ЗООЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ МЕТАФОРА КАК СРЕДСТВО РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦИИ ПСИХОЭМОЦИ-ОНАЛЬНЫХ СОСТОЯНИЙ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЙ Ч. ПАЛАНИКА)

Этнопсихолингвистика. 2026. № 1(24). С. 81–98.

Tsygunova M.

This paper examines the use of animalistic metaphors in Chuck Palahniuk’s prose to describe psychoemotional states. The relevance of the study lies in uncovering the mechanisms by which complex emotional experiences are conveyed through animal metaphors. The aim of the research is to report on the way the author conceptualizes the interconnection between human behaviour and animalistic imagery and to classify the identified animal metaphors. The study is based on the conceptual metaphor theory by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, employing methods of continuous sam- pling and the metaphor identification procedure (MIP) Based on the selection of 25 works (23 short stories and two novels), a total of 161 animalistic metaphors were selected and analysed. The classification is grounded on the principles used to describe the characters’ psychoemotional states. The following groups have been distinguished: direct nomina- tion of the species, character-based names, reference to animalistic vocalisations, social group descriptions, references to animal-like behaviour, and comparisons with labora- tory animals. The paper explores how the author draws parallels between the characters and animals to convey the inner struggle and mental states. The results demonstrate how metaphor serves as a powerful tool for illustrating psychoemotional states.

Keywords: концептуальная метафора, зоологическая метафора, mental states, ментальные состояния, conceptual metaphor, animalistic metaphor, Chuck Palahniuk, Чак Паланик