The specificity of the representation of speech in family communication of the characters in A.P. Chekhov's novels

Sy Hongfeng Postgraduate student, Department of Russian language, South Federal University 344010, Russia, Rostov region, Rostov On Don, Sorge str., 21 jerry_on_don@qq.com Other publications by this author

The main work devoted to the problems of communication by A.P. Chekhov is a monograph by A.D. Stepanov, in which the depicted communication, "the word of heroes", is considered in the light of the theory of speech genres ^{[5, p. 37]}. The scientist notes that the most interesting "are internally dialogized texts in which (especially in the so-called "objective" narrative period (see 11. pp. 61-87) the interference of the words of the hero and the narrator is carried out, as it happens in the late Chekhov" ^{[5, p. 37]}.  

Inner speech is depicted in prose works with the help of different representational units: direct, indirect and non-direct speech. A special place in the number of ways of transmitting someone else's speech is occupied by non-direct speech. O.A. Prokhvatilova points out that "non-direct speech is a special form of transmitting someone else's word in a literary text." ^{[4, p.121]}. As an example, an episode from the story of A.P. Chekhov "My Life" can be cited. Mikhail, the protagonist of the story, without further ado, very sensitively understands the essence and causes of Masha's emotional experiences:"And Masha looked all the time as if she had woken up from oblivion and was now wondering how she, so smart, well-mannered, so neat, could get into this miserable provincial wasteland..." ^{[9, p. 203]}

This expression in the non-direct speech of what is happening in Your soul is simultaneously read as the evaporation of love. The non-direct speech introduced by the author is a means of switching the narrative into the plane of character existence. And this "correlates with the special artistic manner of the writer and his attitude to an objective type of narrative, in which the subjectivity of the narrator is eliminated and the point of view and the word of the hero prevail" ^{[2, p.67]}. Chekhov uses non-direct speech to achieve dialogicity in order to bridge the gap between the author's monologue and the dependence of the character, aesthetically limited by the author's objectification of a fictional narrative. This creates an existential stage for a full-fledged dialogue between both the author and the character, and the reader who is invited to join them. Thus, Chekhov deliberately invests multiple interpretations that are proportional to the quality of the work. Including the phenomenon of a trained reader who can decipher a complex context is also an integral part of this approach.  Some readers who do not have sufficient experience and knowledge may see in the work just a banality corresponding to the canons of the genre of mass culture. At the same time, more experienced readers can see the deep uniqueness of the author's meaning behind the surface of genre elements. Chekhov promotes the pluralism of the interpretation of the text, which stems from the principle of "text within text".

The essence of the "text in text" principle is that there is a gap between reality and its author's representation in the text, and therefore a personal picture of the world. At the same time, this opposition contains the idea of bridging the gap between the author's subjective position, separated from reality, and the surrounding world. In the final part of the narrative, the author expresses his own position through Masha Dolzhikova: "Art gives wings and takes you far, far away!" ^{[9, p. 259]}.

In this statement, Chekhov's innermost faith as an artist, his symbol of faith beyond all political theories, ideological constructions, scientific concepts. In this sense, we can say that Chekhov stands on the positions of "dialogicity", "polyphony", "decentralization of the author's monopoly", which retain to a large extent an evaluative, metaphorical shade. 

Chekhov's poetics does not promote the subjectivity of the "I", which denies the possibility of the formation of a single "we". Chekhov believes that the way to solve this dilemma lies in the discovery of reality, where "I" and "the other" can merge into a single "we" on the basis of love. In this sense, Chekhov's approach is characterized by the rejection of overt fiction and excessive sophistication in favor of autobiography, almost documentary accuracy in the representation of reality, the inclusion of details of everyday life and everyday colloquial speech.

Thus, in Chekhov's narrative, the function of indirect speech is to create a contrast between the author and the character and at the same time give the author the opportunity to actively participate in the life of the character. Chekhov does not claim total ethical authority and does not impose his final point of view.  The use of non-direct speech allows him to bridge the gap between the dominance of the author's ethical monologue and the dependence of the character. As a result, a unique existential scene devoid of dramatic framework is created, on which the author and the character can conduct a full-fledged dialogue, to which the reader is also connected.

There are three main forms of intrapersonal communication. Internal monologue, which is a unidirectional communication of an individual with himself.  The sequence of interrelated statements generated by the speaker and perceived by him is an internal dialogue. Short and unrelated utterances that occur in non-verbal situations or are an internal comment on perceived external speech or a reaction to a previous situation are called simple internal replication. For example:"So, gentlemen, what are we going to do?

I asked after a pause.…"Yes, yes..." muttered Ivan Ivanovich.

– Well, well, well…"Well, you can't cook porridge with this slobbery wreck," I thought and felt irritated" ^{[7, p. 464]}.

In this fragment of the work, the hero reacts to the words of the interlocutor, and his criticism of speech behavior becomes the central theme of internal replication in direct speech.

The concept of internal speech refers to various forms of speech processes that occur in the mind of a character in a work of fiction and are not intended for communication with a real interlocutor. There are several forms of how internal speech can be represented, which are associated with a system of representational units. This system includes direct, indirect and non-direct speech. The inner speech of the characters characterizes what happens in their minds and is transmitted to the reader in a literary work using a variety of techniques. It is the result of a transformation that allows you to illustrate the psychological nature of the characters and describe their thoughts and feelings.

In the creation of psychological prose, the inner speech of the characters received its own language style and became a separate element, different from the speech of the author. In a literary work, the author can choose an explicit or more hidden way to represent the inner speech of the characters.

The first way to represent the inner speech of the characters in the work does not require the use of a special language technique. The second way is to use special techniques that allow the author to present the thinking of his characters in a realistic manner.

Internal speech in works of art differs from external speech in some ways. To indicate that the characters are beginning to think or speak "about themselves", lexical units are used in sentences, such as verbs, nouns, which indicate that the characters are engaged in thought processes. These lexical units not only translate the narrative into a subjective plane, but also establish a connection between the inner speech of the character and the narrative. They help the reader to enter the inner world of the hero and show what is happening "inside" him. All this is done through an introspective display of the actor.

Typical lexical units introducing the inner speech of the characters in the stories of A.P. Chekhov of the late period are verbs or stable combinations with the meaning of thought/feeling: thought (thought), convinced himself, told himself, began to think, in imagination, etc.

Also, in the author's third-person narration, constructions built on the model of "it seemed that" and "I tried (tried) to understand that ..." are used, where the inner speech of the character is presented in the objectified author's narrative. "It seemed ridiculous to Pyotr Mikhailych that his aunt interfered in other people's affairs and made her departure dependent on the fact that Zina had left" ^{[8, p. 57]}

Note that not in every story the author introduces the inner speech of the characters, since sometimes it is not necessary to highlight the image of speech as an element of character characteristics. For example, in the stories "In the Manor" and "The Bouncer", the writer practically does not use internal speech, but still expresses the thoughts, feelings or actions of the characters through the description of situations, which implies the implied speech of the hero. For example: "It was a shame. Undressing, he looked at his long, wiry old legs and remembered that in the district he was called a toad and that after every long conversation he was ashamed..." ^{[8, p. 340]}

Communication between the heroine and her husband in A.P. Chekhov's story "The Hopper" can be described as a "dialogue of the deaf." This is especially clearly seen in the episode of the final conversation, when Dymov suspects his wife of cheating. Fearing that his wife will leave him, the hero is afraid to openly accuse her. The heroine is unable to understand the true feelings of her husband, happily talking about the successful defense of his dissertation. However, during the conversation with Ryabovsky, she understands everything, although there were a large number of words incomprehensible to the layman in the artist's speech: "the more incomprehensible he spoke, the easier Olga Ivanovna understood him." What is the reason that Olga Ivanovna understands her lover half a word, but absolutely cannot find a common language with her own husband? Obviously, the reason is that the heroine loves the artist and trusts him. It is through Olga Ivanovna's inner speech that we understand how flawed the state of affairs in the Dymov family is, which also applies to the heroine's novel with Ryabovsky: none of the heroes are completely sure of their feelings and thoughts.

The inner speech of the heroine in the finale of the story is replaced by silence, because the external speech is insincere, it further alienates close people. "In Chekhov's story, Olga Ivanovna's communication with her husband after her betrayal is a complete deception" ^{[1, p. 147]}.

In first-person narration, internal speech is not often found or absent at all, since the narrator is both the narrator and the hero, as, for example, in the story "Fear". The author does not name the character on whose behalf the narration is conducted, although in the subtitle "The Story of my friend" there is a hint of the connection between the author and the hero. The hero's relationship with Dmitry Petrovich is characterized as friendly, both husband and wife insist on the lexeme "friendship", "friend". Nevertheless, the narrator himself denies such close ties with the spouses, because he is in love with Maria Sergeevna. The hero's life credo is manifested in his inner speech, which arises in response to the remarks of a minor character known by the nickname Forty Martyrs:

 "Life, in his opinion, is terrible," I thought, "so don't stand on ceremony with it, break it and, before it crushes you, take everything you can snatch from it."Maria Sergeevna was standing on the terrace.

I silently hugged her and began greedily kissing her eyebrows, temples, neck..." [8 p.137].

The text shows the connection between the nonverbal behavior of the hero and his inner speech. Although he feels awkward in his relationship with his husband and Maria Sergeevna, the hero does not admit his feelings and silently "takes" the woman, acting under the influence of animal instincts.

A typical way of introducing internal speech in the stories of A.P. Chekhov can be called a combination of direct and non-direct speech. Such fragments of text may include the transmission of an internal dialogue through indirect speech, where the initiating replicas go into non-direct speech, the continuation ? in direct speech, and the final replica ? again in non-direct speech, for example: "... and all the time I thought that this unbearable state cannot last forever and that it is necessary to finish him one way or another. "But how?

What should I do?" he asked himself and looked imploringly at the sky and at the trees. As if asking them for help.^{[8, pp. 54-55]}.

In the non-direct discourse about which E.A. Popova writes, "the narrator makes available to the reader the innermost thoughts and feelings of his characters" ^{[3, p. 15]}.

A.P. Chekhov's short story "Name Days" is dominated by internal monologues and dialogues, as well as internal replicas-the reactions of the main character Olga Mikhailovna to the statements of other characters, primarily her husband Pyotr Dmitrich. 

All this is caused by the author's fundamental task: to demonstrate to the reader an "honest" nature, which would be the opposite of the "false" essence of a person. The text is dominated by verbs and verbal nouns belonging to the thematic group "intellectual activity": I began to think, imagination, thought, thought and under.  

The conclusion about the emotional state in which the heroine is during a conversation with Dymov can be made by referring to the lexemes that characterize her speech: muttered, puzzled, horrified, indignant and under. The semantics of verbs introducing internal speech appears as a marker of scandal in family relations. According to Igor Sukhoi's definition, "a scandal is a violation of ordinary, natural logic, the rules of good taste, however, in turn obeying other norms and thereby becoming a cultural stereotype and a speech genre" ^{[6, p. 255]}.  

The heroine's husband, Pyotr Dmitrich, does not have an inner speech, and his remarks sound as if he is playing a role. Even in relation to his wife, he speaks rhetorically. The tragic end of the story leads to internal changes of the hero. He wanted to say something, but could not, his suffering testifies to his love for Olga Mikhailovna.

The author uses the inner speech of the characters and the absence of it to express his assessment and attitude to the characters. In the story "In the manor" Chekhov deprives the main character, Pavel Ilyich Rashevich, of inner speech, which indicates his lack of communication and misunderstanding of loved ones: "He wanted to talk himself. If others spoke in front of him, then he experienced a feeling similar to jealousy" ^{[8, p. 338]}. To characterize the character, Chekhov uses verbs related to the semantic field "speech activity", and also resorts to emotional-evaluative qualifiers: he spoke, continued, he spoke joyfully in a thin voice and under. 

In turn, the changes in the internal state of the character, who showed rudeness towards the interlocutor, the author shows by introducing non-verbal markers: "Rashevich muttered, spitting; he felt awkward and disgusted, as if he had eaten soap"; "he sighed, lying under the blanket"; The character is devoid of internal speech, but nevertheless the less author's position is clear: everyone is capable of sincere feelings.

ConclusionA.P. Chekhov uses a variety of ways to convey inner speech in his stories, but the main one is non-direct speech, which appears both in internal monologues and dialogues of characters, and in simple replication.

This type of speech is characteristic of the writer's novels and short stories, in which the narration is conducted from the third person, where the boundary between the author's plan and the character is blurred, which requires the unification and interference of modes in the inner speech of the hero. Typical lexemes introducing the inner speech of characters in A.P. Chekhov's stories of the late period are verbs or stable combinations with the meaning of thought/feeling:: thought (thought), wondered, asked himself in despair, convinced himself, told himself, began to think, in imagination, flashed in her thoughts, etc.

 In those Chekhov texts where the narration is in the first person, in most cases verbs are used that convey external speech in dialogic family communication. Internal speech in these stories is not typical and is rare. There are single verbs that characterize speech activity: mutter and whisper, as well as the verb of the lexico-semantic group of sound – shout. Most prototypical verbs (to say, to speak) have qualifiers that convey the emotional, psychological state or physical position of the hero in an internal speech situation.