ALLUSIONS AS A TYPE OF INTERTEXTUAL LINKS IN THE FILM DISCOURSE OF “THE MATRIX”

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to outline intertextual links in the English cinematic discourse by establishing the types of allusionsfunctioning in the cinematic discourse of “The Matrix”.

Methods. The research has been carried out by dint of descriptive method while surveying and outlining the scientific approachesto the category of intertextuality, the method of contextual analysis for singling out from the film text of the film discourse in questionthe relevant contexts with intertext, the method of intertextual analysis for determining types of allusions according to their relationwith the source text.

Results. It has been determined that a cinematic discourse as a semiotically complex dynamic process of interaction betweena multiple addressor and a film recipient is characterized, alongside verbal-visual unity, coherence, completeness and contextualmeaning, by intertextuality, the latter being revealed in the film text – an integral part of the cinematic discourse. It has been foundout that the means of creating textual reminiscence which shapes the intertextuality of the film text of “The Matrix” is allusion. Thephilosophical meaning encased in the cinematic discourse of the film under analysis is connected with the ideas of the belief in beingthe chosen one, of one’s mission, the struggle of two worlds – the good and the evil, loyalty and betrayal. Those are ideas whichpermeate the Sacred Writ, so it is the Bible – the most recognizable and significant for the American culture precedent text – thatserves as a source text providing ground for associative referential hints within the framework of the film in question. According to the form of presentation in the film text there have been picked semantic and structural allusions, according to the placing in the textrelative allusions (allusions of local impact) have been identified. Semantic allusions preserve the initial semantic content of the sourceand impart occasional connotation to the objects of allusive evaluation. Structural allusions bring about associative links with certainqualities of allusive denotata. Relative allusions are realized in the film text through non-verbal indexical signs. The latter, in the vividform of number plates, refer the viewer to definite Biblical lines, thus coming up with some additional characteristic of the objectsof allusive reference.

Conclusions. Textual Biblical allusions in the cinematic discourse of “The Matrix” semantically, structurally or as allusions of localimpact create intertextual links, transferring the attributes of Biblical characters and events to those highlighted in the cinematicdiscourse analyzed. Allusions, being references to the source text as to the index of the situation, come forth as a means of identificationof certain characteristics of film personages, places, actions.