Figurative means and their transformation in rap texts

Abstract

This article discusses the question of the functioning of figurative expressions in rap texts. At the moment there are no studies devoted to the evolution of artistic tropes in rap texts. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that the study of stable images of Russian poetry, which are an integral part of the rap text, allows us to fully reveal the specifics of rap as a literary text. When describing the figurative means of rap texts and their transformations, traditional linguistic methods are used. The results of descriptive and analytical observation of the features of rap texts as literary texts, extralinguistic, linguistic factors influencing the imaginative potential of rap texts are presented. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of the most striking trends observed in the evolution of tropes. Significant lexemes involved in the formation of typical frequency stable images are highlighted. New elements in the composition of traditional metaphors and comparisons are analyzed, as well as figurative parallels associated with a change in the nature of genus-differentia relations. One of the ways to systematize the material is the description of semantic classes: based on the material of the texts of the rap artist Pyrokinesis, 7 main groups are identified, representing typical cases of traditional metaphors and comparisons in rap texts. Then this helped to identify new elements in the composition of traditional figurative expressions, as well as to establish a connection between them and active trends in the evolution of poetic language. The study showed that in rap texts, the interaction of traditional and innovative elements in the structure of figurative expressions has a deep motivation. As a result of the analysis, the main functions of stable images in rap texts are determined: the characteristic of an object or phenomenon, the creation of an emotionally expressive assessment, the expression of the author's position, the hyperbolization of the depicted, the reduction of the "lofty", the function of euphemism, the text-generating function (the construction of texts-parables, allegories), the creation of the effect of "figurative redundancy". The rap text, possessing imaginative potential, inheriting stable images of Russian poetry and transforming them, turns out to be included in the context of national Russian culture.