Zoonyms: contextual meaning in literary context (based on the novel "Bless me, Ultima!" by Rudolfo Anaya)

Abstract

The present research deals with defining contextual meaning of zoonyms and is based on the novel “Bless me, Ultima” (1972) by Rudolfo Anaya, a famous representative of Chicano literature. It also presents a survey of studies done by Ukrainian and foreign scholars related to animal names, which have been analyzed from different perspectives. Literary context is a fertile ground for animal names, which contribute a lot to its ethnical, philosophic and symbolic peculiarities. It provides clear evidence that animals serve as the source domain for talking about human beings by ascribing to them positive and negative qualities. Zoonyms are a rich source of metaphors, phraseological units, which represent model national cultural views. They reflect man’s lasting observation of animals’ appearance and behavior, render people’s attitude to them, emphasize some of their qualities, turn into symbols, become the cultural and informational fund of every language and create the mindset of every nation. Animal names are an attractive field of study in many regards as they perform various functions, among which rendering human traits of character is the most outstanding. All the zoonyms in the novel comprise domestic and wild animals and birds, insects and reptiles, which are typical of the Mexican habitat described in the novel. They possess both positive and negative contextual meanings and are used to express various feelings (disapproval and despair, contempt and empathy, etc.). The zoonym animal, a general concept embracing all the representatives of fauna, holds a special place in the novel. On the one hand, it has a pejorative meaning signifying negative traits of character, on the other hand, it supports the juxtaposition man::animal. It is an open secret that the issue of the contextual meaning of zoonyms is of considerable linguistic interest.