SUSPENDED TIME: FAIRY TALE VS. RAP LYRICS

Abstract

The paper identifies the linguistic manifestations of suspended time, represented by chronotopes of the "other world" of fairy tale and certain rap lyrics worlds. The article is aimed at scrutinizing the semiotic, stylistic, conceptual-metaphoric and narrative properties of suspended time in fairy tales and rap lyrics in a comparative aspect, revealed through the use of the textual-semiotic, conceptual blending and stylistic analyses added by the elements of narrative, componential and archetypal analyses, which were applied in 4 consecutive stages of the study. "Suspended" time, defined as a time ofeverness and standstill, is identified either in the tale oneiric worlds, or the "otherworlds" related to the kingdom of the dead. It is manifested by symbolic images associated with the meaning of "eternity", by narrative speed retardation and "pause" as well as by connotations of "serenity" and "tranquility". It correlates with three topoi, denoted by lexical means of indefiniteness and spatial- temporal remoteness; nominations related to the archetypal elements of worldbuilding or their metonymic designations. The temporal distance separating suspended time from narrative time is "iconically" conveyed by the syntactic redundancy of the sentence structure. In rap lyrics suspended time characterizes the world of the rapper's Ghetto past, metaphorically interpreted as a time loop, or the oneiric world, and is marked by metaphorically reinterpreted symbols of eternity and conceptual metaphors conveying the meanings of "imprisonment", "lock up", "vicious circle", "temporary trap" and "stop", associated with narrative speed retardation and "pause" and connotating "danger", "despair" and "vicious circle".