Motif in Fiction: A New Research Methodology

Abstract

The article focuses on the understanding of the motif as one of the central categories of fiction and the key concept of text analysis. The article focuses on various approaches to the pragmatic content of the motif. A review of scientific publications revealed an ambiguity in its definition: motif can be interpreted as a scenario act or an ideologeme. The author believes that the objective basis for determining the content and function of a particular motif is a detailed analysis of its verbalization in the text. The article introduces the fundamental difference between literary and linguo-stylistic approaches to the motif analysis. The author proposes a definition based on the linguo-stylistic status of the motif and a set of reference parameters, which is exemplified by a linguo-stylistic analysis of the motifs of beauty of nature and time of day in N. V. Gogol's May Night, or the Drowned Woman.

Keywords

• motif
• artistic speech
• linguo-stylistic analysis
• motif analysis
• philological analysis
• textual lexico-semantic group