Structural and Semantic Originality of the Semantic Field ‟power” in Vladimir Maksimov’s Novel ‟to Look Into the Abyss”

The article characterises the semantic field ‟Power” in the novel by the famous Russian prose writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century, Vladimir Maksimov (1930–1995). The purpose of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the structural and semantic features of the field, determination of the originality of the textual functioning of its core components, which are the semantic dominants of the work, actively involved in the organisation of the narrative, in the artistic depiction of historical events and the creation of images of literary characters. The theoretical concepts of the semantic field and semantic space of the text, which unites its conceptual, denotative and emotive meanings, are defined. Linguistic modelling of the field structure is based on the principles of discourse analysis of the text and is determined by the specific linguistic personality of the writer, genre-stylistic and plot-compositional features of the work. Characteristic of component composition of the field, its core, centre and periphery, microfields is given. Semantic connections and intersections of field components are determined with contextual synonymy and antonymy revealed. The core of the field includes the key lexemes “power”, “strength”, “leader”, “will”. The semantic field unites five microfields: the central part of the field structure includes the microfields ‟White-Guard Power of Alexander Kolchak” and ‟Soviet Power of Vladimir Lenin”; the peripheral zone includes the microfields ‟Power of Social Elements”, ‟Military Force of Foreign Intervention” and ‟Power of Selfless and unselfish Love”. The semantic dominants of the text, being the key components of the field, contribute to the dynamics of the narrative, create an artistic chronotope, reflect the author’s position, and convey the bright features of the writer’s linguistic personality.