The Dark/The Light in English and Russian Folk Tales: Linguocultural Survey

Abstract

The article deals with the identifi cation of semantic and linguocultural features of the light / the dark in the worldview of English and Russian fairy tales. The novelty of the paper lies in the comparative analysis of the light / the dark verbalizations viewed through the traditions of the British and the Russians. The empirical material has been compiled and its semantic classifi cation has been carried out; general and specifi c features of the light / the dark in English and Russian fairy tales are determined. The descriptive method, methods of component analysis and lexicographic defi nitions, linguoculturological analysis, semantic analysis and the comparative method have been applied for providing a study of the light / the dark. The proposed research methods systematically describe the material analyzed and contribute to the development of a technique for reconstructing a colour segment in the minds of English and Russian speakers. The colour worldview of the light / the dark is used to objectify NATURE, HUMAN and SUPERNATURAL domains. The highlighted thematic domains coincide in two languages, the diff erence lies in the specifi cities of their internal thematic classifi cation, quantitative aspect and usage by the English and Russian linguocultural communities.

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