Katya Padalko
Kamianets-Podilsky Ivan Ohienko National University
Scientific Supervisor: PhD, Senior Lecturer Svider I.A.
The concept of fear in the narrative of S. King
The attention is drawn to the definition of concept, its classifications. Emotional concepts are also investigated, in particular the emotion of fear as one of the basic human emotion. The role of concept of fear is emphasized in the narrative of S. King.
Key words: concept, emotion, fear, narrative, horror, genre.
The term concept is relatively new and does not have a clear definition. It is a term that applies to many humanities, such as linguistics, literary studies, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, etc. The word concept comes from the Latin conceptus, and means “representation”. Originally it was used as the term for logic and philosophy. According to the second version under the concept comes from the Greek conceptum (“germ”, “grain”), and it means the process of communication and all meaningful forms of its embodiment in reality [6, p. 81].
One of the first who analyzed the concept was S. Askoldov in 1928. He defined it as a “mental formation” and singled out his main functions [1, p. 269]. Almost at the same time the term “concept” was used by D. Likhachev for marking generalized mental unit that reflects and interprets the phenomena of reality depending on the language of the native speaker and personal, professional and social experience [7, p. 35]. There are different classifications of concepts. By the medium of being concepts are divided into linguistic, textual, artistic, philosophical, cultural and spiritual. By content they divided into categorical, emotional, theosophical, psychological, mythological concepts, etc. [8, p. 40]. Concept is considered as mental formations in human consciousness, and this proves the fact of unity of two worlds – material and spiritual. This is the way in which culture enters the mental world of person, through which person is part of the culture and affects it. Concept is the main cell of culture in the human mental world [8, p. 43]. Concept does not stem from the meaning of the word, but is a response to the previous language experience of a person – poetic, prose, scientific, social, historical, etc. From this we can conclude that the concept is an intermediary between the word and reality [7].
The study of emotional concepts is an important area of linguistic research, because they are an important component of the emotional language of the world. [3, p. 18]. Human emotions are a special form of cognition and reflection of reality. Emotions are related to human needs and are the basis of the motives of its activities. This psychological phenomenon is studied in Psychology, Physiology, Sociology, Philosophy, Linguistics, Literary criticism. [6].
The emotion of fear is one of the most important components of person, which determines the process of human knowledge in the world. The state of fear is manifested in spontaneous reactions of a person such as the inability to concentrate, increase in heart rate, anxiety, discomfort, change in facial expressions. These symptoms are grounds for classifying this emotion as unpleasant, that blocks human activity, and is actually undesirable [2, p. 45]. Fear is one of the dominant human emotions. The fear of war, the fear of your life, the fear of an unknown future – all confirms the universality and dominance of this emotion. Fear is considered to be a mental state that arises on the basis of the instinct of self-preservation, a reaction to danger [2, p. 47].
In his books, S. King analyzes the human, brought to the limit, his behavior in extraordinary situations. The author skillfully describes the state of intense stress. He never overwhelms the reader’s eyes and does not convince that Good will definitely win. He gives the idea that Evil exists in reality and that it is near. Reality and fantasy in S. King’s books are not contrasted, but they are reflected in each other, clarifying the contradictions of modern life and the struggle between Good and Evil [4, p. 47]. S. King is the author of stories about people who come across with Evil. In his books there is enough stress and horror, and a special significance to them provides a demonstration of how the characters behave in the stress situation. In his books a lot of attention is paid to the humiliation and suffering of a person. It may occur at school (“Kerry”) or in a government laboratory (“Firestarter”).
The basis plot of his books is supernatural powers of person. The writer leaves for heroes the opportunity to make moral choice – whether to take advantage of these opportunities to create good or evil [4, p. 46]. During creating his books S. King relies not only on his own imagination, but also on the reader’s imagination. The author only hints and directs the person into the right direction, and then the reader puts the picture in accordance with his individual perception. In other words, King does not describe the emotions and feelings of the characters, but awakens them to the reader, and this is what affects him. According to the writer, only such a “two-way” work can create the sense of fear. While reading a book in the genre of horror, the imaginary fear of the reader is the main component of the terrible atmosphere that manifests itself in various forms. S. King believes that the horror novels usually affect the reader, but this happens when two loud sounds are heard: one, loud, that, with creepy swirls, tells his reader about ghosts, werewolves and monsters, and another quiet that whispers about the real fears [4, p. 50].
The study of various aspects of the emotional linguistic picture of the world seems necessary because it helps to understand the universality and specificity of the language. Verbalization of the concept of fear reflects all the physiological and psychological processes that occur with a person experiencing this emotion.
References
- Аскольдов С. А. Концепт і слово. Русская словесность. От теории словесности к структуре текста: антология. М.: Academia, 1997. С. 267–279.
- Борисов О. О. Мовні засоби вираження емоційного концепту страх: лінгвокогнітивний аспект. Донецьк, 2005. 262 с.
- Вежбицкая А. Язык. Культура. Познание. М. : Языки русской культуры, 1982. 340 с.
- Захаров Е., Захарова С. Бог і Стівен. Чи читав Кінг Булгакова? [Електронний ресурс]. Режим доступу: http://www.litrossia.ru/archive/73/letters/1725.
- Изард, Кэррол Е. Эмоции человека = Human Emotions: монография. Москва : Издательcтво Московского университета, 1980. 440 с.
- Колесов В. В. Жизнь происходит от слова. Санкт-Петербург: Златоуст, 1999. 368 с.
- Лихачев Д. С. Концептосфера русского языка. Освобождение от догм. История русской литературы: состояние и пути изучения. М., 1997. C. 33–
- Степанов Ю. С. Концепты. Тонкая плёнка цивилизации. М.: Языки славянских культур, 2007. 602 с.