METAPHORICAL MODELING OF THE CONCEPT OF “SEA” IN THE ARTISTIC WORLDVIEW OF E. HEMINGWAY: COGNITIVE AND LINGUISTIC CULTURAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The study provides a comprehensive cognitive-discursive and linguistic-cultural analysis of the concept of “sea” as the structural and semantic core of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Old Man and the Sea.” The research is based on modern theories of conceptualization and metaphorical modeling developed in the works of Russian and foreign linguists. Based on a solid sample from the original text, key metaphorical models objectifying this concept have been identified, systematized and analyzed in detail: the sea is a space of existential ordeal, the sea is an anthropomorphic/zoomorphic being, the sea is a feminine principle (la mar), the sea is an adversative force/impersonal element. Special attention is paid to the dialectical interaction and conflict of these models, which form the unique ambivalence of E.M. Hemingway’s image of the sea. It is proved that through the metaphorical dynamics of this concept, the central philosophical antinomy of the work is revealed: the tragic confrontation and deep ontological unity of man with the natural world. The results of the analysis contribute to understanding the idiosyncrasy of E.M. Hemingway, the specifics of his author’s conceptual sphere and the mechanisms of creating the “iceberg theory” at the lexico-semantic level.