Lexico-semantic features of V. G. Korolenko’s novella "In Bad Company" (to the 170th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

The article considers some lexico-semantic features of the novella "In Bad Company" written by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko. The research focuses on such significant lexico-semantic fields as "Life", "Home", "Family" and "Memory" associated with the use of antithesis in the poetics of the work. The article also analyses the meaning of the title of the novella, as well as the antithesis of "decent company" vs "bad company" and determines the role of contrasting the ruins of the count’s castle with the vault of the old Uniate chapel. It is shown that repeated naming is an important means of artistic expressiveness in the novella as it performs various functions (semantic, expressive-stylistic (emotional-expressive), euphemistic, text-forming). The paper also considers some nominative series of repeated naming which are significant for the image composition of Tyburtsy, Marusya, Vasya, and other characters, as well as for the description of the castle ruins, the vault of the old chapel, and so on. The crucial role of lexical repetition and the functions of comparative constructions revealing the protagonist’s personality traits are highlighted. The research methods included linguistic commentary, descriptive method, and semantic-stylistic text interpretation. In some cases, the research used feature (componential) analysis of linguistic units.