The multi-layered mechanism of meaning formation in M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

INTRODUCTION. This research examines the multi-layered mechanism of meaning formation in a work of art, which is represented through various modes of expression: images and symbols, biblical motifs, parallel storylines, and intertextual parallels. At the semantic level, the text is understood, summarized, and its hidden and explicit meaning, as well as the overall picture, are identified. The aim of the research is to reveal the content of the semantic level mechanism in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”, which contributes to the formation of multilayered meaning and the polyphony of the text, reflecting the author’s unified artistic and philosophical concept and the novel’s deep philosophical, religious, ethical, and esthetic meanings. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research material is Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”. The comprehensive analysis used is based on contextual, semantic-stylistic, and interpretive methods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The multi-layered mechanism of meaning formation operates to reveal various semantic relationships between text contexts, structure the content, and contributes to the creation of the ambivalence of the images of Woland, the Master, and Margarita, reflecting moral and philosophical ideas and the search for spiritual truth. The presence of parallel storylines ensures a dialog between history and modernity, while intertextual references broaden the horizons of the novel’s perception. CONCLUSION. Analyzing a literary text using a semantic level mechanism ensures that special significance is attributed to objects, processes, and phenomena in human life, which forms the basis for the development of personal meanings and the reflection of life needs. The study of the novel “The Master and Margarita” delves into the significance of symbolism, intertextuality, religious motifs, and parallel storylines in shaping the novel's multi-layered semantic structure and focuses on the formation of ethical meaning in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, which contributes to further research into the meaning-making mechanisms of literary texts.

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