"I am a Russian soldier": linguistic and stylistic analysis of B.L. Vasilyev’s novel "His Name Was Not Listed" (to the 100th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

Based on linguo-stylistic analysis, the article examines the evolvement of the Russian soldier and the defender of the Motherland in the novel by B.L. Vasilyev "His Name Was Not Listed". The chosen subject is relevant due to the insufficient study of linguistic means and their specific features in the writer’s artistic work. The article aims to identify linguistic means of different levels with the help of which the author depicts the personality formation of a Red Army soldier who found himself on the front line from the first day of the war. The article uses contextual and structural semantic analysis of lexical units. On this basis, the means of transforming lexeme meanings are identified, which proves to be important for creating the protagonist’s image in the work. The system of character names, their comparative analysis, and quantitative estimation make it possible to draw a conclusion about the devices that reveal the formation stages of the Russian soldier’s image. The paper concludes that the following expressive linguistic means help to characterise the main character’s personality formation process: repetition at different language levels (situational, phrasal, lexical, morphemic); contextual transformation of the semantics of lexical units; the system of names for the main character of the novel, the frequency of character names; details reflecting the changes occurring in the protagonist’s mind; oppositions that perform a structural and characterological function in revealing the image of Nikolai Pluzhnikov.