“Bacchic” Face in A. P. Chekhov’s Prose: Linguistic Aspect

Abstract

The individual-author’s interpretation of the word face and partially its synonymous series in the Bacchic context in the works of A. P. Chekhov is studied. The material for the study is fragments from the prose works of the writer, presented in the Complete Works, which, along with a description of the character’s appearance, contain an indication of the situation of drinking alcohol. The relevance of this study is associated with the definition of idio-style features (individual and usual) in the representation of the situation of drinking wine, as well as with the features of describing the appearance of a Bacchic person. It has been revealed that in the Bacchic context the lexeme “face” is accompanied by evaluative characteristics, verbalized adjectival phrases, which contain information about both the shape, texture, complexion, and about the activity, pastime of the subject of the situation. It is shown that the face becomes a mirror of a person’s lifestyle and can have an artifactual interpretation, that is, it acquires the same properties as clothes — it becomes “rumpled”, “tattered”, “worn”. It is also noted that an outside observer is able to read thoughts and emotions from facial expressions, and the inability to see a face is the cause of fear.

Keywords

• anton chekhov
• bacchic vocabulary
• idio-style
• individual-author’s worldview
• culture of wine drinking
• mentality