Situation as a plot and composition unit of the lyric
Situation can be considered a unit of an existential-event representation in lyrics. The term "lyrical situation" (LS) refers to a specific piece of text. Poems can be small in size and represent a unified integrity: indivisible space and common time; at the same time all actions (if any) are under one main motive. But some poems have a more complex structure with semantic parts - lyrical situations. If a poem has more than one lyrical situation, its plot is enhanced. During the transition from one semantic part of a poem to another sharp changes of one or more parameters are observed. In each motive chain motifs are united by a certain feature or a number of features; at the same time, motifs of different motive chains are in opposition by a certain feature or a number of features. As a result, the situation in a poem is characterized by some constants, distinguishing it from other situations of the same poem: 1. Time constant: for example, within the same LS there are motifs that reveal actions taking place, the other part of the poem contains motifs that reveal actions performed. 2. Place and space constant: one LS has motifs that specify actions performed in a certain place, another LS has a different scene; or, for example, in one LS the action takes place within a topos, in another LS the action takes place within a locus, or vice versa. 3. Action or condition constant: one LS describes homogeneous actions or only one action/condition. A sharp change of an action determines a semantic break; in cases when the situation is descriptive, a semantic break is due to a sudden change of condition. 4. The representation subject or object constant: within one LS all actions are performed by the same subject, all events are associated with it (if the semantic part is narrative), or within the same LS the description of a single object is given, its characteristics are listed (if the semantic part contains a description or reasoning). 5. Functional-semantic speech type constant: one LS is a certain dominant functional-semantic type (FST) - description, narration, or reasoning; in another LS of the poem FST may change. It is possible to speak about two or more lyrical situations in a poem, if at least one of the four listed parameters changes. Lyrics do not aim at the piling up of situations, the most common cases are one or two situations in the poem. Poems consisting of more than three LS can usually be attributed to the lyrical epic. The presence of three situations in a poem is a sign of a complicated composition of the lyrical work. A certain type of relations between situations (contrast, parallel, correlation) and their sequence one after another (sequential change or alternation) determine the compositional type of a poem.