THE MONOCHROME IMAGE OF “CALME BLANC” IN THE COLOUR SCHEME OF THE NOVEL “PÊCHEUR D’ISLANDE” BY PIERRE LOTI

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the novel by the French writer Pierre Loti. There has been defined the dominant role of the monochrome colours, ranging from white to black, which contributes to the relevance of a monochrome image. As the author strives to encompass and present marine landscapes, which are not clearly shaped, the central image of the observed artistic space is “calme blanc”. The monochrome colour scheme of grey, including whiteto- black shades, prevails in the portrayal of two components of marine spaces, i.e. the sea and the sky. The change in the shades of monochrome colours in the colour scheme reflects the plot development, creates the atmosphere of premonition or anticipation, because white colour, which is associated with tranqulity and silence, acquires new shades and layerings implying threat. White, that is transparent, inconspicuous, blurred, is a substance where life emerges, still shapeless. The author urges stimulating inner vision, imagination, encourages scrutinizing, listening carefully, predicting. Unlike contemporariesimpressionists who marked the slightest changes with shades of colour and nuances, P. Loti appears as a unique decolourist. He rejects bright and clear colours in order to express pristine world, specifically pristine sea. The sea as the symbol of water corresponds to the concept of revival/purification. Two interwoven motifs – love and death – are in the centre of the plot of the novel. The semantics of death is rendered by the attributes of real images painted black. Thanatological motifs find reflection in the image of the sun which burns everything alive, and is a dumb witness of the eternal whirl of life.