The Rhetorical And Structural Characteristics Of The White Guard By M.A.Bulgakov

Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov(1891-1940)is a famous Russian writer in the 20th century.His works have been the center of attention of readers and critics all over the world.As one of the representatives of Russian Sliver Age,his literary talent is best displayed in his works of satire and fantasy.Bulgakov's works are always thought-provoking and unique in expression.The White Guard is Bulgakov's first full-length novel,which occupies an important position in his corpus.It delineates a series of events at the end of 1918 during the civil war in Ukraine.By depicting the family life of an ordinary white guard officer in Kiev,both the external and internal struggles of ordinary people are put under the author's pen.The White Guard carries Bulgakov's reflections on war and life.It reflects the characteristics of his early creation.However,whether in Russia or other countries,critical interests on The White Guard are rare,as well as analyses of the rhetoric and structure of this novel.This thesis is written to help change this status of scarcity.The innovation here lies in the systematic explanation of the usage of figure of speech,presentation of major features of the textual structure and a comprehensive understanding of the language prowess of The White Guard,with the theoretical assistance of the Russian rethorics.The thesis consists of introduction,chapter one to three,conclusion and references.The introduction addresses the subject,target and methodologies of this thesis.It sets forth the theoretical basis and practical significance and provides a glance at the structure of this thesis.The first chapter looks back at the creative history of Bulgakov,summarizes the plot and the research status quo of the linguistic characteristics of The White Guard,and presents the theoretical basis of rhetorical and structural analysis.Language is the primary factor of literature.Literary language is the most resorted method to establish literary image and express the author's subjective ideas.Different from common languages,it's lively,vivid,full of artistic appeal,and is communicative and aesthetic.In literary language,there is a variety of rhetoric devices,among which all kinds of semantic figures of speech are of cruciality.Structure is one of the most important factors in literary works.The structure of literary works is closely related to content and the writer's artistic thoughts.It should be in line with the shaping of characters and representation of motifs.The understanding of a work from multiple analyses of rhetoric characteristics and structure is of help to explore the semantic foundation of the work and grasp the author's creative concept.The second chapter analyzes The White Guard from the perspective of speech of rhetoric features.Simile,modifier,and personification are most widely used in this novel.Bulgakov uses a variety of similes to make his work vivid and appealing.For the depiction of characters,action,psychological state,and everyday objects,similesare very significant.Modifiers,especially color modifiers,emphasize the bright colors of literary works and make them expressive.With the help of exquisite colors,the author describes the appearance and features of characters.At the same time,the color modifier is an important way to build the warm and harmonious atmosphere of Turbiny's family.Personification is mainly used to shape the image of "city" in the novel,express the characters' psychological tendency,describe the natural environment,and establish ambient atmosphere.This chapter also analyzes the artistic uniqueness of figures of speech,and points out that as an important instrument to express individual features and create language traits it plays an irreplaceable role in the novel.The third chapter expounds on the structural characteristics of The White Guard,looks into the organization of time and space in the novel,addresses the structure of montage,and analyzes the uses of dreams as ways to organize narrative and build structure.Time and space are important structural principles of literary works.In terms of time organization,Bulgakov selects the period of December 1918 to February 1919 as his narrative timeline,but the temporal consistency is often broken.Near December 14,1918,the pace of time is significantly slowed down with the happening of a variety of events.In terms of spatial organization,Bulgakov provides three levels of different spaces,respectively represented in Turbiny's house,city and the world.Turbiny's house is warm,comfortable;the city is peaceful and harmonious;but the world is dangerous and terrible.In The White Guard,montage which originates from the art of film is used to join together relatively independent events and images for the description of particular scenes.Among them,the mass meeting on the square of the church and the military parade of Petlura are the central manifestations of montage.They are not significantly connected with the main body of the novel,and filled with tragic and farcical sentiments.The use of dreams also helps display the artistic structuring of The White Guard.As an important plot constituent,dreams predict the development of the plot,convey the internal feelings of the characters,and create a particular atmosphere.Through the use of dreams,Bulgakov manages to throw in a fair chunk of mystery in the taste of his novel.The conclusion is a brief summary of the full thesis.The conclusion provides a summary of the thesis.Bulgakov's The White Guard is a work of literary artistry.Its language charm and prowess are represented by the rich and vivid usage of figure of speech and unique organizational structure,etc.