INTERTEXT AS A FACTOR IN THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF WATER IN THE PROSE OF I. BUNIN

In this article, the conceptualization of water in I. Bunin’s prose is viewed through the prism of the global traditions of interpreting water as a universal phenomenon and archetypal cultural symbol. Seen as a «habitat for cultural concepts», intertext becomes a cognitive mechanism, determining the conceptualization of water in I. Bunin’s model of the world. Dialogue is a two-way interaction. Therefore, the usage of archetypal images, mythological plots, and other cultural ideas related to water becomes the cognitive backdrop in I. Bunin’s prose, framing the cultural content in water’s conceptual structure. It is suggested that this content is «composed» of all of the «unreadable» meanings (ideas, images, and notions), all of which are obtained contextually through metaphorical usages of water substantive and its substitutes. Sitting just below the surface, «unreadable» meanings relate directly to the symbolism of water and it is shown that these symbolic meanings unfold in the context of the world’s culture as a result of the readers’s reflection. For example, the substantive water in I. Bunin’s prose reflects the «cultural memory», serving as the ambivalent character: the «goddess-mother/father», the «divine essence», and, at the same time, the mythical «chaos», traditionally seen as the ancient «nothingness» of an impersonal and primitive nature, combining the dualities of life and death, the beginning and the end, and the life-giving bossom.