Антропосимвол «criminal» як складник концепту «crime» (на матеріалі американської лінгвокультури)

Abstract

(uk) В американській буденній правосвідомості яскравішу символізацію отримують суб’єкти злочину, ніж сам злочин. Символічний компонент концепту “crime” репрезентують два антропосимволи злочинця – “criminal boss” (кримінальний авторитет), який досягає професійних вершин у злочинному ремеслі, та “human monster” (злочинець-нелюд), що уособлює насильство, зло, руйнацію, духовну неповноцінність, відхилення від норми. Ці антропосимволи знаходять свою об’єктивацію різноманітними вербальними засобами: тропеїчними (переважно метафорами, гіперболами), номінативними полілексемними утвореннями, де атрибутивним компонентом є прикметники-суперлативи з емоційно-оцінними конотаціями.

(en) Symbol as a concept integral component emerges from a perceptual image which is permeated by certain connotations meaningful for the members of a languaculture. Sensational crime coverage in the U.S. media has led to the appearance of “performance crimes”, “media constructed crimes”, “entertaining representations of crime”, i.e. media genres aiming more at entertaining viewers / readers than at providing accurate information about crimes. Murder as the most popular sensational media coverage of death and violence gave birth to the neologism murdertainment ( murder + entertainment). Such highlighted criminal cases become widely known to the members of the national community and get their further symbolization, on the one hand, in legal initiatives by law-makers designed to prevent similar incidents in future, for example, AMBER, Megan’s Law, Jessica’s Law etc., and, on the other hand, in various movie and TV genres, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, Law and Order, and many others. The American naïve legal consciousness appears to attach a brighter symbolization to the subject of the crime, than the crime itself. The symbol component of the concept “crime”in the U.S. linguaculture is represented by the two core anthroposymbols – a “criminal boss”who achieves a consummate mastery in his / her criminal craft, and a “human monster”, a criminal fiend embodying violation, evil, destruction, spiritual inferiority, deviation from the norm. The attributes of these anthroposymbols are made up by certain character traits and crime motifs (capability of extreme violence, cold-bloodedness, the desire to own other people’s material values, to take away others’ lives), and also a criminal way of life (the power over other people gained by the criminal actions, self-concealment). At the same time, a criminal is a symbol of negative abstract entities: violence, evil, destruction, spiritual inferiority, deviation from societal norms, the embodiment of the devil, the enemy, the cruel ruler. The said anthroposymbols are actualized in the media discourse with awide range of verbal means, predominantly with such trophes as metaphors and hyperboles, polylexeme complexes with adjectives in the superlative degree as an attributive connotation component.