Functioning of the system of character naming units in a literary text: Based on M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tale "The Ram Who Could not Remember" (to the 200th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

This article examines the set of units used to name the central character in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tale "The Ram Who Could not Remember". The relevance of the research is due to the fact that the work published over 140 years ago has not become the subject of a serious and comprehensive analysis yet. Moreover, the system of character naming units has not been considered as a primary means of expressing the author’s worldview and creating a multifunctional artistic environment. The paper aims to identify the system of naming units associated with the central cha­ racter image in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tale "The Ram Who Could not Remember". The objectives include classifying the character’s names in terms of their place and role in the text, establishing multilevel connections (structural, semantic, stylistic) between them, and determining the functionality of the naming unit system in the work. The study employs functional-semantic description of linguistic units, as well as structural-semantic and stylistic analysis. As a result, a system of interrelations between the principal character’s names was established. The article concludes that the naming unit system symbolically expanded and additionally examines the functioning of this system in the literary text under consideration.