Shvab T. Evolution of the Concept of Heroism in the English Language

The thesis is devoted to the study of the concept of Heroism in Old English, Middle English and Early Modern English periods, which is conducted within the framework of modern discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics. The given concept is viewed as a highly abstract cognitive structure involving the knowledge about heroes, their heroic activity and its incentives, and the assessment of their heroic qualities in the context of the deictic conceptual opposition “brother” – “alien”. The concept of Heroism is a flexible mental structure, able to adapt to the dynamics of the social, political and cultural environment, as well as to the changes in the worldview of the community. The highest level of language representation of the concept of Heroism is the laudative heroic discourse formed around the given concept as the discourse focus. In Old English period laudative heroic discourse presents a subtype of Anglo-Saxon heroic discourse (epos), while in later periods of language development it is integrated into other types of discourse. Laudative heroic discourse is characterized by anthropocentric orientation and bright evaluative semantics. Predominant themes, participants, time and place relations of the laudative heroic discourse are defined by the concept of Heroism.