Устният речев жест в писменото повествование
The Oral Discursive Gesture in the Written Narrative

Summary/Abstract: The article places the pseudo-oral discursive techniques in the narrative verse of the English Renaissance within the context of publication media and modes of reading. The main argument is that the transition from manuscript to print entails a discursive mechanism of imitation which accounts for the residue of oral performance formulae in print publications. While the medieval habit of reading through vocalization explains the element of orality in Chaucer’s narrative address, in the age of print oral contexts are recreated as a compensatory mechanism counteracting the author’s distance from the reader. The romance produced in the culture of print, dominated by private reading, nostalgically evokes the social dynamics of the medieval culture of public recital. However, the continuing traffic between the available modes of publication and reading also means that the oral and written discursive gestures remain complementary. The article draws the conclusion that written discourse maintains a fluidity of discursive intentions, assimilating an element of orality in order to reach both an oral public and a readership. This accounts for the secondary oral dimension in the written narrative prepared mainly for solitary reading.

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