The Poetics of the Title of Neil Gaiman's Novel "The Ocean at the End of the Lane"

The subject of the study is the poetics of the title of the novel "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" (2013) by contemporary English writer Neil Gaiman, which combines elements of fantasy, autobiography, and psychological prose. The relevance and significance of studying the poetics and semantics of titles of literary texts, which have become the subject of study for many scholars, is emphasized. The semantics of the words that compose the title "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" is examined, and its symbolic meaning is defined. The interconnections of the title with key images (in particular, the ocean, memory, and childhood) and the problems of the novel are identified. The work attempts to reveal a broad range of meanings of the title: from a reference to a specific geographical location (the pond on the Hempstock farm) to a symbolic embodiment of memory, childhood, and the path to self-discovery. Cultural-historical and descriptive methods are used to uncover a wide spectrum of meanings of the title. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it offers a detailed analysis of the poetics of the title of Gaiman's novel "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" as a central element influencing the interpretation of the novel for the first time. The translation of the title "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" into Russian is analyzed, and the nuances of the meaning of the word "lane" are highlighted (a path), which creates an important atmosphere of solitude and the significance of the protagonist's personal experience. It is established that the image of water (in the form of a pond and an ocean) is multifaceted and plays a key role in shaping the perception of the world by a child, revealing the connection between memory and the supernatural, as well as creating a liminal space where reality intertwines with myth. The gradually revealed meaning of the title unites key themes, making it a central image that allows for a deeper understanding of the philosophical content of the novel.