The Subjective-Cognitive Function of Similes with the Word "Like" in Toni Morrison's Novels (Based on the Works "Beloved", "Love", and "Home")

Abstract

Similes are a key tool for representing national and the author’s individual worldviews in a literary text. Despite the importance of Toni Morrison's work as a Nobel laureate and a central figure in African-American literature, there is a gap in research into the subjective and cognitive function of similes in her novels as a means of representing the African-American worldview. The functions of similes in the novels "Beloved", "Love", and "Home" have not been addressed by researchers before. The objectives of this study are to identify and classify the semantic features of similes that implement a subjective-cognitive function in the above novels, to determine their role in representing key aspects of the African-American worldview, as well as the author’s individual worldview. Descriptive, semantic-cognitive, and continuous sampling methods were used in the work. In the course of the study, 319 examples of similes were considered. The results allowed a systematization of similes of subjective cognitive function (96 units, 30% of the total) into three thematic subgroups: characters' assessment of emotional states/behavior of others; assessment of physical states/appearance; characters' reflection on their own actions/feelings. These comparisons have been found to represent such fundamental aspects of the African-American worldview as the traumatic experience of slavery and its overcoming, the close connection of the human world with nature, as well as the importance of mutual assistance and collectivism. The results obtained contribute to the linguoculturology and stylistics of the literary text, providing new data on the mechanisms of representation of national and author's worldviews through stylistic means.