Epithets in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go: status and perspectives

Abstract

The paper focuses on the analysis of the status of the epithet in the contemporary literary text of K. Ishiguro. The pertinence of the study stems from the fact that in Western linguistics, there is no tradition to consider the epithet as a distinct and independent stylistic means, and its main features have not been widely distinguished; in some cases, researchers endow the epithet with the function of the characters’ personality description. The problem of how the epithet claims an auxiliary role as an image-creating element of language is disclosed. The analysis showed that the type of epithet used is directly related to the character or thing being described and the ideological intent of the work, while the predominance of evaluative epithets of ethical assessment is due to the way of narration. The frequency of using one or another type of epithet in the novel Never Let Me Go in creating a particular imagery element may vary, in the climactic scenes more complex expressive epithets perform the function of hyperbolization predominate. A comprehensive analysis showed that the epithet has the right to be recognized as an imagery related unit, since this stylistic tool demonstrates a distinct distribution in heroes, objects, places and nature descriptions.