Elements of nonsense in the modern English fairy-tale (based on “The BFG, the Big Friendly Giant” by Roald Dahl)

Abstract

In the paper the definition of the fairy-tale is given and the features of the English fairy-tale are discussed. Being a game in the first place nonsense is considered to be the hallmark of the English fairy-tale. Nonsense may be considered both as a genre and as a literary device. The study is based on “The BFG”, an example of the English fairy-tale, written by the famous English writer Roald Dahl, who is known for using nonsense a lot in his works. The results of the literary and linguistic (on phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, semantic and graphic levels) analysis of “The BFG” are presented in the article. The authors come to the conclusion that the fairy-tale by Roald Dahl cannot be considered an example of “pure nonsense” despite some features of the genre. It is found out that nonsense as a literary device in the fairy-tale is based on the principles of the language game on all language levels. The fact that the book is written for children is reflected in the language of “The BFG”. The main character’s speech reminds of children’s speech which is characterised by the language game.