NATIONAL IDENTITY AND ITS LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATION IN D. KEHLMANN’S NOVEL “MEASURING THE WORLD”

Abstract

The article deals with the means of language, which verbalize national identity based on D. Kehlmann`s novel “Measuring the World” (“Die Vermessung der Welt”, 2005). The processes of globalization, which are connected with all the spheres of life of modern society, bring to the fore the issues of preserving cultural identity, national culture, traditions and values. Formed in the process of social interaction, national identity finds its expression in language, because language is the main medium for the definition, preservation and sharing of social experience. The formation of the German nation and the German national consciousness was nonlinear. The issue of German self-determination, overcoming age-related atomism and the formation of a unified state where the linguistic and cultural space would be consolidated, remains one of the most burning problems for Germany. Therefore, exploring such difficult themes as the “German nation” and “German identity”, Daniel Kehlmann refers to the Enlightenment and the Weimar Classicism when the German state began to develop. It is determined that an important contribution to the formation of a common German culture was made by prominent figures of philosophy, literature and science. It was found that D. Kehlmann widely uses toponyms to illustrate the panorama of Germany at that time. Toponyms are the center of knowledge about the country and the essence of historical and cultural information. Since toponyms are characterized by cultural and historical associations, they are closely related to social and political realia and anthroponyms. Anthroponyms in D. Kehlmann’s novel are represented by a wide range of real historical names associated with German history, philosophy, science and culture: G. Leibniz, I. Kant, J. Winkelmann, F. Klopstock, A. Werner, G. Lichtenberg, A. Kestner, W. Weber, W. Humboldt, O. Humboldt, K. Gauss, A. Moebius, F. Jahn, J.W. Goethe, F. Schiller, K. Wieland, J. Herder. The images of the novel main characters: Alexander von Humboldt and Karl Friedrich Gauss stand out against a wide cultural and historical background. Being bright representatives of scientific thought of the German Enlightenment, they embody typical German features. Historical anthroponyms are the most striking manifestation of the national linguistic and cultural component in the linguistic view of the world. It is proved that ethnographic, social and political realia play a significant role in the novel, as they contribute to the renewal of the atmosphere of the German Enlightenment.