“MOST PEOPLE, SAYS MY GRANDMOTHER, ARE THE GREATEST PUZZLE TO THEMSELVES” – COMMONPLACES IN CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH LITERARY WORKS

Abstract

The article deals with the phraseological units called Gemeinplätze in children’s and youth literary works by the Austrian writer Christine Nöstlinger. The German term “Gemeinplatz” comes from the Latin locus communis or the English commonplace. Gemeinplatz is an undoubted or self-evident truth. In the German phraseological theory, Gemeinplätze are presented as sentential phraseological units. This study shows how Gemeinplätze are placed in a context and how they influence it. Simultaneously, the results of this study show that commonplaces in the children’s and youth literary works by Christine Nöstlinger are very rare; nevertheless, they intensify the message of the statement. In the selected five works for readers of different ages, only one or two commonplaces in each work were used in a statement by an adult person like parents or grandparents with the intention to give some advice or to express their experience. With these multi-word expressions, the author describes the individual characters and creates a so-called language portrait. Considered from a textual point of view, it can be summarized that commonplaces are thoughtfully considered to be embedded in the context as opinions, views, attitudes or beliefs.