Formal model for evaluating the image of a character in a fictional work (based on G. Orwell’s novel “1984”)

Abstract

The aim of the research is to develop and test a formal model for evaluating the image of a character in a fictional work based on the corpus approach. The scientific originality lies in the fact that for the first time such an analysis of the character of a fictional work is carried out on the basis of the corpus approach. In the course of the work, a balanced corpus of the original text of the novel “1984” by G. Orwell was formed, which includes the marking of hierarchical relationships between the tokens. A number of search queries to the corpus were carried out using the author’s software “Balanced Linguistic Corpus Generator and Corpus Manager”. With the help of this tool, a frequency list of proper names from the novel was obtained and lists of tokens characterizing its main characters were output. The data obtained is extracted during the operation of a special algorithm built into the corpus manager, which selects from the text significant character traits and related lexical units. Thus, a model for evaluating the image of a character is built as a formal description of a system of interconnected hierarchical text elements. The results of the study were analyzed and compared with the results of mental interpretation. Thus, the characters’ profiles were compiled in terms of a formal description of their actions and those objects to which their actions were directed.