The article considers the question of the implementation of the concept of soul in Russian linguoculture based on the material of N. V. Gogol's poem «Dead Souls», analyzes phraseological units with the soul component and the features of their functioning in the text of the poem.
Keywords: linguoculture, lexico-semantic variant, concept, lexeme, semantic component, soul, phraseological unit, lexical meaning, religiosity, personality, conscience, poem «Dead Souls», N. V. Gogol.
The concept of soul is one of the key concepts in Russian linguocultures. It is described in the fundamental works of Russian scientists V. V. Kolesov, Y. S. Stepanov, A. D. Shmelev, V. A. Maslova based on materials not only directly from the Russian language, but also in comparison with similar concepts in other languages, as well as on examples of texts of fiction.
According to N. F. Alefirenko, «the greatest phraseological productivity is inherent, along with somatic words, in lexemes containing a long-standing mythological understanding of reality, among which are: fire, earth, water, death, soul, devil, sky» [1, p. 85]. Based on this, it can be assumed that phraseological units with the soul component in the Russian language are very significant, especially vividly, in our opinion, they are represented in the literary text. In this article, we will try to prove the correctness of our judgments based on the materials of N. V. Gogol's poem «Dead Souls».
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's poem «Dead Souls» is a masterpiece of Russian literature, known for its complex depiction of the essence of human nature and socio-moral issues related to serfdom. In his literary work, N. V. Gogol skillfully used phraseological units with a semantic component of the soul with different lexico-semantic variants, which we will try to define and differentiate, while finding out what function each lexico-semantic variant performs.
Phraseological units with the soul component in «Dead souls» most often act as a reflection of the inner world of a person, his mental state. The definition of this lexico-semantic variant of the «inner world of human», according to D. I. Medvedeva, presupposes «the understanding of the soul as an immaterial inner space, which is a receptacle for feelings, desires, thoughts of a person, the totality of manifestations of his psyche» [7, p. 78].
For example, in N. V. Gogol's poem «Dead Souls» phraseological units reflecting the emotional sphere of a person are widely used, among them: in the soul in the meaning of «mentally, internally»; they strive into the soul, deep into his soul in the meaning of «deeply affect, excite, become the subject of constant thought, reflection»; stirred the soul in the meaning of «touched, caused deep emotional pain or suffering»; immersed in the soul — «experienced a deep emotional experience» and others.
The soul also acts as a degree of sincerity in the poem: sent him from the soul, uttered from the soul — in the meaning of «to do something sincerely». All these examples provide a basis for defining the first lexical and semantic version of the concept of the soul — the soul is the inner world of human .
Quite similar in lexical meaning, but still distinguished by researchers into a separate category, is the lexico-semantic version of the soul is a set of personality traits . For example, the expression with a soul , repeatedly found in the poem by N. V. Gogol, appears in the meaning «with feeling, inspiration, inspiration».
The lexical and semantic variant soul is a property of personality combines different signs of human character: he was a kind soul, kind souls — characterize a person who always strives to help and support others, sincerely cares about the well–being of others, is not indifferent to their problems, that is, characterizes a person on the positive side. Or, on the contrary, souls are not quite real — fake, taking the form of kind souls .
It is worth noting that the very name of the poem «Dead Souls» can be considered as a phraseological unit, and not only in the direct meaning of «deceased serfs, fictitiously listed in the possessions of the landowner». Dead souls as a phraseological unit also has the meaning of «spiritless, morally fallen people», which also characterizes personality traits, but in a negative way. Based on the above, we can assume that the lexical and semantic version of the soul is a set of personality traits is the most commonly used in the poem by N. V. Gogol.
Another common concept, not only for Russian, but also for other Slavic linguocultures, is the idea of the soul as a substance that animates the body. The soul is alive, it acts alongside the person, in some cases even replaces him. So, for example, in the poem «Dead Souls» we find the following phraseological units: her soul hid in the very heels and there is no soul — she has already gone into the heels in the meaning of «a state of severe fright, fear» or the soul demands — indicates the presence of any need.
In Russian linguoculture, it is customary to replace the lexeme human with the lexeme soul , which was the reason for the appearance of phraseological units with the soul component. In speech turns, such substitution is directly related to such a stylistic device as synecdoche, the essence of which is to transfer the general to the particular. This technique was repeatedly used by N. V. Gogol in his work: and there is not a soul anywhere, not a single soul, on the happiness and bliss of two souls — in all three examples it is clear that the soul component appears in the meaning of a person (singular or plural) and, as it were, replaces it. Therefore, one more lexical and semantic variant of the concept of the soul can be distinguished — soul — human .
Many linguocultural researchers note that conscience is an important component of the meaning of the soul lexeme. As M. V. Pimenova notes, «the soul is identified with conscience, it is given the right to perform the function of a moral legislator, censor in the Russian language picture of the world» [8, p. 244].
«Conscience was an important component of the soul even in the minds of the people of Ancient Russia, and among the Slavs, the soul correlated with conscience by similarity of functions» [4, p. 57].
In N. V. Gogol's poem, the lexico-semantic version of soul ‒ conscience is realized in the phraseological units crooked in soul with the lexical meaning «to act against conscience, to be insincere, to hypocritical»; feeling remorse in your soul in the meaning «to experience suffering, emotional feelings about any act». And such a phraseological unit as there was no soul in this body at all expresses the lexical meaning of «the lack of moral qualities of a person, the absence of a soul». Therefore, in Russian linguoculture there is another lexical and semantic variant of the concept of soul — soul — conscience.
In addition, phraseological units with a «spiritual» component may carry a religious and metaphysical connotation. However, they are not often used in the text of the poem, but still there is, for example, such a phraseological unit with a «religious» meaning as Igave my soul to God in the meaning of death. In the text, this phraseological unit met once in an episode of Plyushkin's story about his serf who died on the road. Perhaps there would be more phraseological units with religious and divine meanings with the soul component if Gogol had realized his creative idea, completing the poem as a three-volume work by analogy with Dante Alighieri.
Thus, on the analyzed examples of phraseological units with a soul component taken from N. V. Gogol's poem «Dead Souls», we were convinced that the concept of soul is key for Russian linguoculture, which was clearly realized and actively used in their works by literary geniuses of different times, among whom was N. V. Gogol. During the research, we found out that phraseological units with the soul component appear in several lexical and semantic variants ( soul — the inner world of a person, soul — a set of personality properties, soul — a person, soul — conscience) and perform various functions, among which: reflection of the inner world of a person and his mental state, reflection of a set of properties personality, substitution of the lexeme man, identification with conscience, as well as representation with a religious connotation — to a lesser extent. All this undoubtedly demonstrates the linguistic richness of the poem from the point of view of linguoculturology and emphasizes the mastery of N. V. Gogol's writing talent. In the future, it would be interesting to consider phraseological units with another linguistic and cultural concept — God, which are quite widely represented in the text of the poem, and establish correlative links with the phraseological units analyzed by us with the soul component.
References:
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