Plot Structure

The work explores the structure of literary plot (narrative). Taking Russian formalist Vladimir Propp's idea of invariance of the functions sequence in fairy tales as the starting point for their study of narrative, the authors develop a model to describe the minimal plot structure as a result of cyclic transposition (permutation) of such paired elements, which a priori are non-invertible (as A>B). The authors convey their minimal plot model by the formula: C (P (S, O), P (O, S)), P – predicate, S – subject of the action, O – object of the action and C – is a transformation of the initial predicate P (S, O) into the final plot predicate P (O, S). In other words A>B transforms into B>A. In terms of the suggested plot model, those paired opposite elements are non-invertible from the point of view of logic and common sense (e.g. "alive – dead" relation is non-invertible in physical reality) and their cyclic inversion becomes possible only due to “double reality” of the narrative space. The authors argue that the trivial invertible narrative sequences such as: “John left home – John returned to his home” or “John fell in love with Mary – Mary fell in love with John” do not constitute any minimal plot in contrast to the non-invertible sequences such as “A kills B, B kills A”. The latter is a structural substrate of a basic revenge plot and is just a special case of the general minimal plot "A>B, B>A" first mentioned in Poetics by Aristotle who described how “the statue of Mitys at Argos killed the author of Mitys’ death by falling down on him when an onlooker at a public spectacle". The inversion of non-inversible action "A kills B" into "B kills A" becomes possible due to a duplication of "B", when the revenge is accomplished by "B's" double whose role is performed by a statue. The work also explores the so called prophetic plot structure which, as authors suggest, goes back to the phenomenon of oracle in classical antiquity and foreshadows the main events in a hidden or encrypted form of a riddle. In light of the described cyclic plot model the authors provide their interpretation and analysis of various mythological and literary plots, including the Oedipus myth, myth of Narcissus, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Overcoat by Gogol and The Seagull by Chekhov, as well as they focus on the numerical symbolism in Eugene Onegin, Mozart and Salieri and The Queen of Spades by Pushkin. The last part of the book explores the problem of the origin of language as part of a complex semiotic issue of sign production. The authors argue that in order to transform a signal system of communication (in animals) into a sign system (human language) it is enough to apply a special “stop signal” (suggested to be called “inhibition operator”), which is capable of inhibiting or blocking an automatic, reflexive response to signal, thus converting it into a sign. The authors come up with a hypothesis that a territory marking signal in animals can serve as a biological prototype of inhibition operator manifested in human culture by various forms of spacial prohibition, e.g. territorial taboo or demonstrative gesture.