THE CONCEPT OF CHRISTIANITY AND ITS REPRESENTATION IN THE WORKS OF G. K. CHESTERTON

Abstract

The article in question considers the concept of Christianity in English-language worldview and its individual author’s representation in the representation in the works of a famous English writer and theologian G. K. Chesterton. The author’s worldview is always secondary to the real life. Being based on one’s personal beliefs, values, and experiences, the author’s worldview is always unique. However unique, it is still an integral part of the national conceptosphere, and is modified into author’s worldview through the synthesis of individual and collective knowledge. It also concerns the individual author’s concept of Christianity, which, despite the increasing scholarly attention to Christian concepts, has not been thoroughly studied yet. All this made the problem utterly interesting for research the purpose of which was to study the ways of Chesterton’s verbal presentation of the concept of Christianity. The research shows that Chesterton’s concept of Christianity is formed through the transformation of the already existing cultural concept in the English-language worldview, and it aligns with accepted biblical doctrines of Christianity. This is confirmed by the analysis of the national component of the concept and identifying its key cognitive features. Chesterton’s individual worldview becomes evident during the process of analysing the figurative component of the concept. Here the author employs not only traditional verbalizers of the concept but also introduces his own imaginative, often periphrastic names, adding in this way new meanings to the concept. The further study of the individual concepts’ formation process demonstrates how, through the prism of the author’s worldview, the content of the concept is being expanded, obtaining a specific perspective in line with the author’s understanding of the world. The results of the conducted research make it possible to identify both general (national) and individual author’s features of the lexical units that actualize the concept of Christianity. During the course of the research, not only were general, or national, features of the concept of Christianity identified, but also author’s individual characteristics. Thus, in accordance with his religious worldview, G. K. Chesterton emphasizes certain semantic features of the concept of Christianity that are atypical in traditional theology. These features include chivalry and nobility, romanticism, and “corybantic” joy. For the linguistic objectification of these features within the concept, G. K. Chesterton extensively employs stylistic devices, thereby aiding him in imparting new individual meanings to the concept of Christianity.