COGNITIVE PATTERN OF DISTINCT CONTRAST AND ITS REALIZATION THROUGH THE VARIETIES OF THE STYLISTIC FIGURE NON SEQUITUR

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the linguistic and stylistic and cognitive features of the American comedy film discourse, which is considered to be a combined video-verbal text, dynamically developing in a situation of humorous conversation in a playful manner. Combined with a single topic, plot, situational context with its spatiotemporal characteristics and characters, integrity and coherence, common deep intentions of laughter, play and profanity, humorous or satirical tone, American comedy film discourse is characterized with a diverse arsenal of comic linguistic and extralinguistic nature. The article considers such a cognitive mechanism of comism as the cognitive pattern of distinct contrast, which is an intermediate link between a frame and the cognitive bias of contrast. The basis of this cognitive pattern is formed with the frames of contrasting objects and phenomena, and the value dominant of interest in everything incomprehensible. The involvement of this cognitive pattern is manifested in the fact that contrasting denotates attract more attention and are better remembered by the audience. It has been proven that the actualization of the cognitive pattern of distinct contrast can occur through such stylistic figures as the types of non sequitur, which are accompanied with the switching of logical and unexpected illogical inferences, combined with other stylistic figures as antithesis, metaphor, innuendo, etc., and are applied in American comedy film discourse. Non-sequitur stylistic figures such as ‘Non sequitur awakening’, ‘Non sequitur – bait and switch’, ‘Breathless non-sequitur’, which are used by modern American authors in American comedy film discourse, have been discovered in the American communicative space. The above types of non-sequitur stylistic figures mix such contrasting emotions as excitement and nervousness, joy and disgust, love and hate, laughter and shock, and so on. All these types of non sequitur represent the actualization not only of the cognitive pattern of distinct contrast, but also of the mechanism of associative provocation.