Features of Parenthetical Constructions in Mo Yan’s Novel “Tired of Being Born and Dying” (2005)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of parenthetical constructions and structures in the Chinese language of fiction, based on the material of the novel “Tired of being Born and Dying” by Mo Yan (《生死疲劳》莫言，2005) as  a problem of modern semantic-syntactic and functional-stylistic phenomena, which, representing localized fragments of speech as part of the main utterance, emphasize the nonlinearity of linguistic thinking and act as an artistic means of expression. Hence, the purpose of this work is to determine and systematize the features of the use of such plug-in constructions in artistic discourse on the selected material, to fix the beginning of the use of such a language practice not typical for Chinese literary texts previously. In the syntax of the Chinese literary language, such pragmatic inserts, or so-called parenthetics, were completely absent until the last quarter of the 20th century, because they were not  a normative and characteristic means of Chinese grammar. Its active implementation in artistic discourse can be attributed only to the turn of the 20th – 21st centuries and the first quarter of the 21st century. Syntactically parenthetical constructions function at the system (combinatorics of components), pictorial (stylistic labeling) and compositional (organization of text space) levels. Based on the factual material, it has been proven that the use of parenthetical constructions practice is one of the features of Mo Yan’s idiostyle, integrating different narrative plans. The paper also systematizes the main functions of plug-in structures. The results of the study provide a basis for further research of parenthetical constructions in Chinese prose.