RHYTHM AND RHETORIC

One of the problematic issues in L.Sterne studies is his graphological style. This paper seeks to illustrate that graphological rhythm plays the crucial role in communicating the implied author's point of view in Laurence Sterne's novel “A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy”. The key to the rhetoric of the novel is the rhythm of graphic units of three types: syntagmas + phrases, sentences and paragraphs. These rhythms are built into one another. The rhythm of paragraphs corresponds to the implied author's level of discourse, the rhythm of sentences — to the travel accounts of the Reverend Mr. Yorick (this level is a mystification), the rhythm of syntagmas and phrases — to the inner speech of the Reverend Mr. Yorick. The level of Yorick's inner speech makes it possible to turn this speech (and through it the processes taking place in the protagonist's consciousness and soul) into the main theme of the novel. Interaction of the three rhythms reveals the implied author point of view.