The Universe in a Shell [Articol]

Abstract

There is a stylistic device which, regretfully, is undeservedly neglected by some beginners in their stylistic analysis of the text nowadays. There are several reasons for this but the major one, to my mind, is the lack of reading habits. It is a device which really does not catch attention at the first reading – the artistic detail. As shells on the sea shore which are of no much interest for those who have come to the beach to enjoy the sun and the waves, so this device very often escapes students’ notice. Yet, the simple shell for a philosopher’s eye, as our great linguist, Eugenio Coseriu teaches - is a symbol of the whole universe. Similarly, the artistic detail, inconspicuous, as it may seem, can create the image of a whole through its insignificant trait. The reader may even co-participate in the author’s creative process. Moreover, the artistic detail is a key to the subtext. That is why the present article (applying E. Coseriu’s theory and V. Kuharenco’s practical classification in the analysis of E. Hemingway’s story “A Day’s Wait”) tries to revivify the interest for it.