1) traditional linguistic and experimental methods are applied in case of the description of concept;
2) during the creation of the model of concept the cognitive features instead of the separate means are determined;
3) description of the image, informational content and interpretative field is applied in case of the analysis of the structure of concept;
4) the content of concept is described as the totality of the cognitive features organized according to the principle of the nucleus to the near, far and last periphery.
Generally the structure and dissimilar features of concept are studied by the cognitive linguistics. Image, informational content and interpretative field are the structural parts of concept.
Images may be individual. But if the sensual image is group this image may be studied as the fact of the conceptual sphere. The sensual image is created be the organs sense (the perceptive image) and by the image features formed with the assistance of the metaphorical interpretation of some subject of phenomenon. This image is named metaphorical or cognitive. The perceptive image includes visual, tactual, gustatory and other images [11; 49].
The informational content includes the minimum of cognitive features that determine the main considerable features of the conceptual subject or phenomenon. These features are the most important for the subject and it’s applied. They create the characteristics of the most considerable differential features, obligatory compounds, main function and sex.
The interpretative field includes the cognitive features that interpret the main informational content of concept. It also includes the features that have some derivative knowledge or estimate it. The interpretative field is dissimilar. There are several zones in it. These zones are characterized by the internal content and combine the cognitive features that have the similar content. It is possible to define the estimate and encyclopedic zone. Besides, the encyclopedic features are divided into utilitarian, regulative, social-cultural and paremiological zones.
The structure of concept may be described only after the definition and description of its content. So firstly it is necessary to define the compounds that create the cognitive features of concept.
The proportion between the structural components of concept and its field organization are not symmetrical. Such basic compounds of concept as image, informational content and interpretative field are spread on different field zones of concept. There is no exact consolidation of the structural components according to every field zone.
Image does not always come into the nucleus of concept, though the concrete image comes into the nucleus of concept in case of the individual recognition. In this case it codifies concept for the native speaker.
It is necessary to distinguish the content and structure of concept in the process of the practical description of concept. The content of concept is created with the assistance of the cognitive features. These features reflect the features of the conceptualized subject or phenomenon. The content is usually described as the totality of these features. It is characterized by the internal organization. The mentioned organization is based on the field principle – nucleus, near, far and last periphery.
The structure of concept includes the basic structural components that create concept and are characterized by the different nature. These structural components are following: sensual image, informational content and interpretative field. The structure of concept is usually described as the calculation of the cognitive features that are related to each of these structural components of concept.
Besides, the nominative field of concept is based on the conceptual or, in other words, semantic fields. Words may be classified according to the concepts underlying their meaning. This classification is closely connected with the theory of conceptual or semantic fields. By the term “semantic fields” we understand closely knit sectors of vocabulary each characterized by a common concept. For example, the words blue, red, yellow, black, etc. may be described as making up the semantic field of colors, the words mother, father, brother, cousin, etc. – as members of the semantic field of kinship terms, the words joy, happiness, gaiety, enjoyment, etc. as – belonging to the field of pleasurable emotions, etc. [10; 61].
Semantic dependence of the word on the structure of the field may be also illustrated by comparing-members of analogous conceptual fields in different languages. Comparing, for example, kinship terms in Russian and in English we observe that the meaning of the English term mother-in-law is different from either the Russian as the English term covers the whole area which in Russian is divided between two words.
The theory of semantic field is severely criticized by the linguists mainly on philosophical grounds since some of the proponents of the semantic field theory hold the idealistic view that, language is a kind of self-contained entity standing between man and the world of reality.
Words making up such semantic fields may belong to different parts of speech. For example, in the semantic field of space we find nouns: expanse, extent, surface, etc.; verbs: extend, spread, span; adjectives: spacious, roomy, vast, broad, etc.
There may be comparatively small lexical groups of words belonging to the same part of speech and linked by a common concept. The words bread, cheese, milk, meat, etc. make up a group with the concept of food as the common denominator of meaning. Such smaller lexical groups consisting of words of the same part of speech are usually termed lexico-semantic groups. It is observed that the criterion for joining words together into semantic fields and lexico-semantic groups is the identity of one of the components of their meaning found in all the lexical units making up these lexical groups. Any of the semantic components may be chosen to represent the group. For example, the word saleswoman may be analyzed into the semantic components “human”, “female”, “professional”.Consequently the word saleswoman may be included into a lexico-semantic group under the heading of human together with the words man, woman, boy, girl, etc. and under the heading female with (he words girl, wife, woman and also together with the words teacher, pilot, butcher, etc., as professionals [18; 29].
It should also be pointed out (hat different meanings of polysemantic words make it possible to refer the same word to different lexico-semantic groups. Thus, e.g. make in the meaning of “construct” is naturally a member of the same lexico-semantic group as the verbs produce, manufacture, etc., whereas in the meaning of compel it-is regarded as a member of a different lexico-semantic group made up by the verbs force, induce, etc.
The nominative field of concept is the totality of all linguistic means that objectificate concept during some period of social development. The nominative field is characterized by the complex structure and includes the lexico-semantic group, lexico-semantic field, lexico-phraseological field, synonymic line, associative field, etc. Some concepts are characterized by the presence of the wide nominative field which may be found easily. Other concepts are characterized by the limited nominative field which has not synonymic lines and hyperhyponymic character. There are also concepts that have only subjective and occasional nominations without the name of concept.
The nominative field includes the following components:
1) direct nominations of concept (the key word-represent and its methodical synonyms);
2) derivative nominations;
3) one-root words, units of different parts of language connected with the main lexical means of the verbalization of concept;
4) similar;
5) contextual synonyms;
6) occasional individual nominations;
7) stable word combinations that are synonyms of the key word;
8) phraseological units that include the name of concept;
9) proverbs, aphorisms, etc.;
10) metaphorical nominations;
11) stable comparisons that include the key word;
12) free word combinations that include features for the characteristics of concept;
13) associative field as a result of the experiment on the word-stimulus that names concept;
14) subjective word definitions proposed for the interpretation of concept;
15) lexical interpretation of language units that objectificate concept;
16) articles of the encyclopedia or reference book (informational-explicative texts);
17) thematic texts that represent the content of concept;
18) sociopolitical texts and belles-lettres that represent the content of concept;
19) totality of the texts in case of need in explication or discussion of the content of complex, abstract or individual concepts) [15; 29].
It is necessary to notice that the proportion between the word and concept is the main theoretical problem of the cognitive linguistics.
Meaning is the unit of semantic area of language. So it is the element of the totality and system of meanings of the concrete language. Meaning includes a small quantity of semantic features that are famous in some social environment. These features are connected with the functioning of the sound cover. The semantics of the word provides the mutual comprehension in the process of communication.
The description of the units of the nominative field gives an ability to image the content of concept in the form in which it is reflected and fixed in the language. It also gives an ability to reconstruct and describe only a part of concept. This part includes the most relevant features. If the nominative field of concept is characterized by the larger volume and a greater quantity of units the results of the reconstruction and the description of the content and structure of concept are better.
The construction of the nominative field of concept is the definition and description of the totality of linguistic means that represent concept and its separate features. It is possible to determine only the direct nominations (key words and its synonyms). This method gives an ability to create the nucleus of the nominative field. Besides it is possible not to make such limitations and determine the nominative field in a whole. The key word is the lexical unit that is characterized by the nominative function concerning concept.
The nucleus of the nominative field is usually determined by the following ways:
1) with the assistance of the synonymic widening of the key word (it is necessary to use dictionaries in this case);
2) with the assistance of the analysis of the contexts that are characterized by the nomination of concept we are interested in.
After our research we can make conclusion that concept is a rather compound linguistic phenomenon.
1.2 The notion of theatre
We have considered the theoretical aspect of concept, let us found out what the THEATRE concept is.
Theatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self-contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion. By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of the human tendency for storytelling. Since its inception, theatre has come to take on many forms, utilizing speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle, combining the other performing arts, often as well as the visual arts, into a single artistic form. The word derives from the Ancient Greek theatre meaning “the seeing place”. [39]
The word “theatre” means a “place for seeing». The two most common types of theatre plays are comedy and tragedy, symbolized by the theatre masks. The first recorded theatrical event was a performance of the sacred plays of the myth of Osiris and Isis in 2500 BC in Egypt. This story of the god Osiris was performed annually at festivals throughout the civilization, marking the beginning of a long relationship between theatre and religion.
The ancient Greeks began formalizing theatre as an art, developing strict definitions of tragedy and comedy as well as other forms, including satyr plays. Like the religious plays of ancient Egypt, Greek plays made use of mythological characters. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism, acting as a career, and theatre architecture. In the modern world these works have been adapted and interpreted in thousands of different ways in order to serve the needs of the time. Examples are offered by Antigone, used in 1944 by Anouilh to make a statement about the Nazi occupation of France, and by Brecht in 1948, likening Creon to Hitler and Thebes to defeated Germany. [39]
Western theatre continued to develop under the Roman Empire, in medieval England, and continued to thrive, taking on many alternate forms in Spain, Italy, France, and Russia in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The general trend over the centuries was away from the poetic drama of the Greeks and the Renaissance and toward a more realistic style, especially following the Industrial Revolution. A uniquely North American theatre developed with the colonization of the new world.
The history of Eastern theatre is traced back to 1000 BC with the Sanskrit drama of ancient Indian theatre. Chinese theatre also dates back to around the same time. Japanese forms of Kabuki, Noh, and Kyogen date back to the 17th century AD. Other Eastern forms were developed throughout China, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
The most popular forms of theatre in the medieval Islamic world were puppet theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known as ta’ziya, where actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history.
The most recognizable figures in theatre are the directors, playwrights, and actors, but theatre is a highly collaborative endeavor. Plays are usually produced by a production team that commonly includes a scenic or set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, sound designer, stage manager, props mistress or master and production manager. Depending on the production, this team may also include a dramaturge, video designer or fight director. The artistic staff is assisted by technical theatre personnel who handle creation and execution of the production.
Drama (literally translated as action, from a verbal root meaning ‘To do”) is the branch of theatre in which speech, either from written text (plays), or improvised is paramount. And the companion word drama is also Greek, dran meaning to do. Classical forms of drama, including Greek and Roman drama, classic English drama including William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and French drama including Moliere is still performed today.
Music and theatre have always had a close relationship. Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance routines, and spoken dialogue. Modern musical theatre emerged from the variety, vaudeville, and music hall genres of the late 19th and early 20th century. Musical theatre generally includes a combination of dialogue, song and dance, and spectacle. Contemporary Broadway musicals often include lavish costumes and sets supported by million dollar budgets.
Theatre productions that use humor as a vehicle to tell a story qualify as comedies. This may include a modern farce such as “Boeing Boeing” or a classical play such as “As You Like It”. Theatre expressing bleak, controversial or taboo subject matter in a deliberately humorous way is referred to as black comedy.
2. The THEATRE concept in the semantic space of W.S.Maugham’s “Theatre”
2.1 Theatre as it is viewed by W.S.Maugham
We have made some research of notion of concept and the THEATRE concept in particular, and now we can consider the THEATRE concept in the W. S. Maugham’s novel "Theatre". The analysis of 20 fragments showed that the THEATRE concept is widely represented in the novel.
In the following fragment we can see an author's particular relation to the theatre: “That’s because the public isn’t really interested in the theatre. In the great days of the English stage people didn’t go to see the plays, they went to see the players. It didn’t matter what Kemble and Mrs. Siddons acted. The public went to see them. And even now, though I don’t deny that if the play’s wrong you’re dished, I do contend that if the play’s right, it’s the actors the public go to see, not the play” [27; 17].
On an example of Julia we can see what things are important for actors and help to stay popular: “She had her clothes made in Paris, both for the stage and for private life, and the dressmakers said that no one brought them more orders. She had a lovely figure, everyone admitted that; she was fairly tall for a woman, and she had long legs. It was а pity she had never had a chance of playing Rosalind, she would have looked all right in boy’s clothes, of course it was too late now, but perhaps it was just as well she hadn’t risked it. Though you would have thought, with her brilliance, her roguishness, her sense of comedy she would have been perfect. The critics hadn’t really liked her Beatrice. It was that damned blank verse. Her voice, her rather low rich voice, with that effective hoarseness, which wrung your heart in an emotional passage or gave so much humor to a comedy line, seemed to sound all wrong when she spoke it. And then her articulation; it was so distinct that, without raising her voice, she could make you hear her every word in the last row of the gallery; they said it made verse sound like prose. The fact was, she supposed, that she was much too-modern” [27; 19].