Monkey tongue. Analysis of the story by M. Zoshchenko “Monkey language” A short excerpt from M. Zoshchenko “Monkey language”

A short story by Zoshchenko " Monkey tongue"was written in 1925. It was no coincidence that he appeared at this time. In 1917 there was a revolution. The civil war ended in the early 1920s. The life of the country changed greatly in all areas. Among other things, changes affected the Russian language, and the problem of maintaining its purity became urgent. Among those who spoke out on this issue is Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1923, he spoke out against the clogging of peasant newspapers with borrowed foreign words in the poem “On “fiascoes”, “apogees” and other unknown things.”

“Monkey Tongue” is characterized by a ring composition. The work begins with the words of the narrator: “This Russian language is difficult, dear citizens! Trouble is, it’s so difficult.” It ends with a similar thought: “It’s difficult, comrades, to speak Russian!”

Narrator and characters

In “The Monkey Language,” the narration is told from the perspective of an illiterate, uneducated person who considers the Russian language difficult mainly because “there are a ton of foreign words in it.” Obviously, the narrator in a work is not identical to the author. “Monkey Language” is written in a fantastic style. The narrator is a direct participant in the events; his speech is simple and far from literary.

The main characters are two interlocutors who sit at a meeting next to the narrator. Participants in the dialogue in “Monkey Language” use foreign words, although they do not understand their meaning. Both want to appear smart and educated, but they do it very poorly. In their speech, borrowed vocabulary coexists with colloquial words and expressions. At the same time, some phrases uttered by the interlocutors are completely meaningless. But to the narrator their conversation seems “very smart and intelligent.”

There is another character in the work - a speaker speaking at a meeting. His speech is not given. Almost nothing is known about him at all. You can judge this man only by the reviews of the narrator and one of his neighbors. The narrator says that the speaker "spoke arrogant words with a foreign, vague meaning." According to the neighbor, the speaker is “a very sharp man” and “the first speaker.” The conclusion from all that has been said suggests itself - there is a high probability that the speaker is not much different from the two neighbors of the narrator, that his speech is also illiterate and filled with foreign words, which he uses appropriately and inappropriately.

In Zoshchenko’s story, it is not specific people who are being ridiculed - the characters in the work are as impersonal as possible. The main characters have no names, the appearance of one of the interlocutors is described rather sparingly - “not yet an old man, with a beard”, nothing is known at all about the appearance of the second participant in the dialogue. the main objective Zoshchenko - to ridicule the inappropriate use of words borrowed from foreign languages.

The relevance of the story “Monkey Language”

Zoshchenko's story remains relevant today. Firstly, almost every day new words borrowed from other languages appear in the Russian language. Secondly, there are often illiterate people who use these very words inappropriately. It is clear that the Russian language is constantly changing and it would be foolish to categorically oppose the borrowing of foreign language vocabulary. The main thing is to observe moderation and not forget about the context.

IN in this case A statement by the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy comes to mind: “...A certain percentage of foreign words grows into the language. And in each case, the artist’s instinct must determine this measure of foreign words, their necessity. It is better to say “elevator” than “self-lifter”, “telephone” than “long-distance talk”, “proletarians” than “starved people”, but where you can find the root Russian word“We need to find him.”

“Aristocrat”, analysis of Zoshchenko’s story

Monkey tongue

This Russian language is difficult, dear citizens! The trouble is, what a difficult one.

The main reason is that there are too many foreign words in it. Well, take French speech. Everything is good and clear. Keskose, merci, comsi - all, please note, purely French, natural, understandable words.

Come on, come on now with the Russian phrase - trouble. The whole speech is peppered with words with a foreign, vague meaning.

This makes speech difficult, breathing is impaired and nerves fray.

I heard a conversation the other day. There was a meeting. My neighbors started talking.

It was a very smart and intelligent conversation, but I, a person without higher education, understood their conversation with difficulty and flapped his ears.

The matter began with trifles.

My neighbor, not yet an old man with a beard, leaned over to his neighbor on the left and politely asked:

And what, comrade, will this be a plenary meeting or what?

“Plenary,” the neighbor answered casually.

“Look,” the first one was surprised, “that’s why I’m looking, what is it?” As if it were plenary.

“Yes, be calm,” the second one answered sternly. - Today it is very plenary and the quorum has reached such a level - just hang in there.

Yah? - asked the neighbor. - Is there really a quorum?

By God,” said the second.

And what is this quorum?

“Nothing,” the neighbor answered, somewhat confused. - I got there, and that’s it.

Tell me, - the first neighbor shook his head with disappointment. - Why would it be him, huh?

The second neighbor spread his hands and looked sternly at his interlocutor, then added with a soft smile:

Now, comrade, I suppose you don’t approve of these plenary sessions... But somehow they are closer to me. Everything somehow, you know, comes out in them minimally on the essence of the day... Although I will frankly say that lately I have been quite permanent about these meetings. So, you know, the industry is going from empty to empty.

This is not always the case, the first one objected. - If, of course, you look at it from the point of view. To enter, so to speak, into the point of view and from the point of view, then yes - the industry specifically.

Specifically, in fact,” the second one sternly corrected.

“Perhaps,” the interlocutor agreed. - I admit that too. Specifically in fact. Although how when...

“Always,” the second one snapped briefly. - Always, dear comrade. Especially if after the speeches the subsection is brewing minimally. Discussions and shouting won't end then...

A man walked up to the podium and waved his hand. Everything fell silent. Only my neighbors, somewhat heated by the argument, did not immediately fall silent. The first neighbor could not come to terms with the fact that the subsection was welded minimally. It seemed to him that the subsection was brewed a little differently.

They shushed my neighbors. The neighbors shrugged their shoulders and fell silent. Then the first neighbor leaned over to the second again and quietly asked:

Who is it that came out there?

This? Yes, this is the presidium. A very sharp man. And the speaker is the first. He always speaks sharply on the essence of the day.

The speaker extended his hand forward and began speaking.

And when he uttered arrogant words with a foreign, vague meaning, my neighbors nodded their heads sternly. Moreover, the second neighbor looked sternly at the first, wanting to show that he was still right in the dispute that had just ended.

It is difficult, comrades, to speak Russian!

The analysis of M. Zoshchenko’s stories completes the study of the section “Satire and humor in literature.” Addressing the themes and issues of this outstanding writer’s stories and researching his poetics will require seventh-graders to attract additional knowledge and skills. This article will help organize independent work of schoolchildren in preparation for the analysis of the story “Monkey Language” by M. Zoshchenko. A.L. Murzina, honored teacher of Kaz, shares her thoughts about the work of this wonderful writer with you. SSR, teacher-methodologist of the NP secondary school “Lyceum “Stolychny”.

To the introductory part of the lesson

Organize a conversation after reading the story. Questions and tasks are on the slides.

M.M. Zoshchenko accurately and succinctly titled the story “Monkey Language.” Why?

Indeed, new words hitherto unknown to the common man - socio-political vocabulary - poured into colloquial speech after the 1917 revolution. Most often these are foreign words (borrowed). The voice of the crowd, the voice of the street mixed with “arrogant” (“foreign”) words, the meaning of which was unclear, but attractive to a new person new era its unique secret.

The new man wanted to “shine” with words in his speech in order to correspond to the new time - the time of a radical break in everything old and familiar. It seemed to the common man that borrowed vocabulary made him more significant and sublime.

Monkeyism, in essence, is blind imitation of someone, copying someone.

Type of narration - tale. It is aimed at modern live monologue speech narrator , released

Narrator – a simple man, not far removed from his heroic characters. He is a “product” of his grandiose era. He is dissatisfied with the dominance of foreign words in speech, calls them “foggy”, “arrogant”, i.e. he is a fighter for the purity of language.
The plot of the story.

Complaining that “this Russian language is difficult... The trouble is, it’s so difficult.”
The reason is a huge number of foreign words (“To hell”)
In French“everything is good and clear” (“French, natural, understandable words”).
Russian speech is “sprinkled with words with a foreign, vague meaning.”
Result: “this makes speech difficult, breathing is impaired and nerves fray.”
Dialogue between neighbors at a meeting
The narrator states that the conversation is “very smart and intelligent. But he is a man without a higher education, he understood it with difficulty and flapped his ears.”
The narrator’s hard-won truth: “It’s difficult, comrades, to speak Russian!” - sums up observations of the dialogue between neighbors at the meeting. And it’s difficult to understand anything in this linguistic emptiness.

Two linguistic elements collided in this work:

colloquial speech, vernacular
book speech (official business) and socio-political vocabulary. The combination of colloquial words with business vocabulary (clerical language) is the basis for creating a comic situation.

Colloquialisms: “to hell”, “suck up”, “theirs”, “flapping his ears”, “ali”, “probably”, “from empty to empty”, “from ted”, “I admit”, “having come out”, “forever” .
Violation of norms literary language creates an unimaginable comic effect (“an artistic image of a mistake”).

Narrator

Describing a meeting of neighbors who are experts in sophisticated foreign words, he “let it slip.” It happens self-exposure.

Before us is a narrow-minded, very limited person, similar to the heroic characters about whom he talks with delight. He does not shine with intelligence, he has acquired superficial knowledge. Tongue-tied. He himself is not averse to showing off some kind of word, “numb” in the face of the difficulties of the Russian language, especially those associated with borrowings. Finds himself under the author's arrows of irony

Heroes are characters whose essence is revealed through dialogue.

There will be a plenary meeting, but what?

That’s why I look... as if it’s plenary.

Today is very plenary.

The laws of word combinations are violated - this creates a comical situation. The word “strongly” (very) can only be combined with qualitative adjectives.

Is there really a quorum?

Got it and that's it.

Why would it be him?

You probably do not approve of these plenary sessions. But they are closer to me... Everything somehow comes out in them minimally to the essence of the day...

Lately, I’ve been quite permanent about these meetings...

Did you feel how the “vile clerk” sounds in this dialogue?

If you look from the point of view...

Take the point of view, then yes – the industry specifically

Specifically in fact…

The syntactic incompleteness of a phrase does not form a thought. A ringing emptiness. The dialogue is about nothing.

An attempt to show off foreign words of a “foggy, arrogant” nature. These “speech exercises” indicate the desire to “become on par with the century”, to show one’s education.

Theme of the story- monstrous linguistic ignorance

Idea– a person who has overcome the chaos of revolutions and a destructive civil war must and has the right to a decent life.

Language is a reflection inner world person. The great Russian language should not be buried in an era of destruction. He must be “in stature” to the new man of the new era - the era of creation

M.M. Zoshchenko was convinced that a person who survived the terrible years of the revolution and the horrors of the civil war deserves the best. In particular, he has the right and duty to speak in correct, clear, understandable, coming from the heart, sincere, hard-won language. The satirist believed in the power of the artistic word, its healing power. It is no coincidence that M. Gorky spoke about “ social pedagogy"of his creativity. Language is a sign of culture, it is ecology, it is a miracle and salvation.

"Increase in meaning":

The great ones about the great ones – about the role and meaning of language

In the second part of the article we will publish materials for the organization independent work with the story "Aristocrat"

A.L. Murzina, honored teacher of Kazakh. SSR, teacher-methodologist of the NP secondary school “Lyceum “Stolychny”.

Material for preparing essays on other topics .

In the story “Monkey Language,” Mikhail Zoshchenko ridicules the shortcomings of the public: ignorance, idle talk and illiteracy. The author gives a short and ironic story about how illiterate people clog up simple Russian speech with various foreign words, without understanding what they mean and where it is appropriate to use them.

Characters, communicating with each other, insert into the dialogue words that are incomprehensible to them with an unknown meaning. Zoshchenko called the story “Monkey Language” because people, like monkeys, repeat what they hear from others, without understanding the meaning of these words.

The author tells on his own behalf, who listens to the conversation of his neighbors “flapping his ears” and understands nothing about it. At the same time, he admires beautiful expressions and words that are incomprehensible to him. He thinks it shows "smart, intelligent conversation."

In this way, Zoshchenko is trying to show the stupidity of the ordinary Russian people, to ridicule their illiteracy and monkey habits.

People who consider themselves intellectuals are not intellectuals, but are rather ignorant. They express themselves in words without understanding or knowing their meaning; “quorum, “subsection, plenary session, permanent relation, industry.” Conducting a conversation in foreign words, they consider themselves smart and knowledgeable. Reading such dialogue, there is a great desire to laugh for a long time.

People do not want to appear ignorant by starting arguments, correcting each other in pronunciation, thereby showing their intelligence. In fact, every interlocutor is a simple and uneducated person. Having heard a lot of foreign terms that are incomprehensible to them, they try to connect them together and demonstrate their intelligence and awareness. The author conveys this contrasting speech well to the reader.

Poorly educated people do not know what certain foreign words mean, but they try to repeat the fashion of “ Clever words” and insert them into your dialogue. Sitting on " plenary sessions", where "the industry is going from empty to empty" they listen to stupid and meaningless speeches of storytellers. People try not to miss such meetings. In most cases, nothing is solved, but time is simply wasted.

Analysis 2

The main theme of the work is the problem modern society, expressed in the deliberate distortion and contamination of the Russian language.

The writer presents the main characters of the story as officials participating in the meeting and conducting supposedly intelligent conversations between intellectuals, while using in their speeches a huge number of borrowed, unnecessary words and clericalism.

The narration in the work is conducted on behalf of the narrator, who is present at the event and is dissatisfied with the complex statements of the speakers and their opponents. It is through the introduction of the image of the narrator into the work that the writer demonstrates the author’s hostility, expressed using light irony and satire, about the excessive and illiterate use by Russian people of foreign words and expressions, the meaning of which is unclear or vague to them. At the same time, by inserting inappropriate borrowed phrases into their own speech, representatives of the bureaucratic society position themselves as educated, intelligent people, eager to demonstrate their progressiveness and importance, not realizing that by doing so they are only focusing attention on their own complete ignorance.

The characters in the story distort and ineptly use in conversation expressions borrowed from others. foreign languages, roughly combining them with distorted Russian words, while not shying away from mixing phrases of different verbal styles, starting his speech in an official business form and ending with its conversational style with the inclusion of vernacular and clericalism. The writer emphasizes the stupidity and lack of education of the characters in the story, filling their statements with numerous speech errors.

In the title of the work, the writer reveals the author's intention, which consists in a negative attitude towards an illiterate person, whom the author comically compares with grimacing monkeys, trying to look smart, educated, authoritative creatures in the eyes of others. Using foreign words in the text, the writer places a satirical emphasis on the precise and vivid characteristics of the characters.

Revealing the idea of a work, the writer uses various artistic media in the form of satirical techniques, humorous and ironic statements, sarcastic remarks, thereby demonstrating in the images of officials a pathetic and funny resemblance to truly progressive and developed people.

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Zhabueva Tuyana Aleksandrovna,

Russian language teacher and

literature of the highest category,

MAOU Secondary School No. 8, Ulan-Ude.

E-mail adress: [email protected]

Cell phone: 89149852342

Topic: The problem of the purity of the Russian language in M. Zoshchenko’s story “Monkey Language”

Type of lesson: combined and using ICT (analysis lesson literary work with the use of material on the Russian language foreign words in Russian speech).

Goal: through identifying the features of the language and style of the story, determine the author’s position of M. Zoshchenko in the story “Monkey Language” and reveal the problem of the purity of the Russian language.

Tasks:

Educational: to help school readers see the writer’s skill in creating a satirical story;

Developmental: develop work on developing the ability to analyze and research text; develop communicative abilities and moral and aesthetic ideas of students in the process of identifying lexical meaning words

Educational: formation personal qualities as activity, independence; teach to see the beauty, accuracy of the writer’s word, the author’s attitude towards bureaucracy, idle talk and ignorance

Equipment and visibility:

Story texts;
Handout;
Multimedia presentation for the lesson;
Tasks for groups.

Epigraph: “For almost 20 years, adults believed that I wrote for their amusement. But I never wrote for fun” M.M. Zoshchenko

During the classes

Organizational moment

The lesson begins with watching one of the episodes of "Jumble" entitled "Why do we say so." After watching the video, students are asked the question:

What language did the characters speak? (In an incomprehensible, awkward, unfamiliar language, monkey language)
Why do we not understand words? (because we don’t understand what we’re talking about, it’s too filled with youth slang).

2. Theme message and goal setting

Guys, it’s absolutely true, this is an incomprehensible language for us, a monkey language. Today in class we will discuss a story called “Monkey Language” by the wonderful writer M. Zoshchenko. Almost a hundred years ago, who created this story. I want to tell you that this problem still exists in our time.

3. Updating. You read the story at home and got acquainted with the writer’s biography. Why do you think M. Zoshchenko called his story that way? (revealing the meaning of the story's title: in the title of the story, the author expressed a negative attitude towards illiterate people. He compared a man who tries to look more educated, smart, authoritative than he really is to a grimacing monkey, for which he uses foreign words in his speech).

4. Working on new material

So, guys, you and I have thought about the title of the story, and now let’s turn our attention to the story and work with the text. I divided you into three groups to work with the text. You receive tasks, each group has its own special task. But, before moving on to the story, we need to understand the time in which the writer lived and worked. We will make a small excursion into that era.

The story was written in 1925. This is the time when the 1917 revolution took place and Civil War. And, of course, our country has undergone enormous changes. There was Tsarist Russia, it became new Russia called the USSR. There are many new phenomena where people appear who have no education and are illiterate. Philistines came out from everywhere, tenaciously clinging to the new system and striving to be at the level of the times.

Now let's work in groups. We work quickly, I want to see which group will quickly work on their task. In front of you problematic issues. By answering these questions, you will come to certain conclusions, which one of you will express. You are given exactly 2 minutes to do your work. (Groups work with handouts, then go out and build a HOUSE after discussion).

5. Work on the problems of the story

Work on the house: the foundation will be the words that were analyzed by the group working on the terms. After all, the story is based on satire. The walls will be word bricks, which were dismantled by the group working with words in the text. The roof will be the words that express the author’s position in the story, because through the author’s position we understand the main idea of the story. Conclusions from our work have been drawn. And in front of us is a house - our language, which is collapsing due to the fact that we litter our beautiful Russian language with unnecessary words (I am removing the bricks, at this time the house is collapsing). Guys, what is happening to the house - to our language. Our language, just like this house, is collapsing and disappearing.Without a language there is no people, and without a people there is no COUNTRY. What should we do to prevent this from happening? That's right, we must save the language. We urgently replace the word bricks with Russian words.(Using markers, students write synonyms on the back of the bricks - putting our house in order - our language).

6. Lesson summary

So, guys, look at our language - it's beautiful. Are we really doomed to speak in modern “monkey language” about the sublime and the beautiful, about tragedy and pain, about insight and joy? NO! We need a word that brings TRUTH, GOOD, BEAUTY. For this purpose, you and I have penetrated into the secrets of the Word, into the secrets of the writer’s plan, into the secrets of beautiful artistic speech. A monkey with his tongue cannot do this, and he does not need it. Now we understand what monkey language is. Let us take care of our native Russian, our beautiful language.

Before I give you your homework, I want to tell you a little secret. We have our own page on social networks called “We speak Russian...”. And Boy (NAME) helped us open the page. And on this page we will post our first flash mob, calling for you to take care of the language and speak Russian. Flash Mob“Mannequin Challenge” (eng. Mannequin Challenge, mannequin - mannequin, challenge - challenge) is a new Internet flash mob. The point is that its participants, being in the most unexpected places, suddenly freeze in different poses, as in the children's game “The Sea Is Rough Once.” We will then post the video with people pretending to be mannequins on the Internet under the hashtag #speakingRussian. (To conduct a flash mob – 1 minute)

7. Homework

Announcement homework: make a book trailer called “Speaking Russian”, and if you find it difficult to complete a book trailer, you will find on our page a sample that my student made. (if you have time, show the book trailer)

Guys, did you like the lesson? And it seems that the lesson was not in vain: did you learn a lot from the lesson? And I liked the lesson, so let's clap each other's hands as a sign of gratitude for the lesson. Thanks to all. Goodbye