LEYTHMOTIVES OF THE NOVEL "THE LOOK OF JELLYFISH" BY SILVIE GERMAN

Abstract

In this article, it is being considered the novel «The Medusa Child» by Sylvie Germain – one of the key works of the writer that is among the most iconic in modern French literature. Just as in all of her previous novels and in most subsequent ones, in this novel the key element of the literary game is the functioning of various leitmotifs. The main feature of functioning of leitmotifs in the novel «The Medusa Child» is both the adaptation of the common motive of Gorgon and the expression of the child’s world of the girl. Regarding the works of Sylvie Germain, «leitmotifs consciousness» is something isolated and self-sufficient, since it is in the structure of leitmotifs the thought is developing to a certain degree independently. In the given novel, it can be observed a logical finalization of the leitmotifs of the eyes, God, sleep, body, etc., which can be found in all previous works of Sylvie Germain and in most subsequent ones. The actualization of the leitmotifs of the eyes in the novel «The Medusa Child» is due to the semantic filling of the image of the Gorgon, the signs of which are partially transferred to Lucy, a little girl. Therefore, the semantic development of the leitmotif of the eyes in the novel is objectively exaggerated, it is expanded in accordance with its own mytheme space and has a centering function in the text with respect to the leitmotif structure of the novel. All of Lucy's innermost thoughts are revealed to the reader only in the leitmotif space. The usual life events are conveyed in the work at the thematic and plot level. This distribution of the information field of the text contributes to the formation of two planes – the reality and the world of the mythological Gorgon. Lucy, being in both worlds at the same time, is not able to coordinate these worlds by herself, however, she is the only creature that is present in both worlds at once. Germain’s mystification of the text at the leitmotif level in this novel is also distinguished by emphasizing on probability-reliability as a shaky facet of human consciousness. There is even a game underway with this facet. Reality and mysticism are always mutually conditioned in the same way as they are mutually denied.