GRAMMAR OF FICTIONAL TEXT: BETWEEN UNIQUE “EXAMPLES” AND SCIENTIFIC GENERALIZATIONS

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of transition from unique objects to generalizations while analyzing works of fiction. First, we reveal violations in the logic of this transition which are typical for modern research. Then we demonstrate how world philology arrived at the idea of the legitimacy of linguistic study of fictional texts in the 2nd half of the 20th century. We characterize factors which influenced this process and methodological difficulties in overcoming the gap between а) sentence linguistics and text linguistics; b) studies of “superindividual”, e.g. linguistic, objects and inimitable examples, e.g. fictional texts. In conclusion, we formulate methodological prerequisites for the elimination of the research problems listed at the beginning of the article.