THE ROLE OF MACROPROPOSITION IN THE SEMANTIC PERCEPTION OF A LITERARY TEXT

Аннотация

This article analyzes the role of the concept of macroproposition in the process of understanding a literary text. The study highlights how identifying macropropositions helps reveal the deeper semantic layers of a literary work, the coherence between its theme and idea, and the semantic mechanisms that ensure the reader’s active cognitive engagement. This approach serves as an important methodological basis for analyzing and interpreting literary texts. Keywords: cognitive linguistics, cognitive analysis, conceptual analysis, macroproposition, proposition, discourse, global coherence, local coherence, metaphor. A text being read is a dynamic (active) text, while a text outside the process of reading is considered static (inactive)1. Considering that the creation of a text involves several complex cognitive processes on the part of the author, it can be said that in perceiving such a text, the reader is also required to reconstruct various logical and cognitive structures in their mind. The primary condition for comprehending the meaning of a text is understanding the macroproposition it conveys. A macroproposition is an integral proposition derived from all the details and micropropositions within the text, representing its overall meaning. This term entered the field of linguistics through the scholarly works of T.A. van Dijk. Studies in this field show that identifying a text's macroproposition involves stages such as omission, generalization, and construction2. Identifying macropropositions plays a crucial role in the analysis of literary texts. For example, in Nazar Eshonqul’s well-known short story “Shamolni tutib bo‘lmaydi” (“You Cannot Catch the Wind”), the events surrounding the death of Zamon the horse herder can be analyzed through a macroproposition formed by the generalization of several smaller propositions. This approach aids in understanding the literary text as well as uncovering the author’s intended message. Considering that macropropositions are “cognitive models of linguistic representations — schemas that allow the observer to focus only on the essential 1 Гальперин И.Р. О Понятии Текста // Вопросы Языкознания. – Москва, 1974. – №6. – С. 22. 2 Сафаров Ш. Когнитив Тилшунослик. – Жиззах: Сангзор, 2006. – Б. 33. 116 Acumen: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Acumen: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSN: 3060-4745 IF(Impact Factor)10.41 / 2024, VOLUME-2, ISSUE-6 features of an object for analysis”3, we argue that identifying macropropositions in a literary text requires selecting only the relevant micropropositions from the text. In the example below, the macroproposition is expressed as: “Bayna Momo killed Zamon the horse herder and cut off his fingers.” This macro-level meaning is derived by generalizing various propositions spread across different parts of the text. The following propositions, drawn from different parts of the text, clearly contribute to reconstructing a single overarching macroproposition: “The death of Zamon the horse herder did not soften Bayna Momo’s heart.” “Her (Bayna Momo’s) fingers were trembling, and the room was filled with an unpleasant odor, reminiscent of the smell of blood.” “When Polat Chol arrived, he could not find Bayna Momo at home: she returned late at night like a shadow and did not leave the house again until the police came asking.” “Zamon the horse herder died like a dog… his clothes were torn to shreds, his body mutilated, and all ten of his fingers had been cut off…” “The fingers could not be found. The body had to be buried without them.” “Before her death, Bayna Momo called for her sister, gestured toward a half-ruined chest, and died quietly without uttering a word.” “Eventually, ten human fingers were found in the chest — dried and darkened over the years, nearly turned to powder, wrapped loosely in a piece of old cloth.” These excerpts represent individual propositions from various parts of the story, yet they all contribute to conveying a unified macroproposition. Specifically, the author builds the following micropropositions: Bayna Momo did not rejoice at Zamon’s death; On the day Zamon was killed, Bayna Momo returned home very late and did not leave her room until the police arrived; Zamon’s fingers had been cut off during the murder; The fingers were never found, and Zamon was buried without them; Before dying, Bayna Momo pointed to the chest; After her death, decomposed human fingers were discovered inside that chest. These propositions work together to reconstruct the macro-level meaning: “Bayna Momo killed Zamon the horse herder and kept his severed fingers hidden until her death.” From a pragmatic perspective, a macroproposition represents the core message the author intends to convey through the text, while from the reader's point of view, it is the final conclusion drawn based on the content of the text. This interpretation clearly demonstrates that the macroproposition is a phenomenon direct