The Role of Nonverbal Communication in A.P. Chekhov's Story "The Chameleon"

Abstract

A writer who creates a work of fiction, using non-verbal means, helps the reader to imagine his characters in the process of communication: to show their emotional state, character traits, attitude to other characters, etc. The article examines the role of nonverbal communication in a work of fiction using the example of A.P. Chekhov's story "Chameleon". Attention is paid to the analysis of those nonverbal means by which A.P. Chekhov implements the individual psychological and social characteristics of the character, reveals his attitude to other heroes. The object of the study is lexical units reflecting the components of nonverbal communication and their functioning in a literary text. The subject of the study was the linguistic means of describing various ways of displaying nonverbal behavior. The paper studies such nonverbal means as visual, tactile-kinesthetic and acoustic, examines how A.P. Chekhov, conveying the appearance of the hero, his gestures, facial expressions, body movements, sounds and intonation of the voice, reflected the inner world of the hero, his social role and attitude to other characters. The following research methods were used: the method of continuous sampling of nonverbal means from A.P. Chekhov's story "Chameleon", the method of analyzing dictionary definitions. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that it presents a functional analysis of nonverbal means of communication encountered in A.P. Chekhov's story "Chameleon", a study of how psychological and social characteristics of the hero are carried out with the help of nonverbal means, his attitude to other characters is revealed. Each of the functions of nonverbal means is accompanied by an example.