Figurative Field «Music» in the Novel «Brisbane» by E. Vodolazkin

The article examines the functioning of the units of the image field “music” in the text of the novel “Brisbane” by Eugene Vodolazkin. The images connected to music have a text-forming nature in the novel. The image field ‘musuc’ includes the word music itself and its derivatives, names of musical instruments, names of musical genres, musical tempos, intervals, methods of sound extraction, playing techniques, names of musical works and other musical terms. These lexical units are subject to metaphorization in the text or are part of comparisons, and act as objects of comparison in comparative constructions. It is shown that the use of metaphors and comparisons with these units is associated with the composition of the novel and serves as a means of comparing different tenses in it. The article shows that the past (the childhood and youth of the hero) is characterized by the use of musical terms as images of comparison when depicting the world of sounds; it helps to convey the impressions of the character directly.

In the story of the hero's present, on the contrary, prevail musical images that are used as comparative constructions that characterize the performing activity of a musician. The high degree of emotional intensity of metaphors and comparisons used within the present tense differs significantly from the figurative characteristics in contexts dedicated to the hero's past and reflect his evolution. It is noted that the functioning of the units of the image field “music” is associated in the novel with the development of its pervasive themes