INFORMATIONAL CONTENT CATEGORY OF THE COMIC DISCOURSE

Abstract

The article deals with the study of different types of informational content, which are the characteristics of literary prose texts. It has been proved that the disclosure mechanism of content-conceptual and content-subtextual types of information occurs by means of content-factual information. The study data of the research has been represented on the basis of a short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. The English narrative discourse under analysis describes the process of various pragmatic information implementing. It has been established that the understanding of the comic sense of the text is introduced by decoding the content-subtextual variety of information. The types of foregrounding (the effect of the false expectation, the title, the technique of contrast at the text level, parallel constructions, paradox) have been characterized, which are an important factor in the formation of content-conceptual information. Leading techniques of subtext formation at certain levels have been analyzed as a component of content-subtextual information, namely: connotations and associative connections of words, repositioning, irony, unexpected turn of events, repetitions, play on words. The combination of verbal irony, situational irony and dramatic/tragic one helps to create a black humour effect of the short story.