Koroliova N. Language Means of Expressing German National Mentality in the Works by Thomas Mann: Linguo-cultural Aspect.

The dissertation deals with the language means of the expression of German national mentality in the works by Thomas Mann. On the basis of lexico-semantic, linguo-stylistic, linguo-cultural, pragma-stylistic and cognitive-communicative approaches to the analysis of the language of novels the main basic concepts, which are central in the minds of the characters are shown, the core and the periphery of their lexico-semantic fields are found; the mental-psychological portraits of the novel characters as subjects of German mentality in the context of the socio-cultural era, presented in the text are outlined. National mentality is understood as a set of variant forms of world perception, which are inherent for certain groups of people, united in social and historical communities. National mentality exists at the level of individual and collective consciousness; this determines the psychological features of the people, which form the basis of customs and morals and ways to form their behavior in relation to external reality. This is reflected in the typical psychological reactions to certain events or situations, in the system of norms and principles of existence. The language of the novels by Thomas Mann is a source of information about the mentality of the German people, which is based on the realization that a complete description of linguistic units at different levels as a means of manifestation of national character traits of the Germans is not possible without departing from the scope of linguistics and a recourse to linguo-cultural issues. Linguo-cultural aspect is the basis for the study of language means of expressing national mentality in the works by Thomas Mann. On the one hand, the thesis relies on authentic works of art of the German writer that represent the culture of his nation. On the other hand, in the course of the research the culture, ways of life, customs, national picture of the world, mental peculiarities of the German people, belonging to different social strata are studied; their behavior and way of thinking are based on socio-cultural epoch (the decline of the bourgeoisie in the middle of the XIX century, the period before the First World War, the Middle Ages, etc.), which is represented by Thomas Mann in the works under study.