Bozhko O. Lingual Representation of the Suspense Atmosphere in English Horror Fiction: Semantic-Cognitive Aspect

The thesis focuses on linguistic and cognitive specificity of the suspense atmosphere representation in English horror fiction by a complex analysis of verbal and conceptual levels. The peculiarities of the suspense atmosphere representation are revealed in different types of tension-marked contexts, classified according to the topic (“man”, “natural phenomenon” and “supernatural phenomenon”) and volume (propositional, composite, and discursive), which show the causes of suspense atmosphere creation. The means of suspense atmosphere lingual representation, grouped together depending on the type of nomination (substantive, processive or attributive), express various characteristics of the suspense atmosphere as a negative phenomenon in all its manifestations. Conceptual space SUSPENSE is formed by a unity of 70 literary concepts and is presented as a two-component model, consisting of two planes: notional-evaluative and figurative-evaluative. Frame modeling of the notional-evaluative plane exposes nationally-marked cultural knowledge about suspense. Constructing basic and poetically transformed conceptual metaphors in the figurative-evaluative plane ensures revealing the authors’ associations on suspense atmosphere in English horror fiction. Key words: suspense, lingual representation, literary concept, conceptual metaphor, conceptual domain, conceptual space.