Functional and semantic potential of lexemes characterizing eye movements of Sophie Neveu in the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown

Abstract

The idea of anthropocentricity of language presupposes a systematic study of the image of a person. Literary anthropology studies the character recreated by the author in literature, and the human image perceivable by the reader. The aim of the article is therefore to analyze the lexemes characterizing Sophie Neveu’s eye movements in Dan Brown’s mystical novel The Da Vinci Code, and to determine the specifics of these linguistic units used by the writer to create a literary portrait of the heroine. The study is of particular relevance considering the need to study the ways of portraying a character in a work of fiction due to the fact that portraying is a universal form of textual representation of a person. In this regard, considering the image of Sophie Neveu in the context of her eyes movements is of particular importance for the analysis of the whole system of female characters in Dan Brown’s novels and for the description of the heroine as a whole. As the metaphor goes, the eyes are the windows of the soul, that is, through the eyes the image as well as its distinctive characteristics as a personality are revealed. Among the main methods used by the authors, quantitative analysis, definition analysis and component analysis should be mentioned. The article deals with the functional features of verbs with the hyperseme look, the hyposemes of which determine their distinctive characteristics and the specifics of their functioning. Based on the definition and component analysis, authors present the lexicographic potential of lexemes under study. Of great importance is the quantitative analysis of linguistic units reflecting character’s eye movements, on the basis of which the authors come to the conclusion about the versatility and complexity of the heroine’s image, whose eyes are one of the most expressive elements of her literary portrait

Keywords

• literary portrait
• literary portraying
• micro-movements
• eyes movements
• look characteristics
• dan brown
• character
• image
• fiction