Verbal representation of the central conceptual signs of male fidelity in German and Russian literary texts

Isaeva Leila Farkhadovna Postgraduate student, Department of Germanistics and Linguodidactics, Moscow City Pedagogical University 105064, Russia, Moscow, lane. Small State-owned, 5B isaley22@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

 The relevance of this work is due to the fact that the gender factor in linguistic research is a relatively new direction, the analysis of the concept of "fidelity" in the gender aspect is poorly studied in comparative linguistics.

The object of this work is the representation of the concept of "fidelity" in the gender aspect on the material of German and Russian literary texts.

The subject of the study is the lexico–semantic representation of the conceptual component of the studied concept in the form of male fidelity in the analyzed texts in a comparative aspect.

The purpose of the work is to clarify the similarities and differences of the verbalization of the conceptual component of the concept of fidelity, as male fidelity, in German and Russian literary texts.

 To achieve this goal, you need to perform the following tasks:

1) analyze the existing approaches to the study of the verbalization of concepts taking into account the gender factor in a comparative aspect on the material of related languages;

2) to establish conceptual features in the gender aspect of male fidelity of the center of the concept under study in German and Russian literary texts;

3) compare and find out the specifics of displaying the conceptual features that make up the center of the studied concept on the material of the analyzed texts.

In modern linguistic works, special attention is paid to the anthropological aspect of the functioning of the language, when the gender factor is taken into account when comparing languages. The gender approach in linguistics implies the importance of cultural, social, psychological characteristics of individuals when the difference in the statuses of women and men in different spheres of life is taken into account.

In the cognitive aspect, it becomes possible to clarify the gender characteristics of human behavior manifestations associated with the cultural traditions of native speakers of a particular language. In this case, the gender factor is considered in the refraction of linguoculturology, since language and culture are closely interrelated. Hence, it becomes clear the use and explanation in linguistic works of such a term as a gender stereotype, which means a certain rule of behavior of men and women of a particular linguistic culture formed over time. Gender stereotypes are represented in language.

Linguistic and cultural studies are aimed at identifying specific national stereotypes of femininity and masculinity, their representative features. The identification of gender identity is analyzed on the basis of the texts of artistic discourse. 

However, gender is not the determining factor of communication. In some situations of speech communication, the influence of gender is manifested in the priority of the manifestation of the ways of speech behavior. Cultural peculiarities play an important role in the formation of ideas about masculinity and femininity of gender. Despite the obvious differences in the perception of masculinity and femininity among different peoples, these concepts exist in all cultures, they are both universal and specific.

The concept of Fidelity analyzed in this work is a linguocultural concept, since it has all the characteristics of concepts of this kind, namely integrity, mental nature, conventionality, blurriness, value, variability ^[1]. Linguistic and cultural concepts can be classified on various grounds. On the basis of relevance, concepts are classified as leading and secondary. The leading concepts are those that are widely represented in folklore and fiction. Secondary concepts are less relevant, their representatives are less frequent ^[2-11]. Therefore, the concept of Loyalty can be attributed to the leading concepts of German and Russian language consciousness. Of undoubted scientific interest will be the study of the representation of this concept from the standpoint of gender linguistics. We consider it necessary to find out the representation of the central features of this concept in the verbalization of the concept of Male fidelity. In this case, we propose to understand male fidelity as part of the concept of Fidelity.It is worth noting that in German the conceptual component of the concept of fidelity can be represented by the nuclear lexeme die Treue and its corresponding synonyms and antonyms.

According to the dictionaries ^[12-14], this token has the following nuclear features:

· general understanding of loyalty· marital fidelity, fidelity in love

· loyalty in compliance with obligations

· loyalty in friendship· religious fidelity

An appeal to the dictionaries of synonyms showed that this lexeme has a large synonymic series capable of transmitting different shades of meaning that explicate the conceptual component of the concept under study in the German language.

It should be noted that in German there is a voluminous list of synonyms of the nuclear lexeme die Treue:

·        Adh?renz,

·        Anh?nglichkeit,

·        Best?ndigkeit,

·        Ergebenheit, 

·        Gunst,

·        Hingabe,

·        Identifikation,

·        Loyalit?t,

·        Zuverl?ssigkeit.

All synonyms were distributed by us according to their meanings into thematic groups capable of conveying one or another meaning.  Among these synonyms, there are lexemes that can convey values close to the values of the die Treue nuclear lexeme. These are Ergebenheit, Loyalit?t, Zuverl?ssigkeit. They express the meaning of loyalty, reliability.

In German literary texts, only the lexeme die Ergebenheit was found from this list. Let us turn specifically to the analysis of examples in order to clarify the understanding of Male fidelity among German speakers of this time period.

·        «Hiernach oblag es ihm, dem alten Herrn Buck einen Besuch zu machen und sein biederm?nnisches und sch?ngeistiges Gerede mit Ergebenheit anzuh?ren. » ^[15]

·        «Herr Permaneder, dessen gr?nes H?tchen mit dem Gemsbart in die Stirn geglitten war, stand dicht bei ihr und beteiligte sich hie und da vermittelst seines Spazierstockes an dem Umgraben des Beetes. Auch er lie? den Kopf h?ngen; aber seine kleinen, hellblauen, verquollenen Augen, die ganz blank geworden und sogar ein wenig ger?tet waren, blickten von unten herauf mit einem Gemisch von Ergebenheit, Betr?btheit und Spannung zu ihr empor, und mit ebendemselben Ausdruck ?berhing der ausgefranste Schnauzbart seinen Mund . . .» ^[16]

In this case, there is such an understanding of loyalty by men as devotion to their deeds of an unprovable nature. Let's analyze the following example.

·        «Schon von weitem vollf?hrte er mit seinem gro?en, hellgrauen Hut eine Geb?rde der Ergebenheit. . .»

In this context, men consider it important to be faithful to the clothes they have chosen a certain style.

         Consequently, in German literary texts of the first half of the XX century, male fidelity, as an integral part of the concept of fidelity, shows such central features of the concept as:

·        Dedication to your work

·        Loyalty to the chosen style of clothing.

Let us consider in a similar way the central features of the concept of Fidelity through the prism of the concept of Male fidelity, through their representation in Russian literary texts of the XX century. Note that the nuclear lexeme of this concept in the Russian language is the lexeme loyalty. This lexeme, according to explanatory dictionaries ^[17-19], has the following meanings:

- steadfastness and immutability in feelings, relationships, in the performance of their duties, duty;

- confidence, conviction, firm awareness, the concept of something, especially about higher, immaterial, spiritual subjects;

- complete devotion, truthfulness, firmness in word, steadfastness in deed;

- reliability, accuracy, serviceability, reliability, truthfulness, truth.

Synonyms of the nuclear lexeme fidelity include the following words:

1. Constancy

2. Immutability

3. Accuracy

4. Serviceability

5. Accuracy

6. For certain

7. Loyalty

8. Loyalty

9. Commitment

10. Exposure

11. Hardness

12. Steadfastness

13. Rachenie

14. Honesty

15. Good faith

16. Error-free

17. Indisputability

18. Reliability

19. Truthfulness

20. Love

21. Reliability

22. Infallibility

23. Certainty

24. Evidence

25. Correctness

26. Orthodoxy

27. Rightness

28. Self-evidence

29. Justice

Having found out the composition of the meanings of the synonyms listed above, a list of those lexemes that are close in their meanings to the values of the nuclear lexeme fidelity was compiled. In our work, these synonyms form the center of the concept under study:

1. Constancy

2. Immutability

3. Accuracy

4. Serviceability

5. Accuracy

6. For certain

7. Loyalty

8. Loyalty

9. Commitment.

Hence , the central features of the dictionary-based Fidelity concept are:

· durability,

· immutability,· loyalty,

· hardness,

· truthfulness,

· reliability,

· accuracy,

· serviceability,

· reliability,

· the truth.

Let us turn to the Russian literary texts of the first half of the twentieth century, having found out the representation in them of the central features of the concept of Male fidelity.

Such synonyms of the nuclear lexeme as loyalty, immutability, accuracy, demonstrating the above-mentioned signs of the concept, find their application in them. Let us analyze examples in which, however, not the specified nouns are used, but the adjectives formed from them: devoted, unchangeable, the adverb is invariable. As for the noun precision, it finds its application in these texts.

     Let 's analyze the cases of using the adjective devotee:

"Sanya Grigoriev as a courageous and brave man, as a fighter, selflessly devoted to a high idea, could only be formed in our conditions, and this is perfectly shown in the novel." ^[20]In this context, such a central sign of Male fidelity as devotion to one's ideas stands out.

Devotion is combined with such traits of male character as bravery and courage.

         Let us dwell in detail on the analysis of examples of the use of the invariant token:

"With unfailing sympathy, I followed his fate, just as he seems to have followed mine. I knew that he had left the Frunze School, commanded a hydrographic vessel, worked in the Hydrographic Department of the People's Commissariat of the Navy." ^[20]

In this case, there is a representation of the central sign of Male fidelity, such as loyalty to one's profession, chosen business, which is perceived positively by men.

         As mentioned above, the adverb is used invariably in the texts: "in moments of crisis, he did not lose his composure and the forces splashing out of him, his irony invariably merged with a great feeling, his witticisms were marked, sometimes sarcastic and caustic, but never jarring." ^[21]

According to the example, Male fidelity implies constancy in the noble behavior of men, combined with male strength.

         The noun precision is able to display by its semantics the central sign of Male fidelity in the analyzed texts:

 "Why such precision? Well, so be it — fifty percent. Half is yours, half is mine.The bidding continued. Ostap conceded more. Out of respect for Vorobyaninov's personality, he agreed to work out of forty percent."As an example shows, the central feature of Male fidelity here is accuracy, practicality, as a manifestation of the constancy of a man's behavior.

         Accordingly, in Russian literary texts of the first half of the XX century, the following signs can be attributed to the category of central features of the concept of Male fidelity::

· dedication to your ideas,

· loyalty to your profession,

· constancy in the noble behavior of men,

· practicality as a manifestation of the constancy of a man's behavior.

We consider it expedient to carry out a comparative analysis of the central features of the concept of Male fidelity identified by us on the material of German and Russian literary texts of the first half of the XX century. The results obtained can be highlighted in the form of a summary table.

Summary table. The central features of the concept of Male fidelity, represented in German and Russian literary texts of the first half of the XX century

In both German and Russian literary texts, the central feature of the concept of Male fidelity is loyalty, devotion to his profession. We consider it necessary to emphasize that for men of any nationality, loyalty to their profession is an integral feature and plays an important role in their lives.

A distinctive feature of German Male fidelity is constancy in the chosen style of clothing, which is a representation of the central feature of the concept of Male fidelity in addition to the above. The specifics of the mentality of the Russian man of the studied time period is expressed in devotion to his ideas, constancy in the noble behavior of men, practicality, as a manifestation of the constancy of the man's behavior style. These additions constitute additional central features of the concept under study.