Laughter vs Fear: Conceptual Metaphor in the Literary World of Martin Amis

摘要

The article deals with the description of cognitive processes that underlie the perception and interpretation of humour embodied in comic situations which form the plot of some literary works. Metaphor in a satirical or humorous text is a way of self-expression of the writer's personality, who feels that life in the world around him is fragile and imperfect. The research carried out by the authors let them formulate and describe the cognitive-psychological foundations of M. Amis's satirical and humorous attitude to reality in his novel "Money". Such vision is asserted by Amis's allegorical interpretation of human vices and weaknesses. Most metaphors used in the novel raise some crucial philosophical issues and evoke the feeling of sadness in a reader. The grotesque comic image of the main character reflects the nature of the modern hedonistic man and highlights his caricature, low intellectual delights and psychological phobias. The analysis of the linguistic material made it possible to identify cognitive metaphorical models that Amis purposefully used to explicate the vices of the modern world and the weaknesses of the modern man, and to consider the cognitive mechanisms for modelling modern reality.