Abstract – This article is devoted to lingual cultural code that is viewed as the central category of a separate branch of linguistic studies, namely anthropocultural linguistics. The definition of this category is suggested and decoding of the cultural content of “Hell” and “Soul” as used by Marlowe in his “Tragic history of the Life and death of Doctor Faustus”is conducted.
I. Introduction
Linguistic anthropology is the branch of anthropology that brings linguistic methods to bear on anthropological problems, linking the analysis of semiotic and particularly linguistic forms and processes to the interpretation of sociocultural processes. Linguistic anthropology is concerned with the expression of culture through language. It is the culturally situated study of human language, including the sound system, grammar, stylistics, and language and cognition. In contemporary academic and scientific discourse, the name “linguistic anthropology” coexists with a number of other names that are often understood to be synonyms for the same intellectual enterprise.[1]
II. Сultural codes
The modern world-outlook transdisciplinary paradigm of scientific researches involves finding new intellectual constructions, among which is the category of cultural universum as value-organized sphere of human life world, which can be seen in different contexts.
Cultural code is suggested to be defined as a set of meanings (and their combinations), which are contained in any subject of human life.
It is substantiated that lingual cultural code as the system of lingual signs and their combinations and the verbal modus of the cultural universe provides the fulfillment of cognitive, orienting and adapting functions in the process of attachment of human existence phenomena to the senses of human activity. It has three basic functions: cognitive, value-oriental, adaptive. Its distinctive feature as an instrument of cognition is the transforming of description of reality in its explanation and understanding.
Features of lingual cultural code can be divided into general, reflecting its essential properties as the object of analysis; typological features that are not inherent to all codes but to codes as representatives of certain types; individual characteristics that are peculiar to individual codes and display their unique originality.
Whereas communicant’s recognition of lingual cultural codes provides the of communication and their analysis in the context cultural generatrix functions and defining role in forming the world of human life has a separate subject of anthropological research, we consider appropriate a selection of separate subsection of linguistic studios – anthropocultural linguistic. It is this science that is supposed to find those secret keys of our minds, with which the Word opens our culture, affecting us somewhere from the depths of its own creation and building our community.
So in this article we should define the notion of “cultural code” with the help of the basic knowledge about the period of Reformation – Renaissance and decode the cultural content of “hell” and “soul” as used by Christopher Marlowe in his drama “The tragic history of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”.
III. Information about the epoch and the tragedy
The sixteenth century in Europe was a time of unprecedented change. The mechanisms of commerce, systems of international finance, ocean-going trading fleets, an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, were all building a recognizably capitalist, money-based economy. The printing press created a media revolution. It brought ideas, partisan rhetoric, and how-to manuals to the people. Most of all, it brought the Bible, in its original tongues and in the vernacular, to the masses. A spirit of inquiry, a desire to return to first principles, was blowing through the Church, which had been the unifying cultural foundation of Europe for a millenium. The first half of the century saw what contemporaries viewed as the most earth-shattering change in the century: the Reformation. The cultural consensus of Europe based on universal participation in the Body of Christ was broken, never to be restored. Along with the Reformation came challenges to secular society. Homelessness and vagrancy were on the rise, and towns experienced a sense of crisis trying to deal with the poor. [2]
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), English dramatist, the father of English tragedy, and instaurator of dramatic blank verse, the eldest son of a shoemaker at Canterbury, was born in that city on the 6th of February 1564. He went to Cambridge as one of Archbishop Parker's scholars from the King's School. Before 1587 he seems to have quitted Cambridge for London, where he attached himself to the Lord Admiral's Company of Players, under the leadership of the famed actor Edward Alleyn, and almost at once began writing for the stage. As the result of some depositions made by Thomas Kyd under the influence of torture, the Privy Council were upon the eve of investigating some serious charges against Marlowe when his career was abruptly and somewhat scandalously terminated. The order had already been issued for his arrest, when he was slain in a quarrel by a man variously named (Archer and Ingram) at Deptford, at the end of May 1593, and he was buried on the 1st of June in the churchyard of St Nicholas at Deptford. The following September Gabriel Harvey referred to him as "dead of the plague."The just and generous judgment passed by Goethe on the Faustus of his English predecessor in tragic treatment of the same subject is somewhat more than sufficient to counterbalance the slighting or the sneering references to that magnificent poem which might have been expected from the ignorance of Byron or the incompetence of Hallam. Of all great poems in dramatic form it is perhaps the most remarkable for absolute singleness of aim and simplicity of construction; yet is it wholly free from all possible imputation of monotony or aridity. The unity of tone and purpose in Doctor Faustus is not unrelieved by change of manner and variety of incident. The spirit of the age was marked by both the Renaissance and the Reformation. Society had begun to loose itself from medieval institutions and to celebrate the ascendancy of the individual. Written in the tradition of medieval morality plays, Doctor Faustus explores the implications of one man's pact to sell his soul to the devil for twenty-four years of power and knowledge. Critics agree that Faustus represents a Renaissance man whose intellectual ambitions cause him to overstep his human bounds. Marlowe masterfully illustrates how Faustus, although he aspires to divinity, is gradually de-based throughout the play by the devil Mephistophilis. Succumbing to pride, avarice, and physical gratification, Faustus never realizes he has been duped into trading his soul for a life of triviality, and he refuses to avail himself of numerous chances to repent. Whether or not Doctor Faustus is meant to convey a particular religious message, it nevertheless presents a penetrating philosophical analysis of the consequences of human aspiration.
Marlowe is the greatest discoverer, the most daring and inspired pioneer, in all our poetic literature. Before him there was neither genuine blank verse nor a genuine tragedy in our language. After his arrival the way was prepared, the paths were made straight, for Shakespeare.[3]
IV. Text’s analysis and the defining the notion of cultural codes.
The analysis of Christopher Marlowe’s drama “The tragic history of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”, first established in 1604 and soon after in 1616, is made with the help of program Concordance, which is intended for detailed analysis of quantitative parameters of text or for the analysis of language on the whole. We’ll draw a conclusion on the basis of the selection of official part of language: union and (564), articles: the (544), a (222), an (47), exclamations: O (76), Ay (40), Nay (15), pretexts: on (28), in (205), at (52); context-conditioned, among which pronouns: that (227), me (187), you (174), my (169), his (152), thou (150), this (146), it (104), him (103), all (103), he (98), thee (81), such appeals as sir (36), master (18), grace (15), auxiliary verbs: will (98), have (97), shall (82), modal verbs: may (51), must (29), can (28), adjectives: good (41), well (25), sweet (22), great (21), adverbs: never (23), late (15), now (89), then (84), notionals: Faustus (353), Mephistophilis (72), Benvolio (48), Lucifer (45), Wagner (37), Robin (35), verbs: be (146) – is (137) – are (70) – am (41), come (73), do (68), see (58). Also there are some cultural codes, which can be divided into three groups: social – pope (39), emperor (39); spiritual – angel (35), heaven (33); physical world – scholar (33); mythological symbol horns (19) and special cultural codes such as hell (55) and soul (50) which must be decoded.
Exactly on growth of frequency we can assert that certain number of words, which is met the most frequent, specifies on certain features, which are the reflection of the epoch the drama was written in. Some of them most interesting and full of content I wrote down.
The symbol Horns is interesting in its use – as mythological one (FREDERICK. Martino, see, Benvolio's horns again! Your heads are all set with horns.) – Akteon in Greece mythology – the hunter, who guarded on the goddess of hunt Diana, when she was bathing with her nymphs in the river for what he was transformed into a deer and his own dogs tore him.[4]
Talking about verbs, interesting is the dependence of verbs with the same frequency of growth = 18: live – leave – give, explaining simultaneity of acts. As we can read, the story goes mostly about Faustus’ life (FAUSTUS. I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live;), who is called to leave “dark” art (O, Faustus, leave these frivolous demands) while Faustus agrees to give his soul to the devil (FAUSTUS. Ay, Mephistophilis, I'll give it thee), who gives him the book, where he can find the answer for any question ( MEPHIST. Here, take this book, peruse it well:The iterating of these lines brings gold; The framing of this circle on the ground Brings thunder, whirlwinds, storm, and lightning; Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself, And men in harness shall appear to thee, Ready to execute what thou command'st.). As we can notice, all actions, which are described by these three verbs, are held at present (FAUSTUS. So, now the blood begins to clear again; Now will I make an end immediately.) so that dominant adverb is Now, testifies that Mephistophilis is more persistent in his own dictates (MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, come, prepare thyself for mirth), and Faustus now submits him (LUCIFER. Faustus, thou shalt; at midnight I will send for Meanwhile peruse this book and view it thoroughly And thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt. FAUSTUS. Thanks, mighty Lucifer! This will I keep as chary as my life.); there’s narrow-mindedness in time, integral aspiration to get to know everything at once (FAUSTUS.That I may conjure in some bushy grove, And have these joys in full possession.). After now comes then but in more abstract meaning, near to afterwards (MEPHIST. Then, Faustus, stab thine arm courageously, And then be thou as great as Lucifer.) Everything mentioned before is a proof of Renaissance epoch: at that time new humanism perception of the world spreads everywhere and self-awareness of personality grows. The world view of Revival was imbued by a boundless faith in harmony of the world, in force and will of man-hero, in that a man is a measure of all of things. Humanism gave ideological colouring to Renaissance culture; it’s, in the first turn, new perception of the world, awareness of all of plenitude of grandeur of man, his ability to understand and turn itself for the good all of riches and variety of nature. Renaissance’s humanism is also a new study about a man, new ethic which co-starred in the field of humanitarian knowledge, it’s a new scientific method, which influenced on the development of natural science. Humanism cast aside all of external authorities. It opposes them self-determination of personality. Conception of uncontrolled liberty of the personality on the same level as god is became the ideological basis of new artistic perception of the world.[5]
We can be absolutely sure that Faustus is the main hero in Marlowe’s tragedy as the name of it is the history about Faustus but there’s something else and more important. Marlowe describes Faustus as a giant overcame with the desire of knowledge, wealth and power (FAUSTUS To give me whatsoever I shall ask, To tell me whatsoever I demand, To slay mine enemies, and to aid my friends, And always be obedient to my will.). The author strengthens heroic features of the legend, making Faustus full of heroic elements of European Renaissance (breeding not originally, but in the way of intellect), although his legendary biography was made in the epoch of Reformation. Everyone can understand that the devil, Mephistophilis, has more power and authority but still Faustus is dominant – as a human being, as a scientist who wants to discover everything in this world even if it’s done with somebody’s help (FAUSTUS I'll join the hills that bind the Afric shore, And make that country continent to Spain). Mephistophilis becomes only as a servant between hell with Lucifer and Doctor Faustus (MEPHIST. But now thou must bequeath it solemnly, And write a deed of gift with thine own blood; For that security craves Lucifer. If thou deny it, I must back to hell.), who induces, entices the scientist to the hellish environment (MEPHIST. Then, Faustus, stab thine arm courageously, And bind thy soul, that at some certain day Great Lucifer may claim it as his own; And then be thou as great as Lucifer).
V. The cultural content of “hell” and “soul”
Reading Marlowe’s drama I would like to say that to know the depth of content of cultural codes we have to pay attention to their predicates. There are many verbs that stands before the code soul in the text. In general, all these verbs express the actions or desires of Faustus and Mephistophilis. For example: Faustus. O, this cheers my soul! Mephisto. What will not I do to obtain his soul?
But as we know, Faustus’ dialogues with the devils were just because of Lucifer’s desire to have his soul: Faustus gives to thee his soul. We can find also that Faustus’ friends worry about his soul: The danger of his soul would make me mourn. Interesting are descriptions of Faustus’ soul, not as his life, but it’s glorified to get it by Mephisto and is poor for the Doctor to give it: We fly, in hope to get his glorious soul; terror to my fainting soul; yet, yet thou hast an amiable soul; fearing the enemy of thy hapless soul.
Unlike soul, hell is described in more miserable way – the way of pain and eternal crying: to light as heavy as the pains of hell; with greatest torments that our hell affords. Hell refers more to Mephisto: I am damn’d and now in hell; although Faustus want to incarnate his desires of knowledge in reality.
The main predicates of hell are: ever-burning hell, through which one can get magic charms; the contrast between as high as heaven and the lowest hell that shows the misery of the hellish environment; ugly hell, because Faustus’ soul will be damned there. “Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in hell.” – I think it’s the main “idea” of the hell indeed, where all souls are damned and there’s no “prospects”.
Summary
Lingual cultural codes help us to build “structures of meanings” reflecting the cultural values during the epoch of Renaissance. They can be viewed as the central category of anthropocultural linguistics.
There are a lot of questions about close interlacing between the two cultural codes “hell” and “soul” in Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy. This article suggests that on the basis of presentation of the notion of cultural codes SOUL and HELL in Marlowe’s tragedy one can make some conclusions concerning the spiritual life of Tudor man and his spiritual values. Was it worth for the Doctor giving away his soul for the “minute’s round the world voyage”? And did he think about the repentance one day? I can only say that the devil made his best – conjured Faustus’ soul and the Doctor lost himself. Hell became new comprehension of religious consiousness, taking the soul of a man as an eternal search in it.
References:
1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: [Електрон. ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_anthropology
2. Le Poulet Gauche, The sixteenth century: [Електрон. ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http://www.lepg.org/sixteen.htm
3. Online Encyclopedia (Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 744 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.): [Електрон. ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/MAR_MEC/MARLOWE_CHRISTOPHER_1564_1593_.html
4. Перевод Н. Н. Амосовой Легенда о Докторе Фаусте/ Перевод Н. Н. Амосовой. – М.,1978.
5. Гриценко Т. Б. Культурологія: Навчальний посібник/Гриценко Т. Б.. – К.,2008
6. http://www.concordancesoftware.co.uk/ - Конкорданс
7. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/cmarlowe/ bl-cmarlowe-faust.htm - Драма «Доктор Фауст»
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