Applicability of Rhetorical Structure Theory for Representing Logical-Cognitive Organization of Poetic Texts: Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Rhetorical Structure Theory is popular in theoretical and applied investigations for representing discourse structures and corresponding relational propositions that play the key role in the process of text comprehension. The aim of the article is to explore possibilities and principles of applying the RST for displaying logical and cognitive organization of Russian poetic texts. Driven by the aim of exploring possible applications of RST, its authors and their proponents have analyzed up till now numerous prosaic texts and types of texts. And yet, studying its potential in the field of poetic analysis remains relevant. Since the Theory has never been applied to Russian poetry, an empirical stage of research is necessary. This stage consists in elaborating the principles of dividing a written poetic text into elementary segments, specifying logical relations, constructing structures of poems on this logical basis, completing preliminary analysis of this experience to single out its possibilities and prospects. The article presents the results of such a work. The empirical sample consists of short lyric poems (from 9 to 34 lines); it includes ten texts by A. K. Tolstoy and the same number of texts by I. F. Annensky. The total number of relations, used for representing the structures of these texts, is equal to 26. Frequency ratio of these relations was calculated. Comparative analysis of the poetic structures constructed revealed several differences between the two authors concerning their usage of relations. The results of the investigation evidenced the applicability of Rhetorical Structure Theory to poetry. They show that more research projects in this field are needed to refine its techniques, as well as greater material, including these and other authors, other poetic genres, etc.

Keywords: Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), structure of poetic text, logical-cognitive organization of a text, logical relations, relational propositions, poetry of A. K. Tolstoy, poetry of I. F. Annensky