THE LITERARY CONCEPT OF DEATH IN HERMANN HESSE’S NOVELS

Abstract

The article defines the term “literary concept”, as well as the types and features of such concepts. It was found that the literary concept has an associative nature, is characterized by aesthetic essence and figurative means of expression, and is defined by the author’s intention. The method of describing key concepts in the texts of particular poets is based on the analysis of the semantic space of words and text. It was proved that literary concepts are individualistic, personal, and more complex psychologically; it is a complex of concepts, which is presented by the feelings, emotions, sometimes even volitional manifestations. This paper examines the notion of death and ways of its representation in Hermann Hesse’s linguistic and conceptual picture of the world. It also presents the functioning of this category in literary texts from the cognitive linguistics point of view. Specific relations of poetic function and reference are considered. The article focuses on the peculiarities and the structure of the conceptualization of the notion “death” in given literary texts.
The paper also outlines the principles of categorization of the notion “death” in Hermann Hesse’s novel “Klingsor’s Last Summer”: death appears in the novel as a living being; death is a shadow/ a ghost; death can be loved by someone; a person may want to die; death can frighten a person; death is a sworn enemy; death is a dark friend; death is putrefaction.
Cognitive characteristics of the artistic concept DEATH: death is always depicted negatively; death brings in cold; the attributes of death are spit and sickle; the color of death is black and white; death smells like rain; death is huge; death has deep-set eyes; death can fill the whole space; death constantly laughs at people; the bird of death is the vulture; the presence of death can be anticipated; in spite of all its monstrosity, death attracts people; no one can resist to die; all people are doomed to die.
Analysis of the concept of DEATH in Hermann Hesse’s novel “Klingsor’s Last Summer” made it possible to identify its main differential features: lack of beingness, inviolability, presence of a subject, presence of physiological features, relevance, awareness, spirituality, variety of manifestations, ambivalence. It also highlights the ways to categorize the phenomenon of death in the given literary texts, as well as the cognitive features of the literary concept DEATH in the novels by Hermann Hesse.