.

A review of existing works shows that the motive and motive complexes of deception and lies have not attracted much attention among researchers. In this regard, the presented article pursues precisely this goal: to analyze the motives of deception and lies, as well as the motive complexes they form, and to prove their plot-forming role in E. Jelinek's novel "The Pianist".

In defining the motive, we follow the opinion of I.V. Silantiev, who understands it as: "a) an aesthetically significant narrative unit, b) intertextual in its functioning, c) invariant in its belonging to the language of the narrative tradition and variant in its event implementations, d) correlating in its semantic structure the predicative principle of action with the actants." and spatiotemporal features" ^{[11, 96]}. By the motif complex, it is meant that the motive does not exist in isolation, as Putilov writes in his work: "The motive in an epic work "lives as part of a "block". In the plot, not only motives are significant, but also "blocks", and their value is not equal to the sum of the values of the motives included in them" ^{[10, pp. 151-152]}. We call these "blocks" motive complexes.

In the motor complexes that are analyzed in the work, the motives of deception and lies are of particular interest, since their transition from the plot to the plot through the implementation in certain events of the novel becomes the starting point for changing the value-semantic nature of the heroine's image.

In defining the image, we refer to the work of L.Ya. Ginzburg "On Psychological Prose" (1997), which states that the artistic image "is always symbolic, representative; it is a single sign of generalizations, a representative of vast layers of human experience, social, psychological" ^{[1, p. 11]}. She also notes that the aesthetic component of the image is not so important, more important is "the organization — selection and creative combination of elements reflected and transformed by the word" [ibid., p. 10], therefore, the image is directly related to the motif complexes that influence its interpretation in the text.

Of course, not every motive acquires plot significance, since it may lack aesthetic potential or its realization is reflected in events that do not directly affect the central character. Such motifs will be plot-based, they inevitably fall into motive complexes, but they do not lead to image transformation. Such motives can either imply the next element of the complex, or they can only be indirectly related to the central character.

In our work, we base ourselves on the definition of "deception" by B. F. Egorov: "Deception means an action of false words or deeds (or an action of omission about facts important for a given case), as a result of which the object of deception is either harmed in the form of material damage, mental trauma, etc., or, conversely, beneficial the effect on his psyche and mentality. Thus, there is a complex range of consequences of deception, from the most negative to the most positive; in each case, the result and the moral background are determined individually; mixed variants of results and moral assessments are possible" ^{[3, p. 13]}. Egorov also notes the differences between deception and lies: "a lie is only a part of deception, the one that is associated with the activity side of deception, with words and deeds, and silence belongs only to deception, but not to lies" [ibid., p. 15].

In the novel by the Nobel laureate E. Jelinek's "The Pianist" (1983), which is rightfully considered one of the best works of the writer, "deception" and "lies" are repeatedly found on the pages of the work, which is not surprising, since it has a social orientation, reveals initially insincere human relationships built on attempts to please a partner. The central characters involved in the lie are the pianist herself, Erica Kohut, and her student, Walter Klemmer, whose relationship is the semantic center of the work.

It should be noted that in the artistic space of the novel there are two main toposes – "home" and "the outside world", in each of which the motives of deception and lies are realized, they are interwoven into separate motivational complexes that relate directly to these motives, and acquire a special interpretation, leading to the existence of a different image of the heroine for each part of the artistic world.

The topos "house" correlates with the following motive complex of deception: motive of control – motive of deception – motive of resentment (acute reaction) – motive of quarrel – motive of apology.

The motive of control is reflected in the actions of Madame Kohut, Erica's mother: she monitors all her daughter's actions, she is not given freedom even in choosing her own future. These practices persist into adulthood: Erica's expenses, purchases, schedule, and more are checked.

Such restrictions, aimed at suppressing Erica's will, will be overcome by resistance, therefore, in the plot, the motive of control implies the motive of deception. Initially, in the topos "home" there is precisely the motive of deception, since in most cases Erica deliberately keeps silent from her mother about her pastime, trying to hide what she might not like. Thus, the motive of deception leads to the realization in the plot of the heroine's actions that do not correspond to her mature age, which is repeatedly noted by the author, hiding her purchases, expenses, as well as the places she visits after work: "Erica hopes in vain that she will hide ^[1] from her mother, where she was hanging out" ^{[4, c. 8]}.

Sometimes Madame Kohut's maternal instinct tells her that Erica is hiding something from her, so the motive of deception is further associated with the motive of resentment, which can be noted as variable for the topos "house", since it is not always included in the motive complex. The motive of resentment at this stage is embodied in the events of Madame Kohut's anger at her daughter, in the decision to ignore her and not talk to her. It can be replaced directly by the motive of the quarrel, or they can both be in the motive complex of deception, then the motive of the quarrel follows the motive of resentment. The motive of the quarrel is already embodied in an open confrontation, an aggressive conversation between two women, sometimes it comes to beatings.

This motivational complex ends with the realization of the motive of apology: Erica apologizes to her mother, admits her "mistakes," after which peace is briefly restored.

The motive of deception in this topos acts as a plot-forming one, since its realization becomes the reason for interpreting Erica's special image for this section of the artistic space.: This is a woman who tries to adjust to her domineering mother's expectations of her, playing the role of an adult and a child at the same time, and eventually fails because the demands are too high.

The motives of resentment and quarrels are fictional, as they have no influence on the transformation of the heroine's image.

The image of Erica in this topos is complemented by a special narrative organization: the narrator is not explicit, that is, the traditional narrative with the ‘heterodiegetic narrator’ is formally preserved^{[2] [15, p. 78]}, but the text shows the worldview of a particular character, which is fundamental to the view of events in this context. a piece of art space. This is 'internal focalization' [ibid., p. 82], it "defines perspective by seeing a character, which limits information to his/her perception and conceptual understanding of the world" ("locates the perspective within a character, limiting the information to his/her perceptual and conceptual grasp of the world") [ibid.]. In the "house" topos, Madame Kohut is mainly the focalizer, as a result of which the image of Erica becomes even more ridiculous – a "child" and a "little hurricane" ^{[4, p. 7]}, to whom they try to impose obedience, but at the same time demanding money.

The narrative organization complicates the "correct" understanding of the image, it is important not to take the perception of Erica's mother as a basis, but only to supplement their knowledge of the realities in which the heroine's life takes place.

With the appearance of a love conflict in the novel, the motive of lying begins to be realized in the "house" topos, that is, the "activity side of deception" is already present, when the subject intentionally tells a lie. The motive complex of deception becomes more complicated: the motive of control – the motive of lying (and/or the motive of deception) – the motive of the mother's awareness of deception – the motive of resentment (acute reaction) – the motive of forgiveness. This motivic complex of deception and lies is realized in the plot by the end of the novel, the change in the semantics of the components indicates new features in the characters, images and topos.

Initially, the topos "home" for the heroine is a place of peace, she hides here from the noisy and incomprehensible outside world, but with the advent of love, it loses its sacredness for her. The motive of control is still realized in the excessive attentiveness of the mother to her daughter's life, but the motive of lying implied by him, reflected in the following events: intentionally communicating an incorrect work schedule, inventing non-existent cases, and much more, indicates the gradual loss of authority by the mother for Erica.

The motive of the mother's awareness of deception is connected with her attempts to find her delayed daughter – calls to work or to places where Erica was supposed to be, but is absent there, sometimes the secret is revealed randomly due to the indiscretion of the heroine herself. The motive of resentment in this motif complex is more noticeable in the text: under the influence of emotions, the mother spoils her daughter's things, especially the clothes she forbade her to buy, cooks tasteless food and does it all so that Erica will definitely notice.

The final component of the motive complex is changing – the motive of forgiveness, it is no longer a one-sided admission of guilt by her daughter, Madame Kohut comes to terms with the "bad" behavior of her daughter, which in reality is only a distance from the mother. The initial negative emotions indicate Madame Kohut's difficult acceptance of her child's growing up, but she already reacts to it more calmly, realizing the inevitability of what is happening.

In this motivational complex, the motive of lying also becomes plot-forming, as it changes the interpretation of the heroine's image: the transition from the motive of deception to the motive of lying indicates that the heroine begins to confront her domineering mother, mentally matures, tries to separate from her. Now she is a woman who makes informed decisions, although they are largely illogical, but these are her "first" independent steps, which she does not do in an attempt to adjust to her mother's expectations.

In this motivational complex, the motives of the mother's awareness of deception, the motive of resentment and the motive of forgiveness will be the plot ones, since they are not realized in events significant for the interpretation of the heroine's image.

Madame Kohut's character is shown in dynamics: she goes from total restriction of her own daughter's will to allowing her to live freely: "it's not good for her (Erica), young and playful, to be ... in the company of an elderly woman (mother) all the time" [ibid., p. 437], she lets go of her. Erica's own searches are more difficult, which are also related to the topos of the "outside world".

The topos "the outside world" is initially something alien to the heroine, she does not feel comfortable in it: the cacophony of sounds, crowds of people, crowding, as well as social demands that the heroine does not fit. If the image of the mother was significant in the previous topos, then in this one it is the Klemmer, therefore the motif complex here will be associated with it.

In addition, Klemmer is also one of the focalizers for the topos "the outside world", his perception becomes a source of a "false" image of the heroine, if the mother stubbornly continues to see her as a helpless child, then he is a weak woman in need of love.

It was noted above that Erica's estrangement from her mother is most noticeable in her unwillingness to meet her expectations more, along with this, the topos "home" is losing its importance. It begins with a love conflict in the novel – Erica's crush on Klemmer.

Behind the long and complex development of their relationship, which is realized mainly in the topos of the "outside world", one can see the following motivational complex of lies and deception: the motive of public control – the motive of lies (and/ or deception) – the motive of resentment (acute reaction) – the motive of quarrel.

The motive of public control is expressed primarily in Erica's emotions and thoughts, which show that she builds her relationship with Klemmer with a constant eye on social rules. In addition to the fact that these are the heroine's first strong romantic feelings, they are complicated by her attempts to reconcile this love with social norms that she did not initially fall under: "the relationship between teacher and student once again takes on distinct outlines, and the relationship between lover and beloved is pushed beyond the distant horizon" [ibid., p. 262]. Consequently, in order to meet the expectations of society, the heroine has to lie and deceive, including Klemmer.

The motive of control implies the motive of lying and/or deception. In most cases, it is the motive of deception that correlates with the topos "outside world": Erica is silent about her feelings for Klemmer, about their nature, and does not talk about what kind of relationship she really wants. She comes from the norms of society that limit her, like her mother's control at home. The motive of the lie appears in the plot towards the end of the novel, when Erica tries to settle the conflict between her and Klemmer with her lies, again hiding her true self in favor of the expectations of a loved one.

The love conflict turns into a conflict when Erica decides to stop cheating, so she tells Klemmer in a letter what kind of love she really wants. He cannot accept that a woman needs cruelty and violence, and he needs tenderness, although according to social norms everything should be exactly the opposite.

At this stage, the central conflict of the novel arises – the limitations of those social paradigms into which the characters try to embed themselves, while engaging in self-deception, which leads to the realization of the motive of lying or deception in their romantic and social relationships. Moreover, they are dishonest even towards themselves.

The motive of resentment (acute reaction), which is implied by prolonged deception and lies both to himself and on the part of the heroine, is reflected in the cruelty shown by Klemmer towards Erica, beatings and rape. In this case, the motive of the quarrel is also attracted to the motive of resentment, since after the incident Erica believes that she will be forgiven, and the relationship is not over yet, as it often happened with her mother.

So, in the topos "the outside world", the motives of deception and lies also become plot-forming, since as a result of their realization, the main conflict of the novel arises, revealing its social orientation, and a different image of the heroine is interpreted from the previous one: this is a woman who could feel freedom, since there are no limiting factors, but she strives to create them artificially.. Erica is building a model of existence that is already familiar to her, but now in a different place. By the end of the novel, Erica, having gone through trials in love, having tried to take independent steps, returns to her mother's wing.: "Erica knows the direction she's going in. She's going home" [ibid., p. 446].

The composition can be called "aspiring" to the ring, since in the last chapter Erica runs home in fear, and the first chapter begins with her coming to the apartment and coming to terms with her mother's control.

Erica's image eventually returns to its original meaning, acquiring only some new features: a woman who is afraid to be herself and does not know who she is because of the existing social cliches that she is trying to adapt to, so she returns home, as this is a world understandable to her with feasible requirements for her personality.

During the analysis of the motives and motif-figurative complexes of E. Jelinek's novel "The Pianist", the following provisions were revealed: motives of deception and lies are plot-forming for the motor complexes existing in the toposes "home" and "outside world", as they change the value-semantic nature of the heroine's image, and also cause the realization of an acute social conflict of the work.

^[1] Hereafter, our italics are the authors.

^[2] Hereafter, our translation is by the authors.