ТЕОРИЯ КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНОГО БЛЕНДИНГА КАК СРЕДСТВО ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ БРИТАНСКОГО НАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО ЮМОРА

Abstract

The article considers British humorous text interpretation in terms of the cognitive linguistic paradigm, in particular, conceptual blending theory. British national humor is analyzed as a preserver and exponent of the historical heritage, national culture, and national collective memory. The paper aims to demonstrate the potential of conceptual blending theory for analyzing the British sense of humor. The object is British humor. The subject is English texts with a humorous implication analyzed using an interpretative analysis based on conceptual integration theory. The novelty consists of considering this theory as an interpretative tool for researching into the collective memory of the British. It is evaluated through the prism of polymodal conceptualization along with national culture, which is inextricably linked with the English sense of humor. The paper shows that the blending theory can be successfully applied to understanding humor, since it is based on describing how cognitive thinking models and operations are organized, structured, and used. The results show that British humor focuses not only on the British national traits, lifestyle, and worldview, but also on the collective rethinking of the national historical past, in particular, the hardships that befell the British at World War II.