Abstract
The present research is devoted to the analysis of the stylistic devices utilized by Terry
Pratchett most frequently.
The aim of the present paper is to analyse the specificity of the employed stylistic
devices. The main tasks are to study the works devoted to the fantasy genre and its distinctive
language peculiarities, as well as critical and literature reviews of the author’s novels; to
highlight the aspects that still need to be described; to carry out a linguo-stylistic analysis of the
selected novels; to find stylistic devices that are characteristic of Terry’s individual style; to
analyse how they help create the Discworld and the character of Death in particular.
In the theoretical part we give the general characteristic of the fantasy genre, then we
analyse the existing works on Terry Pratchett’s novels. Having done the analysis of his several
novels, in the analytical part we describe the employment of most frequent stylistic devices.
In the final analysis it is concluded that allusions, wordplay and the stylistic devices that
presuppose comparison are central for Terry Pratchett’s individual style.
5
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7
1.
Terry Pratchett’s novels as an indispensable part of the fantasy genre ............................... 9
1.1.
Fantasy as a genre of fiction in its own right ............................................................... 9
Definition and classifications .............................................................................................. 9
Language peculiarities of the fantasy genre ...................................................................... 14
1.2.
2.
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series as an object of research in modern linguistics ... 16
Linguo-stylistic analysis of Terry Pratchett’s novels ........................................................ 23
2.1.
The images of the Discworld created with the help of stylistic devices .................... 23
Description of the scenery ................................................................................................. 24
Description of characters ................................................................................................... 27
Description of sounds ........................................................................................................ 32
2.2.
The image of Death in the novels by Terry Pratchett ................................................ 34
General remarks about the character of Death .................................................................. 35
Appearance ........................................................................................................................ 36
Character traits .................................................................................................................. 37
Death’s duty ...................................................................................................................... 39
Death’s Domain................................................................................................................. 40
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 44
Reference list ............................................................................................................................ 46
6
Introduction
Works of literature have always been a matter of interest for linguists, philosophers,
psychologists, sociologists. They possess a great potential to influence our emotions, to change
lives, to grow a belief. Authors use this power for different purposes: to amuse, educate, touch,
make the readers think about the world we live in. It does seem fascinating how powerful the
words can be if utilized correctly. That is exactly the reason why studying different aspects
connected with the text is of such immense importance. Indeed, the text has been studied from
different points of view (for example, the principles of its composition, the presence of vertical
context, the image of the epoch in the text, the division into types, genres, styles, etc.). The
aspect that is of particular interest for the present work is how stylistic devices function within
the framework of the fantasy genre.
Numerous studies have been devoted to such fantasy “giants” as “Harry Potter” (I.M.
Kungurova; M.U. Kovaleva; R. Bonifacio; C. Fenske), “The Lord of the Rings” (R. Reid; E.
Dayi; D. Babrova), etc. However, with never-diminishing interest for fantasy genre and authors
developing new fantasy worlds, there still remains a large field for studying.
This paper is devoted to the study of the linguo-stylistic peculiarities of several
Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, one of the most famous British fantasy writers of today.
It predetermines the aim of the present work – to analyse the stylistic devices employed by
Terry Pratchett for the creation of his fantasy world.
The aim of the research presupposes setting and accomplishing the following tasks:
1. To study the literature on the genre of fantasy, as well as on its language
peculiarities that make it different from others.
2. To analyse research works on Terry Pratchett’s novels.
3. To highlight the aspects that need to be further described.
4. To carry out a lingua-stylistic analysis of the novels “The Colour of Magic”,
“The Light Fantastic”, “Mort”, “Wyrd Sisters” and “Reaper Man” by Terry
Pratchett, also employing elements of lingua-poetic analysis.
5. To find and analyse examples of the stylistic devices that are characteristic of
Terry Pratchett.
6. To analyse the image of Death created with the help of stylistic devices.
7
Thus, the object of the present research is the linguo-stylistic peculiarities of the fantasy
genre.
The subject of this work is the study of how peculiarities of stylistic devices help Terry
Pratchett create his own fantasy world.
Even though all stylistic devices make significant contribution to the image of the
Discworld universe, in which the narrative takes place, the hypothesis is that the central role
is played by allusions, wordplay and the stylistic devices that presuppose comparison (for
example, similes, metaphors). It is exactly with their help that Terry Pratchett makes his novels
different from other fantasy works.
The topicality of the present work is based on the fact that fantasy genre, being
relatively new, plays a very important role in our life, so that the research into its nature
continues finding new aspects that worth describing and analysing.
The theoretical basis of this research is represented by the works of notable Russian
and English scholars (such as I.R. Galperin, D.S. Likhachov, U.M. Skrebnev, G. Lakoff and M.
Johnson, J. Lyons), as well as by various scientific articles and Master’s Theses.
The linguistic data that served as a source of examples is the novels “The Colour of
Magic”, “The Light Fantastic”, “Mort”, “Wyrd Sisters” and “Reaper Man” by Terry Pratchett.
In the present work, the following methods have been employed: continuous sampling
method, descriptive method, methods of linguo-poetic and linguo-stylistic analysis.
This paper is divided into four main parts: introduction, theoretical part, analytical part
and conclusion. The theoretical part is devoted to the description of the fantasy genre and Terry
Pratchett’s novels as its representative. It is the summary of the research that has been carried
out into the subject matter of the present work: the definition of the genre, approaches to
classification of fantasy works, their language peculiarities and aspects of Terry Pratchett’s
novels that have been already studied. The analytical part is concerned with the linguo-stylistic
analysis of the examples, singled out in the novels under discussion. The examples are divided
into subcategories: scenery, characters (and Death in particular), sounds.
This work may find its application in the research connected with a linguo-stylistic
analysis of texts on the whole, as well as of different fantasy novels. It may also serve as a basis
for the further research into the nature of Terry Pratchett’s works.
8
1. Terry Pratchett’s novels as an indispensable part of the fantasy genre
1.1.Fantasy as a genre of fiction in its own right
One of the most famous American authors of books for children said: “Fantasy is a
necessary ingredient in living” [Rossbridge, 2020: 23]. It was Theodor Seuss, whom we know
as Dr. Seuss, the author of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “The Cat in the Hat” and many
other fascinating stories. He was right in his statement, as, indeed, fantasy genre is something
that goes along with us throughout our life: stories about great warriors and cunning witches
that our parents told us when we were children; the universe of “Harry Potter”; tall, courageous
elves or wise and powerful wizards from “The Lord of the Rings”. Some people like videogames and almost all of them know the game “World of Warcraft”. Some people adore “The
Witcher”, some love “The Game of Thrones”. As S.V. Shamyakina points out in her work
devoted to fantasy literature, fantasy started out as a genre of fiction in the XX century and soon
developed a number of subcategories, forms of existence. The choice is vast and almost
unlimited, which serves as a proof to how indispensable this genre has become in our life:
books, songs, TV-series, films, video-games, art. Fantasy is everywhere and that makes this
genre a large field for exploration. The theme of this work will be devoted solely to fantasy as
the genre of literature, which is determined by the object of research.
Definition and classifications
It is difficult to give a definition of this genre, since it is so diverse and includes many
subcategories. “The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms” gives the following
definition: “Fantasy, a general term for any kind of fictional work that is not primarily devoted
to realistic representation of the known world …, describing imagined worlds in which magical
powers and other impossibilities are accepted” [The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary
Terms, 2001: 95]. Judging by this definition, the main characteristic of this genre is the fact that
authors create new worlds, with their own laws, characters, creatures, legends. The researchers
also pay attention to other features, basing their conclusions on a number of fantasy works. The
following points have been singled out by S.V. Shamyakina:
1. Creation of a new world, with its own mythology, history, culture, geography.
2. Usage of characters from myths and fables of our world (gods, demons, gnomes,
trolls, etc.).
3. The four major types of the main hero: wizard, warrior, wizard-warrior, human
(who either wants to become a warrior or a wizard, or stands against them).
4. Idealism and aestheticism of characters, setting.
9
5. Absence of universal good or evil.
6. Usage of special tools to immerse the reader into the plot: language tools
(fictional language, a special system of names and terms) and visual tools (maps,
alphabets, etc.).
7. Organization of the stories focused on common figures into one literary cycle.
8. Usage of elements of other literary genres.
9. Imagination and fantasy being the main source of inspiration.
10. Prose being the main form of representation (because drama cannot embody the
author’s fantasy to the full and fantasy poetry exists mainly as inclusions into
prose).
11. Usage of the national culture, values, mentality as the base.
These eleven essential features comprise the core of the fantasy genre. But it exists in
many different forms. Depending on which aspect is taken for consideration, there are several
approaches to the classification of fantasy works. They may be classified by theme (the
approach adopted by S.V. Shamyakina, E. James), thus we can single out such subgenres as
quest fantasies, urban fantasies, dark fantasy, modern children's fantasy, historical fantasy,
fantasies of history and religion, detective fantasy, etc. The main difficulty here is represented
by the works themselves, as sometimes they can fall into several categories at the same time.
Such division also leads to numerous categories, which makes this classification rather
complicated. Another approach, mainly used by Western researchers (for example, K. Buss, P.
Perry), consists in diving fantasy works into two big categories: high fantasy (the plot is set in
a whole new world, which is remarkably different from our reality; the examples are “The Lord
of the Rings”, “The Witcher”, “The Chronicles of Narnia”, “A Song of Ice and Fire”) and low
fantasy (the plot is set in our real world, where the main heroes do not believe in the fantastic,
but have to experience it themselves; the examples are “Good Omens”, “Supernatural”,
“Dracula”). However, there exist a huge number of fantasy works that cannot be classified into
either category, possessing attributes of both of them.
The approach that seems to be more applicable for the present research concentrates on
the role of the fantasy world in the plot. It was adopted by F. Mendelson in the work “Rhetorics
of Fantasy”:
1.
“The Portal-Quest Fantasy”. In portal fantasies characters from the real world
get into a fantasy world by means of a portal. The two worlds do not interact
with each other. Most celebrated examples are: “The Lion, the Witch and the
10
Wardrobe”, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. In quest fantasies authors create a
whole new world and the main characters are a part of it, thus the story takes
place solely in the fantasy world (as it is in “The Lord of the Rings”). Sometimes,
though, there are fusions of portal and quest fantasies, which makes it possible
to categorize them in one group. The readers follow the characters through their
adventurous journey, “through beginning, middle, and end”, and the end often
presupposes moral growth [Mendelson, 2008: 29]. The story is structured by
means of “layering the detail and making that detail comprehensible” [ibid.: 36].
2.
“The Immersive Fantasy”. The most common (but not the only) representative
of this category is science fiction, where the fantasy world is easy to believe in,
as it is logical and there is a possibility of it to exist. Writers does not have to
explain what is happening, as the reader is able to accept fantastical things as
normal [ibid.: 136]. The main characters assume the fantastic as a reality of their
existence, which might even lead to the negation of “the sense of wonder [as it
is in portal-quest fantasies] in favour of an atmosphere of ennui” [ibid.: 20]. The
researcher takes Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampire novels as an example: equipped
with all essential vampire attributes, this novel presents these frightening
elements as normal for the described world, which inevitably leads to the change
in perception. Just like the main characters, the reader does not feel amazed or
horrified. The immersion presupposes that the reader takes the fantastic for
granted, as if he or she were themselves a part of that world.
One of the means for the writer to achieve it is to use “legacy texts … to create
endoskeletons” [ibid.: 137]. For example, such technique was used by Terry
Pratchett in his novel “Wyred Sisters”. Those familiar with “Macbeth” by W.
Shakespeare will immediately recognize it in the core structure of the plot,
which, as result, makes the world more comprehensible, more “normal”. It is
important to make a remark here that “Wyred Sisters” is not fully an immersive
fantasy, but rather a very illustrative example of the technique in question.
3.
“Intrusion Fantasy”, in which a fantasy world intrudes into reality, and the main
characters are interacting with it. Authors of intrusion fantasies patiently draw
the whole picture, giving the reader small hints that there is something lurking
in the shadows of that normal world, which makes escalation in its different
forms a very important feature of these fantasies. The fantastic here is seen as
“the bringer of chaos”, which in fact is “not necessarily unpleasant” [ibid.: 21].
There is always a clear-cut boundary between the normal and the fantastic, which
11
helps to maintain a sense of amazement. Another means to achieve it is to
introduce new fantastic elements throughout the plot, so that the reader and the
main characters cannot get accustomed to it [ibid.: 22].
This “chaos” must be dealt with by the main characters, who might challenge
and defeat it, learn to control it or just get rid of it by sending it back from where
it came. By the end of the story, the main characters usually convince themselves
that the fantastic has its own right to exist in their world.
A very illustrative example is a famous novel “Dracula” by Abraham Stoker,
which tells the story of Count Dracula, his tragic love and his curse. Dracula
intrudes into the real world, making the main characters interact with him. At
first, they do not know who they are dealing with, but, having understood
Dracula’s nature, they take different paths. Johnathan is frightened to death and
wants to kill this creature, while Mina, his bride, falls in love with Dracula,
feeling desperate to be with him.
4.
“The Liminal Fantasy”, in which a fantasy world intrudes into our reality, but
the main characters find it common and ordinary; this type of fantasy “casualizes
the fantastic within the experience of the protagonist” [ibid.: 24]. A vivid
example of a liminal fantasy is John Aiken’s “Armitage family stories”. The
story “Yes, but today is Tuesday” tells the readers about an ordinary family, who
happen to find a unicorn in their own garden. Neither the presence of a unicorn,
nor the following adventures can surprise the family members. The only thing
taken as something out-of-the-ordinary is the fact that everything happens on
Tuesday, but not on Monday (the day, when they expect to see all the unusual
things). It is this “normalization” of the fantastic that is being exploited in order
to produce an effect. However, as the researcher remarks, this type of fantasy is
rather rare. F. Mendelson points out that to create a liminal fantasy authors can
turn to a number of different techniques, out of which she can differentiate three
central ones: “... (1) irony and equipoise, (2) the twisting of the
metonymic/metaphorical structures of fantasy, and (3) a construction of a point
of balance right at the edge of belief” [ibid.: 24].
5.
“The Irregulars”, which are “folding, twisting, and reweaving the material of the
fantastic in order to produce texts that depend on our understanding” of the four
above-mentioned types [ibid.: 25]. The Irregulars are not something between the
described types, they are completely different. The researcher describes this type
12
as a new field for research, as something that proves her arguments by
“undermining” them [ibid.: 298].
Having logically divided fantasies into these five categories, F. Mendelson still makes
a very important remark that there cannot be clear-cut boundaries. Thus, “Harry Potter”, a
seemingly “archetypal portal fantasy”, contains elements of intrusion (when owls appear in
Privet Drive, causing disturbance) [ibid.: 28]. Another case of integrity is when the intrusion
fantasy is set within the frameworks of the immersive fantasy: new unknown fantastic elements
intrude into the world, which is normal for the characters, but not normal as we understand this
notion. F. Mendelson also argues that elements of intrusion can be found even in quest fantasies:
every Dark Lord, not being native to the described world of quest fantasies, can be considered
as an intruder.
It is important to underline at this stage that giving definitions to the genre, classifying
works of literature into one subcategory or another is not enough for a work of fiction to be
studied. Its real value lies deeper in how this work reflects the world, how the author constructs
the universe of the book. This inner fictional world of a novel or a story is, as D.S. Likhachov
describes it, the reflection of the real world, which we see through the prism of the author’s
genius. Even though this reflection cannot be a full copy of the real world with all its complexity
and versatility, it still possesses a great inner potential. It is indeed a whole system of characters,
surroundings, events, relations, moral values, which characterizes its author, the genre on the
whole and even the world we live in.
It is hard to imagine that a fantasy world can reflect a real world, yet, it does. A.V.
Brushlinskiy, a Russian psychologist whose main field of research was the problems of
personality psychology and thinking, underlined that sense cognition of the real outer world
comprises our sensations, perception, insights into things and imagination. It is with the help of
imagination that our mind creates new sensory images, which are used by fantasy writers in
shaping and building new worlds. That brings us to a conclusion that imagination is the driving
force, which transforms the real world into something completely new, using reality as the base.
A very interesting example can be mentioned here from the writing experience of Terry
Pratchett. Once he saw a woman, whose luggage was so big and so heavy that she did not seem
to be its master. The luggage was leading a private life of its own. This scene created a strong
sensory image, which he used later to embody one of the characters of his fantasy novels – the
Luggage. It proves the point that the fictional world of a fantasy novel is interesting in its nature,
as it reconstructs the reality into a new universe, produced entirely by the author’s imagination
13
with the help of language means. That brings us to a question of how language means operate
in this creation.
Language peculiarities of the fantasy genre
As John Lyons highlights in his book “Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction”, “every
natural language … provides those who are competent in it with the means of identifying the
world, …entities… and substances … in whatever world has been identified” [Lyons, 2002:
227]. Indeed, fantasy writers deal with the worlds produced entirely by their imagination, but
even these new fascinating worlds can be described with the help of language means. The
specificity of a fantasy work, to a large extent, lies exactly in the means, which makes this genre
so special and different. This has become the topic of research of different linguistic works,
ranging from the specificity of the fantasy genre itself to the language means employed in a
particular novel. The subject matter of the present work determines the necessity of studying
language peculiarities of the genre itself.
M. Misnik in her dissertation, devoted to the language means employed to create an
anomalous world, concentrates on the following techniques, essential to create a fantasy world.
Firstly, fantasy writers can broaden the dictionary meaning of a mythological sign (“мифознак”
in the original work), thus the writer can convey their personal perception of this or that notion
[Мисник, 2006: 10]. M. Misnik gives the following example: a unicorn, being by all means a
good omen in our mentality, is depicted as possessing an evil nature in “Lords and Ladies” by
Terry Pratchett. This creates a clash in the mind of a reader, thus influencing his or her feelings
and perception.
The notion of a mythological sign is used to refer to all words that have anomalous
denotation; there are three groups of such words: presentive (“предметные”, e.g. dwarf, spirit,
wand, elf, dragon), spacial (“пространственные”, e.g. Middle-earth and The Shire in “The
Lord of the Rings”, Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld novels) and eventive (“событийные”, e.g.
Quidditch in “Harry Potter”, The Rite of AshkEnte in the Discworld novels) [ibid.: 10-12]).
Such mythological signs are the output of the writer’s genius.
Fantasy writers can also broaden the list of such notions, creating new special ones
particularly for their imaginary world (e.g., Rememberball, Time Turner, Dementor, etc. in
“Harry Potter” by J. K. Rowling). The researcher adds here that the process of nomination in
that case is accompanied by the description of newly introduced fantastic elements with the
help of epithets, metaphors, similes, certain syntactic and graphic means.
14
In this respect, there can be found numerous research works devoted to the creation of
nonce words by fantasy writers (including but not limited to V.M. Berenkova, E.S. Diakonova,
L.U. Dondik, A.V. Skrilnik), especially in the aspect of translation. It is a well-known truth that
due to the differences between the systems of languages translators always come across an
obstacle of rendering nonce words. Possessing a great stylistic potential, they play a huge role
in the realization of the author’s genius. Translators are free to choose from a variety of possible
ways to render nonce words: transcription and transliteration, calque or loan translation,
descriptive approach, compensation. This choice depends heavily on the context and, of course,
on the writing style of a particular translator. The researchers, although studying the question
from different points of view (translation, creation, functions), are unanimous that it is
impossible to overestimate the role of nonce words, of which language is an unlimited resource,
in the genre of fantasy. With their help, writers introduce their readers to a completely new
world, building it brick by brick.
Another powerful means that M. Misnik has described is the inclusion of quotations,
song lyrics, poems, spells written in a fictional language into the original text. J. R. R. Tolkien’s
works are especially interesting in this respect, since he created several languages, which can
actually be used and learned. Such language means creates the sense of wonder, of something
mystic, beyond our ken, thus intriguing the readers. Languages created by fantasy writers are
described and analysed from a linguistic point of view.
M. Misnik also pays special attention to the category of linguistic modality and
especially to subjective modality (referring to professor I. R. Galperin). It allows the readers to
feel how the author perceives the described world. Here M. Misnik remarks that the modalities
of
oddity
(“странности”),
unexpectedness
(“неожиданности”)
and
appearance
(“кажимости”) play an essential role in the process of identifying a new world. [Мисник, 2006:
14]. These types of modality can be realized by different means: it can be an epithet (e.g.
“queer”, “strange” express oddity), it can be expressed with the help of the defeated expectancy
(e.g. a sudden change in the state of an object can be a marker of unexpectedness) or it can even
be revealed with help of graphic means (italics can hint that the real nature of things is different,
thus expressing appearance of things and giving the readers a chance to think deeper).
All the examined works show the variety of approaches to the genre of fantasy. It is a
vast field for studies from the point of view of semantics, stylistics, linguistics, philosophy,
translation. The following part is devoted to the range of approaches to the book series about
the Discworld, created by Terry Pratchett.
15
1.2.Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series as an object of research in modern
linguistics
A lot has been said about the popularity of the fantasy genre in the modern world. A
huge number of different books have been written for the readers to immerse themselves into
new fantastic universes. Lots of categories, forms, styles make it possible to find a perfect story,
a perfect match. A particular interest for the present work lies in the Discworld book series,
written by Terry Pratchett.
One of the most famous British authors of today, Terry Pratchett has managed to
conquer the hearts of fantasy lovers all around the world. He wrote and published his first
serious novel “The Carpet People” when he was seventeen, while being apprenticed to the
editor of a local newspaper. This event inspired him greatly and gave him hope to become a
fantasy writer. Indeed, he managed to become a legend of the genre and can be ranked alongside
with such important authors of today as J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling (who herself admits that
she was greatly influenced by his works) and George R.R. Martin.
Terry Pratchett started out as a person who fights against fantasy books of poor quality,
which invaded the market at the end of 1970s. These works did not develop the genre, but, vice
versa, they were simply repeating old clichés over and over again. It made Terry Pratchett write
his first Discworld novel, “The Colour of Magic”, which in fact was a satirical parody of badly
written fantasies. As E.S. Gunareva remarks in her work devoted to Terry Pratchett, this book
did not become a great success, but it was a starting point for the stories to come and for his
unique individual style to develop. On the whole, the beginning of Terry’s writing career was
overshadowed by critics, who attacked his novels severely, stating that they were not serious
and they were not even divided into chapters. Terry managed to prove them wrong with a riot
of fans who supported him. In the end, he left his job to become a full-time writer.
With more than 87 million books sold, Terry told in one of the interviews: “Fantasy isn't
just about wizards and silly wands. It's about seeing the world from new directions” [BBC news:
12.07.2002]. Indeed, the universe of the Discworld in many respects, reminds us of the reality,
where there are no perfect people, no ideal heroes and the magic is hidden in most ordinary
things. Terry's gift is seeing the fantastic in reality, that is why his stories are so close to the
readers. Even the concept of the flat Earth, which is the basis of the Discworld, is known to
every person. However, he managed to extend this model with new fantastic elements (e.g. the
Disc, which rests upon the backs of giant Elephants, who in their turn are standing on the shell
16
of the enormous star Turtle, has its own Sun that circles around it, and sometimes the Elephants
need to raise one leg so that the Sun can continue its circle).
The success among people proves that Terry is a true word-painter, which makes his
novels an object of research for many linguists. Although the amount of works devoted to this
series is smaller than of those devoted to other giants of the genre, it does not diminish its value.
This part is devoted to the study of the aspects that have already undergone research and the
aspects that are yet to be paid attention to.
Working on the resources there have been found several main linguistic questions that
are of interest for the researchers: nonce words (T.V. Pyrikova), the stylistic device of wordplay
(I.A. Abakumova, D.A. Rasuk; M. Mustonen), allusions (W. T. Abbott) and figurative language
(C. Brucker).
The first question concerns the usage of nonce words. As it was mentioned in the
previous part of the present work, nonce words are an essential linguistic trait of the fantasy
genre. They serve as building bricks for the new world, describing its realities and creating
images in the readers’ minds. Nonce words are often defined as a type of neologisms, which is
“invented and used for a particular purpose, expressly; one used for a specific occasion” [The
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2001: 474]. However, this definition seems to
have little correlation with the author’s creativity and stylistic value. Another approach is used
in the dictionary of linguistic terms by T.V. Zherebilo, where she defines nonce words as
neologisms, introduced individually by the writer for a specific stylistic purpose, so that the text
is rich in images. The researcher underlines here that nonce words do not usually become a part
of language as a system, being only a part of the writer’s individual style.
As T.V. Pyrikova highlights in her work, the nonce words used by Terry Pratchett are
of immense importance for his individual style. The researcher classifies them into several
categories: anthroponyms, toponyms and their subcategories (names of cities and intracity
objects, names of highways and roads), names of animals and different plants, names of specific
objects, which belong to a particular culture. She also gives a summary of different works that
are devoted to this topic. Thus, she shows that there exist a number of approaches to this
problem: from the point of view of translation, semantic categorization, means of formation,
role in the context. Having analysed the works by different authors, T.V. Pyrikova concludes
that there still remains much more to study, especially in terms of translation of nonce words.
As they play a great role in the creation of the Discworld, the researcher puts special emphasis
17
on the delicate approach to them; translators must take into account their world-building
function.
The researcher also makes a remark that the most frequent way to translate nonce words
in Terry Pratchett’s novels is the semantic translation (or its combination with transcription and
transliteration), when the most important semantic elements are singled out and rendered by
means of a target-language. Here T.V. Pyrikova points out that translators’ creativity plays a
significant role here, as only through it they can communicate the writer’s message to the full.
Another linguistic aspect of Terry Pratchett’s works that has become the subject of
research is the stylistic device of word play. Indeed, his novels have one special quality – they
are sparkling with humour; and a great deal of it is based on the stylistic potential of the English
language. In order to proceed with the analysis of how this stylistic device is utilized in his
novels it seems reasonable to talk about its nature first.
There exist several approaches to the word play. Some researchers treat this notion as a
synonym of pun, others distinguish between pun and word play. But the approach that seems
to be of more use for the present work consists in treating word play as a general term and pun
as its subcategory. It was adopted by I.A. Abakumova and D.A. Rasuk in their work devoted to
wordplay in Terry Pratchett’s novels. Wordplay is viewed as a “technique which intentionally
uses a word for amusement or humour” and that it can be based on “homonymy or polysemy
of words and [it] also includes such stylistic devices as puns, spoonerisms, chiasmus,
wellerisms, story puns and telling characters names” [Абакумова, Расюк, 2015: 63]. The
researchers treat wordplay as a means particularly characteristic of the English language. In this
respect, works by Terry Pratchett are abundant in illustrative examples, the fact that once again
proves the importance of the present research for the study of the English language as well as
of the culture and traditions of the English people.
Having analysed Terry Pratchett’s novels, the researchers worked out a list of types of
most frequently used wordplays [ibid.: 63-64]:
•
“play on words based on homonymy”;
•
“play on words based on polysemy”;
•
““wrecking” or rethinking of the phrasal verbs, set expression or idiom”;
•
“telling character name”;
•
“pun-allusion”;
•
“story pun”.
18
Not only does the wordplay disclose the cultural value, but it also conveys different
shades of meaning, serving as a powerful tool in the hands of an author. Wordplay can be the
basis for numerous jokes, it can help the readers understand the characters better. The
importance of this technique cannot be overestimated, thus presenting a significant challenge
for the translators.
Indeed, due to the differences in the grammatical structure, in the vocabulary of different
languages sometimes it is quite hard to render all the shades of meaning in the translation,
especially when it comes to the author's creative genius. A translator can stick to different
strategies, depending on the given context and on the means that the target language possesses:
rendering (exact or, more often, partial), compensation, using translator’s note in the footnotes
or, in some cases, omission, as highlighted in Master’s Thesis by Marjo Mustonen. The choice
of this or that strategy to translate a wordplay should proceed first and furthermost from the
function it performs in the context: that of creating a humorous effect and that of
characterization.
As it has been mentioned above, pun-allusions can be found in Terry’s novels. Being
characteristic of his works, allusions of different kinds are worth describing in the present work.
Speaking about allusions, the notion of intertextuality is unavoidable. In the present
work intertextuality will be regarded as a phenomenon of which allusion is a subcategory (along
with such stylistic devices as quotation (in the narrow sense of the word) and reminiscence). In
its origins, the theory of intertextuality requires that “we understand texts not as self-contained
systems but as differential and historical, as traces and tracings of otherness, since they are
shaped by the repetition and transformation of other textual structures” [Alfaro, 1996: 268].
The way how researches perceive this concept may vary greatly: from the idea that all texts,
which have ever been written, are echoes of our culture, traditions, life, epoch; to a more
pragmatic view that the links between texts can be used for practical analysis. The latter
approach seems to be most relevant for the present work. Adopted by Gérard Genette, it
concentrates on the study of “everything, be it implicit or latent, that relates one text to others”
[ibid.: 280]. Thus, writers can use other texts to convey something between the lines.
Allusion is “… an indirect reference, by word or phrase, to a historical literary,
mythological, biblical fact or to a fact of everyday life…” [Гальперин, 2018: 187]. Looking at
the structure of this stylistic device, it is evident that the author uses a word or a phrase as a hint
to a certain fact, and, talking in stylistic terms, as a form, a vessel for a new meaning. Thus, to
illustrate this stylistic device the following example can be used: “Don’t carry the world upon
19
your shoulders” (a line from the song “Hey Jude” by the Beatles). It is a reference to Atlas, a
titan from Greek mythology, who had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. It
became a widely used English idiom. Allusion can also be considered a certain kind of
metaphor, because it presupposes an implicit comparison (the example provided shows that a
person is compared to Atlas, who has to overstrain his strengths) and this comparison is realized
through an additional, non-literal meaning of the phrase. Allusion is a very powerful means to
express the idea with the minimum of words. Moreover, the usage of this device evokes
associations in certain areas of the reader’s mind, which puts him or her in a mood, desired by
the author. Not only does it help to convey the message, but it also creates an image and the
atmosphere.
In “White Knowledge and the Cauldron of Story: The Use of Allusion in Terry
Pratchett's Discworld”, W. Abbott pays special attention to how indispensable allusions are for
different Pratchett’s novels. Having divided them into three categories (“Folk Tales”, “Fantasy
literature and movies”, “Rock and Roll”), the researcher analyses the examples of allusions and
reflects on their role in the novel [Abbot, 2002: 4]. He underlines the idea that references are
written in a universal language, due to which the majority of the readers can easily find their
source. It creates “a stronger initial interest for the reader” [ibid.: 37]. The researcher makes a
remark here that they are not supposed to know all the sources of references, since allusions are
put in such context that the main core of the implied meaning can be perceived intuitively.
These allusions, more often than not, stand out in the text, so that the readers can easily search
them out if they want to. Thus, they broaden their horizons in various fields, since Terry
expands the source of allusions from mythology (which is most widespread) to other spheres:
folk, music, movies, popular culture. That is exactly why the “readers, looking for quality
literary entertainment that also challenges their thinking, rarely find disappointment in the
Discworld” [ibid.: 45].
The main idea put forward by W. Abbot is that by employment of this stylistic device
Terry connects the readers with “the white knowledge of Western society” [ibid.: 19]. White
knowledge, a term created by Terry himself, presupposes blending of two notions: white noise
and back knowledge.
It cannot be forgotten also that Terry Pratchett’s style of writing can be characterized by
employment of a large variety of metaphors and related stylistic devices.
Metaphor has been subjected to research from the ancient times and since then
numerous approaches have been worked out, from the point of view of philology, linguistics,
20
psychology, philosophy, sociology. Metaphors are indeed of great importance both in oral and
written forms of language: they are utilized to give something a name (e.g. “a leg of a table”,
“a wing of a clock”), to express how we feel about something or simply to create a beautiful
sentence that is pleasant to hear or read. In the XX century, with the development of cognitive
linguistics, new interpretations of metaphor arose. One of the most prominent works is
“Metaphors We Live By” by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson. Metaphor here is viewed as possessing
not only stylistic value, but also a power to influence the way we perceive the outer world. That
is why here we talk about conceptual metaphor, which “… plays a central role in defining our
everyday realities” [Lakoff, Johnson, 1980: 3]. For instance, the conceptual metaphor “LOVE
IS A PATIENT”, which is realized in particular examples, shows one of the aspects of how we
perceive the concept of “love”: love sometimes makes a person endure pain, fever, agony.
Among stylistic devices that are close to metaphor, it pays to look at personification and
metaphorical epithets, as they also play a significant role in Terry Pratchett’s novels.
The most widely used device is, probably, a metaphorical epithet, which was defined
by B.V. Tomashevskiy as the epithet that has an element of comparison in its nature. In the
example “she has rosy cheeks” the readers perceive a comparison: her cheeks are pink like the
colour of rose petals. It is not a pure metaphor and it cannot have its full figurative power.
Nevertheless, it creates a certain vivid image, helping to draw a particular picture in the reader’s
imagination.
Personification, as a stylistic device closest to metaphor, also makes the description
more figurative and dynamic. Professor Y.M. Skrebnev suggests the following definition of the
term: “Personification is attributing human properties to lifeless objects – mostly to abstract
notions, such as thoughts, actions, emotions, seasons of the year, etc.” [Скребнев, 2003: 116].
This stylistic device helps the reader understand better the universe of the novel, the intentions
of personified characters, since they perceive it through the prism of themselves, of human
beings.
Terry Pratchett’s figurative language is of interest for linguists. Thus, in the work
“Humorous Functions of Figurative Language in the Works of Sir Terry Pratchett” C. Brucker
pays special attention to metaphors, similes and conceptual blends found in his novels. The
researcher states that Terry “did not so much imagine new worlds – or words, for that matter –
as rather re-imagined them” [Brucker: 13]. Figurative language here serves to be one of the
main sources of humour, essential for his novels. Playing with connotations, resorting to
defeated expectancy, he tries to break our perception of the old concepts, to look at them from
21
a completely different angle, which can hardly be called boring. The author also underlines that
linguistic research into the peculiarities of Terry’s language has been quite scarce and many
things are to be discovered.
Terry’s novels are a true fount of wisdom, which is communicated with the help of the
only tool – the English language. The study of different research works devoted to Terry
Pratchett’s novels proves the topicality of the present work. Almost all of them underline the
lack of extended research into the nature of his novels. Also, they are mostly concerned with
the expressive function of the stylistic devices in question, paying less attention to the worldbuilding function.
The following part will be devoted to the analysis of several novels from the Discworld
series and the description of particular examples. We will single out most prominent stylistic
devices, discuss their peculiarities and see their contribution to the image of the Discworld and
the character of Death in particular.
22
2. Linguo-stylistic analysis of Terry Pratchett’s novels
2.1.The images of the Discworld created with the help of stylistic devices
J.K. Rowling once said: “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book”
[Pino, 2014]. Terry Pratchett wrote more than 70 of them, allowing his readers to choose one
most dear to their heart. Indeed, he managed to tell a great many stories for children, teenagers,
and adults. His characters are imperfect, they make mistakes, learn to take responsibility for
them. Their infectious vitality is something that comes home to the readers.
Terry Pratchett is most famous for his Discworld novels. As it has been mentioned
before, the core of this world is the concept of the flat Earth. All stories take place on this huge
flat planet, which rides across the Universe on four elephants that stand on one giant star turtle,
named Great A’Tuin. This planet has several continents and its own centre – the Hub, where its
tallest mountain with a pantheon of Discworld gods is situated. The edge of the Disc is the Rim
with the Rimfall (a great waterfall, from where the Disc’s oceans are “falling” into space). The
most well-known city of all continents is Ankh-Morpork, famous for corruption and the
dominance of various guilds (there are guilds for every profession, from clowns to assassins
and thieves). To guard the rights of every guild and maintain order Terry introduced the City
Watch. Ankh-Morpork is also a city, where wizards established their university of wizardry –
the Unseen University.
Magic is a remarkable feature of this world, which permeates everything and carries as
much importance as the force of gravity. It quite often becomes the bone of contention between
witches and wizards: the former take magic as a natural force that needs to be felt and the latter
treat it like a purely physical force that needs calculations and scientific approach. This fact
spawns nothing but hostility and constant arguments, not to mention the obvious discrimination,
as to become a witch one needs to be a female and to become a wizard one needs to be a male.
The Disc is populated by human beings, living almost next door to various fantasy and
mythological races: dragons, trolls, elves, gods, undead to name a few. For every living being
there is Death, an anthropomorphic personification. Death of the Discworld is only one form of
Azrael, whom we know as the Angel of Death.
The described essence of the Discworld determines the main storylines, onto which all
the books can be divided:
•
Wizards and heroes.
23
•
Witches.
•
Death.
•
City Watch and Ankh-Morpork stories.
•
Gods.
•
Some parallel stories.
The novels under analysis belong to two cycles: Witches (“Wyrd Sisters”) and Death
“Mort” and “Reaper Man”). The choice of the novels was predetermined by the aim of the
present work: that of finding most illustrative examples of Terry’s individual style.
The first novel, “Wyrd Sisters” is a brilliant example of Terry’s love for playing with
reality. It features the events happening after the murder of the King of Lancre. An evil duke
and his malicious wife have committed this crime to become the rulers of the kingdom. As a
result, everyone in the kingdom, even nature, is very unhappy about it. To make things right
again, three witches set off to find a real heir to the throne, whom they have hidden in a troop
of artists as an orphan. The next two novels feature the life and adventures of Death. “Mort”
tells the readers the story of Mort, a young farmer boy who is chosen as an apprentice by Death
himself. He is to take care of the dead, while Death is having a little vacation, fishing, drinking
alcohol, working as a cook. However, Mort’s being a human with heart and soul makes him
contravene the rules: he saves a young princess Kelly from death and kills her assassin instead,
thus breaking up the march of time and having to deal with the consequences. “Reaper Man” is
more centred on the character of Death. Having developed a rich personality, which might seem
unacceptable for a trade like that, Death starts to bother the Auditors of Reality, who decide to
oust him from performing his duties in the Discworld. As a result, he finds work as a farmhand
and starts investigating human life, the intricate sides of which still remain vague to him.
Meanwhile, living beings have to find a new guide into the afterlife. As new Death has not yet
appeared, the life force starts to build up and causes disturbance in reality, since the souls cannot
reach “the next stage”.
Description of the scenery
Terry Pratchett has a wonderful gift for painting with words. That is why the Universe
of the Discworld is set before our eyes almost “in the flesh”. The following quotation describes
the Disc itself. Metaphors in combination with high-flown, elevated epithets “streamers of
flame hung from the roof of the world”, “curtains of octarine glow danced” are meant to evoke
a brighter and more colourful image in the readers’ minds.
24
•
“Great silent streamers of blue and green flame hung from the roof of the world.
Curtains of octarine glow danced slowly and majestically over the Disc as the fire
of the Aurora Coriolis, the vast discharge of magic from the Disc’s standing field,
earthed itself in the green ice mountains of the Hub” [Pratchett, 1988: 99].
In order to make magic of the Discworld different from any of those described by other
fantasy writers, Terry invents a word, denoting the colour of magic – “octarine”, which is also
the eighth colour of rainbow, visible only to wizards and cats. Looking at the derivation pattern
of this word, it becomes evident that one part of the root is derived from the Latin word “octo”
(other examples with similar derivation pattern are “octopus”, “octane”, “octosyllable”),
meaning “eight”. The other part of the word “octarine” is similar to that of many names of
colours, such as “carmine”, “aquamarine”, “citrine”, etc. It is also interesting to mention here
that almost every time talking about wizards Terry turns to the number “eight”, here it becomes
a symbol of magic.
Terry’s vivid imagination also spawned another nonce word combination from the
above-mentioned example – “Aurora Coriolis”, meaning great cyclones of magic. The first
word was taken from the name of a natural phenomenon “Aurora Borealis”, or “The Northern
Lights”, because the colour of magic to a certain degree resembles the colours of the Northern
Lights (fluorescent greenish yellow-purple). The second part, “Coriolis”, is a reference to the
Coriolis force, which in our world makes every moving object in the rotating direction deflect.
Because of this force, we have cyclones, which are in fact huge rotating masses of air. In the
Discworld it is magic which creates cyclones near the Hub. It evokes a marvellous, fascinating
scene, if we take the trouble to imagine it.
The following example demonstrates another type of figurative language, that is simile.
Terry is famous for finding quite interesting objects and phenomena for comparison, which
makes the text vivid and bright: night is compared with the inside of a cat, people with chess
figures and fireplace with a gleam in a weasel’s eye. If the second simile is becoming rather
trite, the first and last ones are entirely genuine. The effect can also be attributed to the principle
of defeated expectancy, as the readers are sure not to expect such parallels.
•
“The night was as black as the inside of a cat. It was the kind of night, you could
believe, on which gods moved men as though they were pawns on the chessboard of
fate. In the middle of this elemental storm a fire gleamed among the dripping furze
bushes like the madness in a weasel’s eye” [Pratchett, 1989: 5].
25
However, the description of the scenery does not necessarily need to be elevated and
pleasant. Ankh-Morpok, as it has been mentioned above, is a very infamous city and the
following example tells the readers why:
•
“Poets have tried to describe Ankh-Morpork. They have failed. Perhaps it's the
sheer zestful vitality of the place, or maybe it's just that a city with a million
inhabitants and no sewers is rather robust for poets, who prefer daffodils and no
wonder. So let's just say that Ankh-Morpork is as full of life as an old cheese on a
hot day, as loud as a curse in a cathedral, as bright as an oil slick, as colourful as
a bruise and as full of activity, industry, bustle and sheer exuberant busyness, as a
dead dog on a termite mound” [Pratchett, 1988: 30].
The utilized similes not only draw a vivid picture of this place, but also convey Terry’s
attitude to it. Ankh-Morpork is a huge bustling city, where people are hurriedly doing their
business. The readers perceive an ironic attitude through all these comparisons, as if the author
turned the sins of this city into ridicule. He might also be drawing parallels with many big cities
of today.
Apart from a world-building function, the scenery, especially the interior, can also be a
powerful means to convey some characters’ traits. The following example of the description of
a girl’s room demonstrates it brightly. Ysabell is the daughter of Death, whom he adopted after
her parents had passed away. But unfortunately, there is no such phenomenon as time at Death’s
domain. That is why Ysabell has been sixteen for more than thirty years. Almost all the time
she is alone and she has nobody to bewail her fate. The only salvation is biographies of people,
kept in the library. But reading about how people live, love and hate cannot fill the hole in her
heart, so she desperately wants to be a part of the world she no longer belongs to. Death’s
Domain, though big and spacious, is hollow for her. That is why Ysabell knits and puts laces
on every possible surface in her room to fill this emptiness.
•
“Mort looked around him. Ysabell was heavily into frills. Even the dressing table
seemed to be wearing a petticoat. The whole room wasn’t so much furnished as
lingeried” [Pratchett T, 1988: 201].
Metaphor “the room was lingeried” is interesting because of its meaning, as well as due
to how language is employed here, as “to lingerie” is a nonce word, formed by means of
conversion of the noun “lingerie”.
26
However, the description of the interior can also be inserted for the sake of liveliness.
In such cases Terry quite often turns to personification, so that the description is more dynamic
and vibrant.
•
“He’d never plucked up the courage to try Albert’s porridge, which led a private
life of its own in the depths of its saucepan and ate spoons” [Pratchett, 1988: 115].
•
“A stuffed alligator is absolutely standard equipment in any properly-run magical
establishment. This one looked as though it hadn’t enjoyed it much” [ibid.: 85].
•
“… the books slept. But Mort felt that they slept like cats, with one eye open. They
were aware … Mort could feel the books watching them … They didn’t exactly resent
him, they were just wondering about why he was here” [ibid.: 204-205].
Porridge eats spoons, books are sleeping like cats, and an alligator has his own opinion
about his role as a piece of equipment. It feels as if they are living their own personal life, each
speck of dust and each fish in the pond has an opinion and feelings. This feature is characteristic
of Terry’s individual style – to breathe a new life into ordinary objects.
Description of characters
Apart from creating the surroundings, Terry also pays special attention to his characters.
A vivid example is the changes that happen to Mort. He is put in the circumstances that demand
his making a stark choice: to follow his heart or to follow the rules. This constant pressure and
the weight of responsibility for the deceased make Mort’s character alter. Below are the
examples of these changes:
•
“He [Mort] was tall, red-haired and freckled, with the sort of body that seems to be
only marginally under its owner’s control; it appeared to have been built out of
knees” [Pratchett, 1988: 12].
•
“In short, Mort no longer looks like something the cat brought in and then brought
up.” [ibid.: 155].
•
“Mort’s eyes glowed like crucibles, his expression was a furnace, his voice held
enough heat to melt iron” [ibid.: 168].
•
“She stared into the blue, pupil-less pools of his [Mort’s] eyes. It was like looking
down a rushing tunnel” [ibid.: 272].
At first, he is nothing but a simple, clumsy boy, with his head constantly in the clouds.
His body is “built out of knees” – a metaphor, which is strengthened by a hyperbole. A knee is
a joint that helps one’s leg to bend and, in the case of Mort, there are too many of them, so that
27
his movements are awkward and ungainly. It gives an ironic tone to the description of his
appearance. But, as he continues working as an apprentice of Death, the readers notice the
changes in his personality, which still have a touch of irony. Terry resorts to the stylistic device
of zeugma here: “to bring in” is a verb with a preposition, used in the literal meaning, whereas
“to bring up” is a phrasal verb, which means “to vomit”. Such play upon words adds to the
ironic attitude of the author towards Mort. Having worked as Death for a considerable period
of time, Mort becomes a strong man, whom even Terry begins to treat with a certain respect
and awe. The simile (“eyes glowed like crucibles”) and metaphors (“his expression was a
furnace”; “his voice held enough heat to melt iron”) show the power, growing inside of him.
These changes reach their peak, when his eyes become depthless “pools”, “a rushing tunnel”.
Metaphors here obviously lack any irony and the readers realize that Mort has become a true
Death.
Another vivid example is the image of wizards. They appear to be clumsy, awkward –
they really do live in the ivory tower. For example, they believe that they owe nothing to the
society but saving it when it comes to the apocalypse.
•
“The wizards said that the University stood on magical ground and was therefore
exempt from taxation and anyway you couldn’t put a tax on knowledge.
The Patrician said you could. It was two hundred dollars per capita; if per capita
was a problem, de-capita could be arranged” [Pratchett, 1998: 71].
It is interesting how skilfully Terry plays with the English language. In the abovementioned example, he introduces a nonce word “de-capita”, so that together with “per
capita” it comprises a play upon words. The meaning of this newly introduced word is
perceived almost intuitively: the first part of it is a prefix “de”, denoting ‘removal, separation’,
and the second part is taken from the Latin “per capita”, denoting ‘head’. This play upon words
tells the readers about the position of wizards: however superior they might feel, the severe Law
of Ankh-Morpork will make sure they perform their duties.
Speaking about wordplay, Terry quite often turns to it when describing wizards. It is
aimed at a humorous effect, which in its turn conveys how people see wizards: they are funny,
preoccupied with their magic tricks, awkward.
•
[Ridicully] ““It [the rite of AshkEnte] doesn’t just send him [Death] an invitation,
it puts a bloody RSVP on it!”
[Bursar] “Oh, good. I like sherry,”
28
[Ridicully] “Shut up, Bursar”” [Pratchett, 1998: 100].
•
[The Dean] ““No, it’s definitely got to be bonsai,” he said. He considered it some
more and then brightened up. “On account of it all being part of bushido.
Like…small trees. Bush-i-do. Yeah. Makes sense, when you think about it.” [ibid.:
246].
In the first example, a typical dialogue between two wizards is demonstrated: they are
arguing about how to implement their practices. To show how ridiculous this situation is, Terry
introduces a play upon words. The rite of AshkEnte is used in order to summon Death, so that
there is no chance that he will not come, that is why Ridicully is speaking about “RSVP” –
répondez s’il vous plait (“please respond”). At the same time, RSVP is a name of a British
sherry produced by Vine Products ltd.
In the second example, the action takes place before a battle in a shop, when the wizards
are to save one of them. The Dean suggests using a war cry “Bonsai!”, but he is told that it is
an art of growing small trees. And that is right: it actually should have been “Banzai”, a battle
cry of Japanese kamikaze in World War II. But the wizards do not like it when somebody points
at their mistakes, so the pun is extended further: Japanese culture is well known for Samurai,
military nobility and great warriors, who had their own moral code – Bushido (literally “the
way of the warrior”). For the Dean, however, it sounds like “bush-i-do”. Being put in such a
context, the war cry “Bonsai” indeed makes sense and justifies his suggestion.
Wizards on the whole seem to know so many things about the world, that they confuse
them quite often. The following example also demonstrates it quite vividly:
•
[Albert] “… and the princesses were beautiful as the day is long and so noble they,
they could pee through a dozen mattresses” [Pratchett, 1988: 116].
Albert is the servant of Death, living in his domain and thus escaping the end of his
world life. He used to be Alberto Malich, a very powerful wizard and the founder of the Unseen
University. In the example provided, it is obvious that Albert mixed up the words “to pee” and
“pea”, as they are homophones (a stylistic device of homophonic pun). Terry here alludes to a
fairy-tale “The Princess and the Pea”, where a princess is to pass a test to prove her nobility:
she does not manage to fall asleep because one single pea has been put under a dozen of
mattresses. Apparently, Albert has forgotten some details about this tale, which creates a
humorous effect.
29
Another means to describe a character is to give this character a telling name. Indeed, it
is quite rare that Terry’s characters are given their names by chance:
•
Mort means “death” in French. So, when Death learns the name of his new
apprentice, he says “WHAT A COINCIDENCE” [Pratchett, 1988: 21]. Later Mort is to
become a new Death and fulfil his duties to the full.
•
The surname of Renata Flitworth is composed of two words: “flit” and “worth”. She
has been living a humble and sad life all by herself. Her fiancé got lost on the eve
of their marriage, but she refused to believe that it was on purpose. She is the woman
to employ Death, give him a shelter, and sacrifice her life time for him. At the end
of her life, Death really thinks that she deserves more than that, flying her over the
dimensions in the spiritual world to her love, who died the very day he got lost.
•
Count Notfaroutoe, a vampire, got his surname after the word “Nosferatu”, which
is a synonym to “vampire”. This word was also used in the famous “Dracula” by
Bram Stoker.
•
Granny Weatherwax is a witch, known for her strong and tough personality. She
lives in accordance with her own code of conduct and does not stand anyone
breaking it. She is a woman of fascinating magical abilities, living in peace with
nature. “Weatherwax” is rather a nickname, which is a compound of two words:
“weather”, metaphorically denoting something, which can be changed quickly and
unpredictably, and “wax”, denoting something that can melt, when it is heated. She
might be strict, severe, stern, but she is not unfamiliar with kindness and care, if one
“melts her heart”. However, the vice versa situation is also quite possible.
To describe his characters, Terry also turns to the stylistic device of allusion. In this
respect it pays to study the examples from the novel “Wyrd Sisters”, the whole plot of which is
one big allusion to Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, with a murder, pangs of conscience and
retribution. Such technique, to use other famous works as a skeleton for a new novel, has been
used by authors in different genres. The difficulty here is to find a boundary between exploiting
the predecessor’s success and creating something new and surprising, weaving a well-known
story into a new plot, so that they are harmonized with each other. That is exactly what Terry
Pratchett managed to achieve. All the utilized allusions are a powerful means to immerse the
readers into the plot, making them believe in the possibility of this fantasy world. This is the
dubious effect of Terry’s allusion. On the one hand, we see something very familiar, we believe
in it, we trust the author. It seems like the plot is set in our Middle Ages. But, on the other hand,
30
it is put in such a context that the sense of wonder, of the fantastic overflows everything. It is a
direct proof to an immense stylistic potential of an allusion.
Apart from building the plot, allusions here also help to understand the characters better,
since they recall specific images in our mind, connected to the works by Shakespeare. The very
first allusion is the title of the novel – “Wyrd Sisters”. In “Macbeth” the image of three witches,
the three goddesses of fate, is very important. It is the witches, who predict the coronation of
Macbeth and his death. In the first folio of “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses two different spellings
at the same time: “wayward” and “weyard”. Such variation can be attributed to the lack of
standardized spelling at the time. In the XV and XVI centuries Scots started to employ “weird”
in relation to witches, as a doublet of the Old English “wyrd”. In later editions of “Macbeth”
Shakespeare’s witches are referred to as “weird sisters”. After such interpretation, “weird”
acquired the meanings ‘odd, strange, abnormal’. Terry also introduces three witches to the plot,
describing them as “wyrd sisters”, which might have added antiquity to the witches,
underlining their primordial roots. The witches of Terry, very much like the witches of
Shakespeare, play a very important role in the fate of the main heroes, sending them down this
or that life path.
In the following examples Terry shows specific character traits of these witches:
•
“As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch [Magrat’s] voice shrieked: 'When shall we three
meet again?'
There was a pause.
Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: 'Well, I can do next Tuesday.'”
[Pratchett, 1989: 5].
•
“Granny Weatherwax paused with a second scone halfway to her mouth.
'Something comes,' she said.
'Can you tell by the pricking of your thumbs?' said Magrat earnestly. Magrat had
learned a lot about witchcraft from books.” [ibid.: 17].
The first example is an allusion to Shakespeare’s line “When shall we meet again? / In
thunder, lightning, or in rain?” [Shakespeare, 1784: 9]. The second example sends us to another
line: “By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes” [ibid.: 66]. In both
examples we see Magrat trying to be a genuine witch: she wants to possess all the attributes
connected with witchcraft, introduce more “witchy” elements, follow all the clichés of a witch.
She is trying to be enigmatic and cryptic. Whereas the other two witches feel rather sceptical
31
about it. Due to their age and experience, they treat all these attributes as superstitions and
excessive details. Thus, Terry underlines specific character traits by means of allusion.
Description of sounds
When Terry creates his novels, he tries to fully immerse the readers into the plot. As
sound is an essential component of any scene, he does not neglect it. In the following examples
combinations of similes and metaphors help create the atmosphere, as if the readers were
watching a film:
•
“It was a sound as soft as the first drop of rain on a century of dust” [Pratchett, 1998:
33].
•
“Now the silence in the bar took on a whole new intensity in which the sound of a stool
being slowly pushed back was like the creak of doom” [Pratchett, 1989: 219].
•
“Tomjon tried to get an early night, but sleep was murdered by the sound of creativity
from the next room. There were mutterings about balconies, and whether the world
really needed wave machines. The rest was silence, except for the insistent scratching
of quills” [ibid.: 240].
Sounds also help the author develop the characters, bring out this or that trait, create an
impression. The sound of the character’s voice is of particular importance here, since Terry
resorts to graphical means to bring out or highlight a particular feature.
Graphical means are described by V.A. Kuharenko as a powerful tool for “recreating
the individual and social peculiarities of the speaker, the atmosphere of the communication act”
[Кухаренко, 2011: 16]. There can be found different types of it: the usage of graphons
(“…intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word … used to reflect the authentic
pronunciation…”), italics, capitalization, spacing of graphemes and of lines [ibid.: 14].
Terry quite often turns to graphical means to add some details to the character. In the
following examples, the readers see vampires talking. The author highlights this fact by specific
graphons, characteristic of a vampire speech:
•
““Hah! You should not tvalk like zat,” said Doreen haughtily. “You should be prout of
your noble lineage”” [Pratchett, 1998: 109].
•
““I got this letter, see? With a posh blob of wax on it and everything. Blahblahblah…
great-great-uncle… blahblahblah… only surviving relative… blahblahblah… may we
be the first to offer our heartiest…blahblahblah”” [ibid.: 110].
32
The stereotypical vampire’s speech includes lots of “blah-blah-blah”, they also devoice
final plosive consonants [b], [d], [ɡ], change dental fricatives [θ] and [ð] into alveolar fricatives
[s] and [z]. It is a mass media stereotype that whenever a vampire is speaking, he or she is doing
it with an Easter European or Slavic accent. However, nowadays, this stereotype is gradually
going into past and is used mainly for the creation of a humorous effect. That is exactly the case
of the above-mentioned examples: the characters have not yet got used to their vampire life, but
they still want to be considered a part of this group. So, their vampire accent sometimes
disappears, when they forget to use it, creating a humorous effect.
A very illustrative example can also be found in the novel “Reaper Man”. When Death
of the Discworld has to answer for his deeds before the Universal Death, Azrael, he asks for his
mercy and for a little bit of time for his friend, so that he can pay her a debt of gratitude. Azrael
answers “yes”, but it is far more important how this word is written (the example is provided
in the picture below). Such capitalization coupled with huge font size points at the position this
supreme being occupies: Azrael is “the Great Attractor, the Death of Universes, the beginning
and the end of time” [Pratchett, 1998: 264]. He is one of the supreme beings that believed the
multiverse into existence.
Picture of the page in the novel "Reaper Man"
[Pratchett, 1998: 265]
As a conclusion of this part, it is important to summarize the results of the analysis,
bringing out the most typical features of Terry Pratchett’s individual style. Having chosen the
genre of fantasy literature, Terry wanted to create something, which would be completely
different from everything written before. He used this genre to talk about the real world and
real problems. His works abound in various stylistic devices. Metaphors play a very important
role in depicting characters, the settings. They are used in combination with various stylistic
33
devices (simile, epithets, allusions, nonce-words, telling names), which emphasize a certain
tone: triumphant, ironic, humorous, and sympathetic. They evoke a whole range of emotions
and convey important ideas.
One of the ideas, which runs through almost all of the novels is connected with the
concept of death, the way people perceive this phenomenon. Terry has his own point of view
on the question, which he describes through the nature of one of the most beloved characters of
the whole series of books – Death. Notwithstanding the fact that he has his own series of story,
concentrated solely on his adventures, Death appears on the pages of almost every novel. The
following part is devoted to the analysis of Death as a character in Terry’ s novels in contrast
with his representations in the works by different authors.
2.2.The image of Death in the novels by Terry Pratchett
Our world is changing at a fast pace, almost every day humanity makes new important
discoveries. The only thing which we might never be able to know is what happens to us at the
end. What will it be like? Will it be hell or heaven or an eternal darkness? That is why the
question of death as a phenomenon, and especially what happens after, has always been a
subject of prolonged discussions. Since we cannot make an experiment, we can only guess.
Nevertheless, it does not stop people from imagining what the so-called “afterlife” will be like.
The following examples of proverbs and sayings demonstrate how British people tend to
perceive this concept:
•
Three things come into the house uninvited: debts, age, and death.
•
Death is a shadow that always follows the body.
•
Death closes all doors.
•
Grey hairs are death's blossoms.
Death comes uninvited, it chases us like a shadow, it closes all doors. All these
metaphors create an image of death being omnipresent and cruel, death knows no sorrow or
grief and takes everyone. One day a black-robed skeleton with a scythe will come and mark the
end of the journey. It is a dreadful and full of grief moment.
The topic of the present work is devoted to the image of Death as a character in the
Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett. In order to be more accurate in the conclusions,
two more books have been used in this part: “The Colour of Magic” and “The Light Fantastic”.
These are the very first books of the Discworld universe, featuring the adventures of an
unsuccessful wizard Rincewind and Twoflower, the first tourist of the Discworld. Death
34
appears in these books as a character that chases Rincewind, waiting for him to cease his
existence.
General remarks about the character of Death
Death first appears in the Discworld series of novels as a character in “The Colour of
Magic”. He seems to be rather malicious and sinister:
•
“... He hummed a little tune, cheery as a plague pit, and pausing only to extract the
life from a passing mayfly, and one-ninth of the lives from a cat cowering under the
fish stall...” [Pratchett, 1983].
Terry proves to be creative choosing objects for comparison, thus we can observe the
oxymoron here: tune that is cheery as a plague pit. Such grim humour permeates all the
appearances of Death in the first two books. However, the author decides to look closer at the
inner world and the personality of this character in “Mort”, when the readers meet the other
side of Death’s life, which will be subjected to further analysis in this part.
According to Terry, Death exists in the Discworld because people imagine that there
must be someone who will help them when they die: “He evolved, as it were, along with life.
[People] added the shape and all the scythe and robe business to a personality that was already
millions of years old” [Pratchett, 1998: 104]. Thus, to be able to perform this duty, Death is
created to be an “anthropomorphic personification” [Pratchett, 1988: 216]. However, ordinary
people do not notice him strolling right past them until they are ready to go with him, for “the
human brain is clever enough to edit sights too horrible for it to cope with” [Pratchett, 1989:
298]. Only wizards, witches, children and cats can see him in the flesh.
As for the gender, Death is a male creature and Terry shows it by using the pronouns
“he”, “his”, “him” when referring to this character. Talking about his voice, the author once
again turns to graphical means. Since we cannot talk about vocal cords in the case of a skeleton,
Death cannot produce any audible sound but for the clatter of bones. However, people’s
imagination does conjure up a kind of sound in their heads, inspired by Death’s occupation. His
words get into “head without bothering to pass through … ears” [Pratchett, 1988: 21]. Thus,
to show their unique quality, all the lines of Death are written in small capital letters and they
are devoid of quotation marks.
•
“WHAT? he whispered, in a voice like an anvil being hit with a small lead hammer”
[Pratchett, 1989: 299].
35
•
“Death said, in tones as deep and heavy as the slamming of leaden doors, far
underground. … BUT WHY ARE YOU HERE? (Boom, boom went crypt lids, in the wormhaunted fastnesses under old mountains…)” [Pratchett, 1983].
•
“I’LL GET YOU YET, CULLY, said Death, in the voice like the slamming of leaden coffin
lids” [ibid.].
•
“WELL? said Death, in a voice with all the warmth and colour of an iceberg”
[Pratchett, 1986].
•
“It was a heavy, hollow voice, like two large lumps of lead smashing together”
[ibid.].
•
“Now, in a voice like lead slabs being dropped on granite...” [Pratchett, 1988: 11].
As shown by the above-mentioned examples, Terry also describes Death’s voice by
means of comparison to cold lead, a really heavy metal, which is known to us from ancient
times: in Ancient Rome people made use of it for water pipes, it is still utilized now for the
production of bullets, rechargeable batteries etc. It might be a hint to his long-standing trade,
associated in our minds with something cold, cryptic and unpleasant.
Another point to mention is Death’s personality, which is unique and certainly
charming, notwithstanding an off-putting appearance. No wonder he is one of the most beloved
characters of the Discworld universe. Death of the Discworld is the first personification of death
in literature, which would be so charismatic and so detailed. Terry’s attitude towards Death as
a character and death as a phenomenon of life fully unfold in the language he uses, which in
turn has a powerful influence on the readers.
Appearance
When analysing a character, it is better to start with the appearance. Death is a blackrobed skeleton of a big height, riding a white steed and wearing a scythe (for ordinary people)
and a sword (for the nobility). Such attributes fully coincide with how we tend to imagine a
personification of such phenomenon. In our mind it should be something cryptic, dark, scare,
terrifying. The image of this character is contrasted to his inner world, his personality, which
in its turn is revealed with the help of various stylistic devices the analysis of which will be
provided in this part.
As Terry underlines himself in example №4 below, the first remarkable and distinctive
feature of Death of the Discworld is the glow in his eye sockets. It is also interesting to mention
36
here that the colour of this glow varies depending on his mood, with blue denoting inner calm
(examples №1-4) and red denoting anger (examples №5-6).
Composure
Anger
1. “… a small blue supernova flared for a
5. “Death’s face became a little stiffer, if that
were possible. The blue glow in his eye
moment in the depths of his eyesockets”
sockets flickered red for an instant”
[Pratchett, 1988: 49].
2. “Deep within them, as though they were
windows looking across the gulfs of space,
[Pratchett, 1989: 14].
6. “Keli stared hypnotised at the red
pinpoints miles deep in those dark
were two tiny blue stars” [ibid.: 21].
sockets” [Pratchett, 1988: 297].
3. “Death gave him another of his supernova
winks” [ibid.: 140].
4. “... Death resembled a polished skeleton in
every way but one. His eye sockets glowed
sky blue” [Pratchett, 1989: 12].
Terry compares Death’s hollow eye sockets with endless space, where stars are the only
sources of light. According to Macmillan Dictionary, “supernova – an exploding star that
produces an extremely bright light” [Macmillan: 1503]. The light in Death’s eye sockets is
compared with that of an exploding star in space. It might be a hint to the endless and timeless
world, into which souls get after death. Death himself serves to be a guiding light, an escort,
who is responsible for taking care of the deceased, providing them with what they imagined to
get. This is conveyed with the help of an extended metaphor, which creates a picturesque image.
Quite often authors turn to the description of eyes, when they want to express something
implicitly. The above-mentioned examples carry within themselves only a small hint to the real
nature of Death.
Character traits
Developing the idea of Death being a psychopomp rather than a murderer, Terry reveals
that Death knows compassion. In the following example the author uses the metaphor
“compassion is a sharp edge” to open up this trait:
•
“[Death] BUT YOU MUST LEARN THE COMPASSION PROPER TO YOUR TRADE.
[Mort] “What’s that?”
[Death] A SHARP EDGE” [Pratchett, 1988: 65].
37
It is obvious that the finer the blade is, the clearer the cut will be. That is why Terry pays
special attention to this aspect, as shown in the examples below. With the help of hyperboles,
the author intensifies that attribute, showing that, although Death has to do his job, he wishes
to do it in the most merciful way, causing no pain to the deceased when their souls are separated
from the body.
•
“[the scythe was] so thin that Mort could see through it, a pale blue shimmer in the
air that could slice flame and chop sound” [Pratchett, 1988: 52].
•
“[the scythe was] so sharp that it began to possess, not just a sharp edge, but the
very essence of sharpness itself, a field of absolute sharpness that actually extended
beyond the last atoms of metal”. [Pratchett, 1998: 174].
•
“His words drifted across death’s scythe and split tidily into two ribbons of
consonants and vowels” [Pratchett, 1983].
Terry reveals an even more surprising characteristic of Death with the help of a
quotation, which has an allusive character. Strolling along the shelves with lifetimers
(hourglasses – one for every person on the Disc – which show how much time left for everyone),
Death notices that young princess Kelly will soon have to die, as the sand in her lifetimer has
almost moved to the bottom part. All of a sudden, Death says:
● “TIME LIKE AN EVER-ROLLING STREAM BEARS ALL ITS…” [Pratchett, 1988: 76].
Here Death quotes a poem “Our God, Our Help” by Isaac Watts, an English hymn writer
and theologian. This poem tells the readers that everything in the world is mortal and everything
will eventually die forgotten. The only immortal power is God, who is our guard and saviour.
Death of the Discworld quotes a line from this poem as if feeling sorry for this young princess.
With the help of this quote, Terry opens up another trait of Death – his ability to be sorry, to
sympathize with the bereavement of the deceased. He understands how sorrowful this moment
is, how desperately people do not want to end their life. Death almost wishes he could help and
save her, but her time has come. The readers will later see that in the final duel between Mort
and Death, when the future life of Kelly is at stake, Death lets Mort win, thus saving Kelly.
It is a rather revolutionary idea, as in most works of fiction death, if personified, lacks
any compassion at all. Quite the opposite, he is represented as a pure evil. Though he does not
kill, he reaps the souls and has no mercy. A very demonstrative example can be found in an old
proverb: “Death devours lambs as well as sheep”. Metaphor here is obvious, as “lamb – a
young sheep” [Macmillan: 841], meaning children. Death appears here as a grim creature, for
38
whom there is no reason not to perform his duties and who does not seem to be much bothered
by that.
Another interesting aspect of Death’s personality is his own unique sense of humour. In
the “Reaper Man”, when he has to “reap” the soul of his friend, the elderly Miss Flitworth, he
decides to make it special for her. He buys her flowers, chocolates, gets a huge diamond and
makes her a gift of the last holiday in her life. There she invites him for a dance:
•
"[Miss Flitworth] 'I take it you do dance, Mr Bill Door?'
[Death] FAMED FOR IT, MISS FLITWORTH" [Pratchett, 1998: 275].
This comment seems rather ironical, if the reader recognises the allusion to the Danse
Macabre, or the Dance of Death. In the Middle Ages in western Europe it was a popular genre
of art, which actually was an allegory on the inevitability of death: a personification of death or
skeletons of the dead are leading a parade of dancing people to the grave. Among them we can
see popes, emperors, kings, children, laborers. This motive is repeated in numerous paintings,
frescoes, woodcuts, pieces of music and was especially popularized by religious people, since
it reminds people of how fragile their life is. In the afterlife everyone is equal before the eyes
of Death. That concept is what Death alludes to in the above-mentioned example, which is, in
fact, also a good instance of grim humour of Grim Reaper. The irony of this example lies in the
way Death feels: on the one hand, he understands that everything is mortal, but, on the other, it
is difficult for him to reap the soul of his friend, who invited him for her last dance.
Another example can be found in “Mort”. Here the joke is realised within a metaphorical
usage of the verb “to murder”, meaning “to cease someone’s existence, to kill”. Death perceives
all objects as if they had souls, even inanimate ones, thus eating food is compared to killing
someone:
● “I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, he said, BUT I COULD MURDER A CURRY” [Pratchett, 1988: 29].
Terry describes Death as a sympathetic creature, capable of showing care, worry,
sadness, compassion. His personality attracts the readers, thus making them think about the
other side of death, which is devoid of fear. In the end we will be met by Death, who will
support and help us continue our journey.
Death’s duty
As it has been mentioned, Death’s job is to help people when they die, for the souls
either continue their existence as ghosts in the material world or they have to be transferred to
39
another dimension, depending on whether they have some unfinished business. It leaves Death
a really sorrowful fate, which is revealed in the following example:
•
“... Death of the Disc was a traditionalist who prided himself on his personal service
and spent most of the time being depressed because this was not appreciated”
[Pratchett, 1983].
Death is shown to us as a very lonely creature. One can hardly imagine any author
treating a personification of death that way. The following examples illustrate Terry’s sympathy
towards this character.
•
“[when the last living creature died] it would then be his job, figuratively speaking,
to put the chairs on the tables and turn all the lights off” [Pratchett, 1988: 279].
•
“In the great party of Creation, he was always in the kitchen” [ibid.: 223].
Terry compares life with a party and Death is the one who makes sure it goes on (“he is
in the kitchen”). He takes care of the dead, so that the balance of life and death is kept. This
very duty involves being lonely, since nobody wants to die. There is hardly anyone willing to
have a cup of tea with him, tell him a story or invite him to his or her place one more time.
Death exists there for every living being to help them end their journey, and when the very last
one dies, he will mark the end of the “party”, “put the chairs on the tables and turn all the lights
off”. No author before Terry has ever looked at death from that point of view. This metaphor
shows Death as “the loneliest creature in the universe” [ibid.: 223].
Death’s Domain
The loneliness can also be read between the lines when it comes to the description of
the house, where he lives, the so-called Death’s Domain. With the help of different stylistic
devices, the author creates a vivid image:
•
“…it was large, larger than the entire house back home … The carpet under his feet
was deep enough to hide a tribe of pygmies … And everything had been designed in
shades of purple and black” [Pratchett, 1988: 37].
•
“...bare wooden corridor outside, with big yellow candles” [ibid.: 37].
•
“There was a kitchen on the other side of the door — long … with … a vast black
iron stove occupying the whole of one long wall” [ibid.: 39].
•
“... a vast leather book almost bigger than the desk itself” [ibid.: 42].
•
“In the hall outside, the great clock ticked on, killing time” [Pratchett, 1998: 261].
40
•
“Death selected a scythe from the rack in the huge hall” [ibid.: p 285].
Death lives somewhere between dimensions, which is not a real material world made
by the Creator. Death tried to make his domain look like those of humans of the Disc, but he
cannot create anything new, only a copy of something that he has seen. Describing Death’s
Domain, Terry uses numerous epithets, which have a semantic component “big in size”
(“large”, “long”, “big”, “vast”, “great”). It creates an image of an enormous old mansion,
where Death, as if belonging to the aristocracy, passes his free time. It is important, however,
to look deeper into the issue, since many authors use the description of their characters’ houses
to bring out some important details (a psychological function of the interior). Death’s Domain,
although impressive and gorgeous, lacks any cosiness, warmth, completion. It might be a hint
to the endlessness and infinity of the afterlife. But it might also be a reflection of Death’s
emotional state: he, though being tall, important, impressive, feels empty and hollow inside.
That is why he decides to fill this hollowness by acting like a human (he goes to the human
world and occupies himself with going to parties, drinking alcohol, cooking, finding a job, etc.).
Another important characteristic of Death’s Domain is the fact that almost everything
here is black. It has been mentioned in the remarks that people themselves create the image of
Death, thus Death of the Discworld lives in a mansion, under pale, “gloomy” Sun and “sullen”
sky, surrounded by black colour and numerous drapes. It is the people of the Discworld who
predetermine the way he and his house look like.
•
“Death’s garden was big, neat and well-tended. It was also very, very black. The
grass was black. The flowers were black. Black apples gleamed among the black
leaves of a black apple tree. Even the air looked inky.
… That’s to say, not simply very dark tones of red and green and whatever, but real
shades of black. A whole spectrum of colours, all different and all—well, black”
[Pratchett, 1988: 46].
The repetition of the word “black” in the given example makes the image more vivid. It
is obvious that the colour has not been chosen by chance. The afterlife, death, funerals are
strongly associated in our mind with black colour, and people living on the Disc are not unlike
us. Death seems to lack any choice, as it has been predetermined by the people themselves that
his imagination cannot produce any colour but black.
41
The following example of Death talking about himself proves the point that he does not
have his personal opinion. He is merely the summary of the way people have always described
him:
•
“I USHERED SOULS INTO THE NEXT WORLD. I WAS THE GRAVE OF ALL HOPE. I WAS THE
ULTIMATE REALITY.
I
WAS THE ASSASSIN AGAINST WHOM NO LOCK WOULD HOLD”
[Pratchett, 1988: 214].
Metaphors in this example are worth analysing, as they contain the collective image of
death being omnipresent, sinister, dreadful and inevitable. “Death is the grave of all hope”,
meaning that death marks the end, there will be no feelings, no thoughts, no hope. One day
everyone’s time will come and the souls will be reaped. “Death is the ultimate reality” is a
more complicated metaphor, as it requires some background knowledge. According to the
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Ultimate reality – something that is the supreme, final, and
fundamental power in all reality” [Merriam-Webster Dictionary]. It is the nature of everything
in reality, the purpose and the reason, the principle that governs the universe. Paradoxically
enough, death is the nature of life, as life would not be meaningful if it lasted forever. The last
metaphor here is that “Death is the assassin against whom no lock would hold”. Death here is
represented as something inevitable, for we cannot hide from it, cannot protect anyone from it.
These metaphors once again display the way people imagine death, making the picture
much brighter with the help of stylistic devices, thus contributing to the inner conflict of his
character: on the one hand, he knows how desperate people are to live, how much they are
afraid of him, the fact that he is not able to change, but on the other, he is fascinated by people’s
lives, problems, discoveries and wants to feel life the way they feel it. That is the reason why
he keeps trying to interact with ordinary people, and puts himself in their shoes. Death is a real
personality, which makes his character so unique.
Summarizing the analysis of Death as a character in the novels devoted to the Discworld
universe by Terry Pratchett, it is important to underline first that he is not devoid of the
prejudices of people. Death is a black-robed skeleton with a scythe, who reaps the souls of the
deceased. He lives in a black mansion, where everything is gloomy and dark. He is someone
who will eventually end everybody’s life and there is no escape. But along with that Death of
the Discworld knows compassion, he cares about the dead and tries to do everything possible
to help them cope with their tragedy. He is awkward, as he is not a real human, and some sides
of life remain vague to him. Still, he is doing his best to understand people. Unfortunately,
nobody seems to be trying to understand him. Only feeling the pressure of the duties he has,
42
does Mort understand how hard it is to be Death, how lonely and how remarkably important
Death is. Only seeing his determination to help and save, does Miss Flitworth trust him and
help him back. Death is a guide in the afterlife, who shows people who they really are and what
choices are left for them. This image is created with the help of numerous stylistic devices,
which in their turn are parts of one huge puzzle. All of them were utilized by the author to make
Death more real, dynamic, touching, and this purport was achieved. Terry makes the readers
look on the fact of dying from a completely different point of view, which lacks any fear. Instead
of living in the constant dread of death, we should value our life, be kinder to people
surrounding us and then, at the end of the journey, meet death as a friend and not as an assassin.
43
Conclusion
Fantasy genre has been a fount of inspiration from the very beginning. Fantasy writers
create different worlds, where the readers can escape from the dull reality of their mundane life.
Being presented in different forms, from novels to music compositions, fantasy is subjected to
research by almost all fields of science. However, the research of the present work is limited to
the field of stylistics. Language means are the ace up a writer’s sleeve. With their help they can
describe new intricate realities, create a language of an unknown tribe, introduce the readers to
the hidden secrets of the characters. In this respect, the fantasy genre gives full reign to the
author’s imagination, providing them with the space within which they can make the most of
their abilities. It is with the help of language that the author can set the reader in a desired mood,
create a necessary atmosphere, bring out a particular trait of character or a detail of the interior.
Having worked with theoretical material, we came to the conclusion that fantasy as a
genre of literature still has a vast field for exploration, especially when it comes to the individual
characteristics of a particular author. On the whole, the core principle of the genre remains the
same: the authors deal with something anomalous (be it a whole new world, fantastic elements
intruding into our reality from a different world or even our reality enriched with something
fantastic), which is quite often twisted with real mythology, history, culture, geography. Fantasy
writers immerse their readers into the plot by creating the senses of oddity, unexpectedness.
However, the way the authors describe new worlds, use language means varies greatly from
one author to another.
Terry Pratchett, being a true master of word, has created the universe of the Discworld,
the distinctive feature of which is that the realities of our life are put in a fantastic context. His
characters are imperfect, they get into trouble, make mistakes and find solutions. The readers
get acquainted with the new world as the author weave all the details into the plot with the help
of various stylistic devices.
However praised his creativity might be, the majority of researches devoted to his works
pay more attention to the expressive function of the employed stylistic devices and the
difficulties of translation connected with them. For the present research, it is of greater
importance to look at the world-building function of these stylistic devices, on their role in the
creation of images.
As shown by the linguo-stylistic analysis, the most significant role is played by
allusions, wordplays and the stylistic devices implying comparison. Allusions serve several
purposes: on the one hand, they help to describe the characters or create a joke; but on the other,
44
these allusions immerse the readers into the plot. Coming across familiar realities, they perceive
the featured events as something real, something that can quite possibly take place in our world.
Wordplays, a device especially loved by Terry, create a humorous effect, as well as disclose
particular traits of characters. Such stylistic devices as metaphors and similes also abound in
Terry’s novels. Thanks to their genuine nature, the expectancy of drawn parallels is defeated,
which also contributes to creating the sense of wonder. Having a fascinating sensibility to the
stylistic potential of the English language, Terry employed numerous metaphors, epithets,
allusions, wordplays, similes, which justify the author’s creativeness and novelty when working
with language. Every stylistic device implicitly draws a picture in the reader’s subconscious.
Thus, the study of his works shows the modern state of the English language, its beauty and
grace.
All the above-mentioned stylistic devices proved to be of great importance for the image
of Death, one of the main characters of Discworld novels. Death starts out as a rather malicious
character and the language employed tells the readers about all the superstitions that we have
about death. However, as Terry gradually tells us more about his existence, duties, preferences,
we start to sympathise with his character. We learn how lonely he is, how desperately he wants
to understand people’s nature, how much he wishes he could help us. Terry uses stylistic
devices to tell Death’s story implicitly, so that we do not just read the lines, but rather think and
analyse, imagine. Such a philosophical approach to this concept is what makes this character
so attractive and touching for the readers.
45
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