The thesis deals with the research of cognitive-semantic and functional-semantic features of Dan Brown’s idiostyle.
The main linguistic views of the nature of idiostyle and its constituents have been systematized that enabled the author to formulate the definition which is current in this study: idiostyle is the individual system of the preferential use of certain language (phonetic, lexical, grammatical) and mental (conceptual) units with the aim of creating such a stylistic specificity of the text/texts, which is able to make the effect of individuality, uniqueness, originality; simultaneously these units specify the author’s linguistic tastes, personal style, the means of artistic images’ representation, reflect intellect, intentions, motives and worldview.
The system of especially significant mental formations in Dan Brown’s idiostyle is organized around three ways of world comprehension that are important for him – epistemic (domains MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA, RELIGIOUS-MYSTIC PHENOMENA), gnoseological (domains ART, SCIENCE) and emotional (domain FEAR). Each domain is a trinity of hiper-, hypo- and cataconcepts reflecting the writer’s conceptual picture of the world. The concepts of the lowest level of generalization (cataconcepts or concepts) are represented by the language units the writer prefers and have certain informative characteristics in the notional, figurative-associative and axiological strata.
There is a transformation of well-established conceptions of certain facts in the notional stratum of many concepts. A special place in the figurative-associative stratum belongs to the correlations between secret knowledge and a womb, torch; between religion and a collage; between Christianity and a buffet line; between God and an architect; between a structure and a cake, scar, monster, ship, mountain; between physics and canvas; between scientific achievements and miracles; between exact science and a virus, cancer. The change of the axiological pole is observed in the content of the concepts PAGANISM, SIN, ASSISTANT, RITUAL. The ambivalent evaluation in Dan Brown’s idiostyle is peculiar to the hyperconcept SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT, hypoconcept EXACT SCIENCE, concepts KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH, CHRISTIANITY, ANXIETY, HORROR, ARTWORK OF SCULPTURE.
As for the functional and semantic aspect, lexical and phrasal nominative units appear to be analytically relevant for the present study of idiostyle, as their use is subject to exposing ideological and aesthetic attitudes of the writer. Besides, preference in their choice demonstrates not only linguistic tastes of the author, but also reflects his knowledge about the outside world. The originality of Dan Brown’s thesaurus is observed in the use of onomastic vocabulary, realia, terms, aphorisms and riddles. The use of lexical nominative units is connected with such extralinguistic markers of Dan Brown’s creative work as anthropocentrism, geographical and foreign culture environment, informativity and description of high technologies.
Proper names can be considered the most important group of the writer’s specific vocabulary. Dan Brown shows his creative linguistic skills when choosing the names and surnames for his characters. Most of these lexical units have the implied content which can be reconstructed due to correct understanding of anagrams, allusions and etymological data encoded in them. Moreover, Dan Brown uses other proper names (names of real people or historical figures, toponyms, chrononyms, theonyms, mythonyms, chrematonyms and ergonyms) which perform a number of functions.
Dan Brown’s identity is also manifested in the use of such units of phrase-nomination as riddle and aphorism. Being text-templates of a small format they are a part of idiodiscourse as intertextual insertions, though only aphorisms can be completely independent of the context.
Verbal arrangement of Dan Brown’s artistic space by means of lexical and phrasal nominative units represents the most general feature of his idiostyle: cognition and communication come together and interact with each other, that allows the author not only to come into contact with readers, but also to influence and even to manipulate them forcing to believe and accept the postulated ideas, facts and events. The system and technique of nominative units introduction into a text determine Dan Brown’s individual manner, its originality and uniqueness.
