METAPHORS OF HUMAN-NATURE INTERACTION IN THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Abstract

The article examines the specifics of metaphorical representation of human-nature interaction in English-language children’s literature. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to investigate the mechanisms by which a child’s ecological picture of the world is formed through literary text and to identify the role of metaphor as a tool for conceptualizing natural reality. The purpose of the study is to identify the main conceptual metaphors, through which the interaction of man and nature is understood in English-language children’s literature and to determine their role in shaping the child’s ideas about the world around them. The research material is based on the works of F.H. Burnett “The Secret Garden”, K. Grahame “The Wind in the Willows”, A.A. Milne “Winnie-the-Pooh”, A. de Saint-Exupéry “The Little Prince”, C.S. Lewis “The Chronicles of Narnia” and R. Kipling “The Jungle Book”. The study utilizes conceptual-metaphorical, contextual, and semantic-interpretive methods, as well as elements of comparative analysis. The study found that natural metaphors form stable cognitive models: “nature as a model of the human world,” “nature as a space of socialization,” “nature as a space of belonging,” “nature as a moral system,” and “nature as a process of personal development.”