The educational potential of a literary quotation: linguistic, aesthetic and methodological aspects

Abstract

Introduction. Despite significant differences in the traditions and practices of literary reading at school in different countries, the question of the role of reading in the process of developing reading strategies, intercultural competence and personal development of students remains relevant in pedagogical research. The influence of reading on the emotional and psychological state of a person, “bibliotherapy of the soul” have been actively studied not only in philosophy and hermeneutics of the twentieth century, but continues to be a subject of controversy in modern science. The study attempts to identify the features of perception, understanding and interpretation of a literary quotation as a significant element of a work of art. Purpose of the study: to identify the educational potential of literary quotation and to actualize the problem of creating methodological conditions for its implementation in the system of school literary education. Materials and methods. Research methods: pedagogical observation; introspection, contextual analysis of explanatory dictionaries; a survey of schoolchildren and students, as well as identifying expert opinion on assessing the significance of a quote for the Russian language. 199 students of the Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University. Took part in a pilot survey aimed at understanding and interpreting a literary quotation. A.I. Herzen, of which 28 are studying at the Faculty of Economics, 86 at the Faculty of Biology, 85 at the Faculty of Philology. For the survey, we chose a quote from the work of A.S. Pushkin “Mozart and Salieri” (cycle “Little Tragedies”) “And genius and villainy are two incompatible things. Isn’t it true?” Results. The survey showed that the most serious problem is ignorance of the precedent phenomenon – quotes from a classical text: 85.7% of students of the Faculty of Economics and 66.3% of students of the Faculty of Biology did not indicate the author and source of the quotation. 99% of students of the Faculty of Philology recognized the quote. It was also difficult for respondents to understand the meaning of the quote and its connection with life. None of the survey participants, in their reflections in tasks 2 and 5, cited as an argument the difference between the concepts of “evil” and “evil action”, or paid attention to the word “incompatible” and the special linguistic construction of the phrase. In third place in terms of difficulty in completing the task is understanding intertextual connections in the text, including quotes in someone else’s speech. Analysis of the survey results helped to identify problem areas in the perception and interpretation of quotes and types of tasks that could later become part of the system of working with quotes in literature lessons at school. Conclusion. A literary quotation has great methodological potential for developing the reader’s interpretive activity. The conducted research revealed that a literary quotation can become an effective tool for educating the reader as a person. The prospect of our research is the creation of a system of exercises and tasks for working with quotes in literature lessons.