SOME PATTERNS OF FIGURATIVE USE OF LEXICAL UNITS IN E. VODOLAZKIN’S IDIOSTYLE

The paper examines the contextual patterns of word usage in comparative constructions (metaphors and similes) in the works of the modern prose writer E. Vodolazkin. These are such patterns as extended metaphor; metaphor or simile basing on the depicted reality or situation; combination in one lexeme or collision in one context of the direct and fi gurative meaning of a word, as well as creation of individual author’s metaphors and similes based on an unusual understanding of the original word in its direct meaning. All these techniques characterize the work of a writer with the direct meaning of a fi gurative word, the correlation of the direct meaning with the fi gurative metaphorical meaning. Based on the analysis of the linguistic material from the writer’s works, a conclusion is drawn about the writer’s ability to fi nd a new look at the traditional fi gurative use of words, which manifests itself, in particular, in extended metaphors and similes based on not obvious semantic features and connections of the original word — the image of comparison, fi nding a new turn in the development of metaphor, allowing the thought process to unfold in a rather unexpected way. Particular attention is paid to the creation of metaphors and similes by the writer based on the individual author’s understanding of the word in its direct meaning, often on the basis of identifying not obvious at fi rst glance cause-and-eff ect relationships of the original word.