Volume 13 - Issue 80 / August 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.80.08.12

How to Cite:

Ilina, O. (2024). Multiple worlds of the literary text: features of linguistic research. Amazonia Investiga, 13(80), 131-142. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.80.08.12

Multiple worlds of the literary text: features of linguistic research

Множинні світи художнього тексту: особливості лінгвістичного дослідження

Received: June 28, 2024 Accepted: August 25, 2024

Written by:

Olena Ilina

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1106-6967

WoS Researcher ID: E-8351-2016

Ph.D., in Philology, Assosiate Professor, Department of Ukrainian Studies, Kharkiv University of Humanities “People`s Ukrainian Academy”, Ukraine.

Abstract

The concept of multiple worlds in literary texts is a fascinating area of linguistic research, interwoven with questions of linguistic identity, national identity, culture, and mentality. This study aims to delineate the content, structure, and linguistic features of the expression of multiple worlds in literary texts. The term "literary multiverse" is introduced to more accurately conceptualize the idea of multiple worlds. The research identifies several distinct worlds within a literary work, including the author’s world, the character’s world, the recipient’s world, the immediate world, and the unreal world. The characteristics of each of these worlds are defined, and a methodology for analyzing them is proposed. This study contributes to the field of linguistics by providing a comprehensive framework for understanding and analyzing the concept of multiple worlds in literary texts. It also offers insights into the linguistic and cognitive mechanisms involved in the creation and interpretation of these worlds. The primary research methods include textual analysis, symbolic interpretation, and the study of cognitive processes related to the perception of literature.

The results of this study provide a framework for understanding the concept of a literary multiverse, proposing that an author's work consists of multiple distinct worlds. Each of these worlds has its own unique characteristics and requires a tailored methodology for analysis. The study highlights the importance of considering both internal and external references within a literary text, emphasizing the active role of the reader in interpreting and reshaping the fictional world. This research advances the theoretical understanding of how different worlds within a literary text function and interact with each other.

Keywords: multiple words, literary text, possible worlds, multiverse, concept.

Анотація

Концепція множинних світів у літературних текстах є захопливою сферою лінгвістичних досліджень, переплетеною з питаннями мовної особистості, національної ідентичності, культури та менталітету. Це дослідження спрямоване на визначення змісту, структури та мовних особливостей вираження множинних світів у літературних творах. Вводиться термін "художній мультиверс" для точнішого осмислення ідеї множинних світів. Дослідження виділяє декілька окремих світів у межах літературного твору, серед яких світ автора, світ персонажів, світ реципієнта, безпосередній світ та нереальний світ. Визначено характеристики кожного із цих світів та запропоновано методологію їхнього аналізу. Це дослідження робить внесок у галузь лінгвістики, надаючи всебічну структуру для розуміння та аналізу концепції множинних світів у літературних текстах. Робота також пропонує дослідження мовних та когнітивних механізмів, які задіяні у створенні та інтерпретації цих світів. Основні методи дослідження включають текстуальний аналіз, інтерпретацію символів та вивчення когнітивних процесів, пов’язаних зі сприйняттям літератури.

Результати цього дослідження пропонують концептуальну основу для розуміння літературного мультивсесвіту, стверджуючи, що творчість автора складається з кількох окремих світів, кожен із яких має свої унікальні характеристики й вимагає окремого підходу до аналізу. Дослідження підкреслює важливість врахування як внутрішніх, так і зовнішніх референцій у літературному тексті, наголошуючи на активній ролі читача в тлумаченні та переосмисленні вигаданого світу. Це дослідження сприяє теоретичному розумінню того, як різні світи в літературному тексті функціонують та взаємодіють одне з одним.

Ключові слова: множинні світи, художній текст, можливі світи, мультиверсум, концепт.

Introduction

Currently, in the scientific realm, it is widely acknowledged that language plays a crucial role in the development of human civilization. The invention of writing enabled humanity to transition from hunting and fishing to an agrarian, or agricultural, society. Subsequently, the advent of printing led to the onset of the industrial era. Presently, the focus of scientific research is directed toward studying the linguistic personality in relation to issues concerning human consciousness, the interaction between individuals and society, between humans and the environment, and between humans and the world.

One of the significant questions that has intrigued scientists since ancient times is the possibility of the existence of other worlds. At present, while the idea of the existence of other worlds may seem somewhat fantastical to the average person, it is no longer considered overly exotic or radical in scientific circles. Assertions about the presence of different worlds are made not only by esotericists, mystics, religious figures, philosophers, or fiction writers but are also seriously discussed by mathematicians, cosmologists, and physicists. Existing theories are permeated by the common notion that our Universe is merely one of the many variations of worlds that exist independently of one another and may have different laws of physics. The widely used term in this context is the Multiverse, or Metaverse, or Hyperuniverse, which denotes the hypothetical multiplicity of all possible universes. These universes are referred to as parallel, alternative, other, and so forth. The presence of hypotheses regarding the existence of different universes and different realities raises a series of questions that penetrate all fields of scientific knowledge without exception, for if the existence of other worlds can be confirmed, humanity will be presented with entirely new horizons.

The proposed article examines the literary achievements of the writer as a multiverse, within which several sub-worlds are distinguished. The article is theoretical in nature and initially offers an exploration of the origins of the multiple worlds concept for better comprehension. Subsequently, it discusses the characteristics of each possible world within the literary text: the author's world, the proximate world, the character's world, the unreal world, and the recipient's world.

Literature review

The concept of multiple worlds has been explored by many scholars. In philosophy and logic, similar studies have examined the ontological, axiological, and epistemological characteristics of possible worlds (J. Hintikka, G. Leibniz, D. Lewis, S. Kripke). In physics, the most significant contributions can be attributed to S. Hawking. The problem of multiple worlds has also permeated the field of philology, where hypotheses about the existence of the multiverse have given rise to the theory of possible worlds in literature. The research of L. Doležel, U. Eco, T. Pavel, and M.-L. Ryan laid the groundwork for further advancements in this area.

The idea of the existence of the multiverse originated in ancient civilizations, and contemporary interest in this issue is driven by new developments in philosophy, physics, mathematics, psychology, and other fields of science. Additionally, the shift towards a postmodernist vision, characterized by the primacy of pluralism over the singular, has also contributed to the spread of the concept of multiple worlds. Thus, the idea of the multiverse, emerging as a kind of antagonist to the classical and homogeneous Universe, has become quite logical.

The idea of possible worlds, like many others, originated during Antiquity in the works of ancient Greek philosophers. Specifically, Democritus, Metrodorus of Chios, and Epicurus hypothesized the existence of worlds similar to or different from our own. This hypothesis was based on the principle of isonomy – equal probability. Describing the worlds of Democritus, Hippolytus notes: “In some of them, there is neither sun nor moon, in others, the sun and moon are larger than ours, and in still others, there are several suns and moons” (Lurie, 1970).

During the medieval era, with the active spread of Christianity, the prevalent notion was the existence of two worlds: the earthly world and the afterlife, as the creation of the visible world and humans is not the beginning of God's world but only a part of it. According to the Bible, the creation of the Universe was preceded by the creation of the world of angels and their kingdom, as well as purgatory and hell.

With the further development of Christian doctrine, various interpretations of the Bible emerge from theologians, mystics, and philosophers. For instance, in the work “City of God” by Augustine of Hippo, a prominent figure in Western patristics, the thesis of the existence of two worlds is formulated: the divine and the diabolical. The former includes angels and the devout, while the latter includes demons and sinners (Augustine, 2015).

One of the most influential Christian mystics, Meister Echkar, speaks of the real world and the heavenly and hellish kingdoms as entities «There are four kingdoms the saints have overcome, and we too must overcome them. The first kingdom is the world: we must conquer the kingdom of the world by poverty of spirit. The second kingdom is that of our flesh: this we must conquer with hunger and thirst. The third kingdom is the devil's: this we must conquer with sorrow and pain. The fourth kingdom is that of our Lord Jesus Christ: this we must conquer by the power of love» (Echkar, 2009).

The next stage in the development of the concept of multiple worlds occurred during the Renaissance, when the improvement of calculations and observations allowed people to realize the significant distance from Earth to other celestial bodies.

Subsequent philosophical inquiries and interest in the theme of multiple worlds are associated with the name of G. Leibniz, who claimed that when thinking about creating earthly reality, God had plans for different worlds, so each of these plans could be realized. However, ultimately, the Creator chose the best of possible worlds: “If there were not the best (optimum) among all possible worlds, God would not have produced any. I call 'World' the whole succession and the whole agglomeration of all existent things, lest it be said that several worlds could have existed in different times and different places” (Leibniz, 1996). The thinker introduces the concepts of necessary, possible, and contingent into philosophical thought, noting that everything possible requires existence, and therefore any possible thing would exist if it were not inconsistent with another possible thing that also requires existence and is incompatible with the first. In the view of G. Leibniz, as we can see, the idea of a possible world is more cosmological than the idea of reality; reality emerges only as one variant of the possible. Not all variants develop; only some transition to the status of reality, become realized, while others remain unrealized.

Later, these ideas were reflected in the works of G. Leibniz, and subsequently in the works of S. Kripke, D. Lewis, and J. Hintikka, who introduced the concept of possible worlds into the fields of analytic philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, logic, and analytic metaphysics, among others. Summarizing the experiences of these scholars, a possible world is a certain state in which it is possible to assume the existence of various things that do not contradict logic.

The Multiverse consists of a multitude of possible worlds, which, according to Jaakko Hintikka, appear “either as possible states of affairs or as possible directions of the development of events” (Hintikka, 1989). The philosopher asserts that every person, without exception, has encountered the concept of multiple worlds because all people contemplate “the likelihood of different possibilities concerning tomorrow's weather, thus considering several 'possible states of affairs” (Hintikka, 1989). Each of us occasionally ponders the future, thereby classifying possible states of affairs. By constructing such inferences, one ultimately arrives at the concept of multiple interpretations. In Hintikka's works, possible worlds are proposed to be distinguished by modal and descriptive components; the modal component includes personal (propositional) modalities, such as belief, hope, desire, knowledge, aspiration, and expectations of the individual.

The existence of multiple worlds was also acknowledged by Saul Kripke, who emphasized that many people take the metaphorical expression “possible worlds” too literally, as if “a 'possible world' is something like another country or a distant planet, and the people living in it can barely be seen through a telescope” (Kripke, 1982). Kripke's semantics involves changing the characteristics of individuals depending on the world. The philosopher suggested that both possible and real, actual things can exist; thus, at the level of the opposition between probability and reality, he was a proponent of possibilism.

Another philosopher, David Lewis, proposed a subjectivist concept in which reality is viewed through the lens of the counterpart theory. This theory posits that in different worlds, there exist counterparts of both beings and objects. The relationships between counterparts are based only on similarity, not identity: “Since everything is actual, the other worlds, if such there be, actually exist. Then it is not merely possible that they exist. They are not unactualised possibilities. In fact they have nothing to do with possibility. For possibility concerns not the far reaches of actuality – not even the reaches of actuality that are spatiotemporally isolated from us, if such there be –but rather it concerns alternatives to actuality. Actuality – all of it, no matter how much of it there is – might have been different, and that is what modality is all about. More of actuality is no substitute for unactualised possibility” (Lewis, 1986). Two objects can share a common counterpart (Lewis, 1986). This can be illustrated by historical novels interpreted by different writers. For example, in the real world, there was a girl known as Roxolana, and we also have her fictional counterparts in the works of O. F. Nazaruk (Nazaruk, 1990) and P. A. Zagrebelnyi (Zagrebelnyi, 1983).

The girls have similar fates, but they are not identical. However, not every object in a possible world will have a counterpart in the actual world, especially when it comes to fantastical hypothetical worlds.

David Lewis criticized Leibniz's idea of the existence of one “best” world and argued that all possible worlds are real because reality and possibility are properties of the same world. Each world is conceived as real, and the rest of the worlds in relation to this world are possible. Thus, the concept of the actuality of the world arises. For a being in a particular world, its world is considered actual (Lewis, 1986).

At the end of the 20th century, the concept of multiple worlds was complemented by ideas of virtual reality and parallel universes.

The term “Multiverse” was introduced by the philosopher and psychologist William James in 1895, and astrophysicist I. S. Shklovsky proposed the synonymous term “Metaverse” (Shklovsky, 1988).

Despite the active use of the concept of multiple worlds in string theory, inflationary multiverse theory, and quantum mechanics, the existence of the Multiverse is still a subject of lively debate, as this concept cannot be currently falsified or verified. Nevertheless, the idea of the existence of many worlds remains quite popular.

Stephen Hawking puts forth a theory suggesting that there are a lot of different universes, or many different regions of one Universe, each has its own initial configuration and, possibly, has its own set of scientific laws (Hawking, 1996). According to this theory, reality has an infinite number of variations.

It may seem that the cosmological interpretation of the world has no relation to ontology, but the question of the nature of reality has long gone beyond narrow specialization. The polyvariant nature of the quantum world gives grounds for rethinking our philosophical ideas about the possibility, necessity, multiplicity of unfolding reality or its levels. The key question here is: should other possible multiple worlds be considered as one reality or several, perhaps even infinite? The idea of the existence of a supercomplex Metaverse, a Multiverse, allowed assuming that there is a concept of the actual (our) world and alternative worlds.

T. Pavel suggests that while reading a literary work, a person “experiences two contradictory intuitions: on the one hand he knows well that unlike the sun, whose actual existence is beyond doubt” (Pavel, 1986), the character in the story experiences their own reality, to which the reader may empathize or reflect upon the character's actions. This means that during the process of perceiving information, the universe is divided into two worlds: "one's own" and "the other".

It is worth distinguishing between variability and multiplicity, accordingly, the terms multiple worlds and possible worlds are not absolute synonyms. When it comes to possible worlds, the real world will always be one, that is, all others will remain unrealized. The hypothesis of Multiple worlds is based on the idea that all worlds exist simultaneously and in parallel and therefore cannot intersect and interact, hence the term ‘parallel’.

Variability is when variants of the same world are created, and multiplicity is when different worlds are discussed. Variability can be traced in the example of the work of the American writer O. Henry. The story is called “Roads of Destiny” (O. Henry, 1953). It describes the adventures of a young poet. The main character finds himself at a crossroads and must choose his further path. Three options for the course of fate are open to him, and then the writer demonstrates what can happen to the poet when he chooses one path or another. If the character chose the left road, he was killed by the Marquis de Beaupertuys; if he turned to the right, he was killed by the rebels; if he returned home, he committed suicide. The story shows one real world, but different options for the development of events.

Philosophers and scientists were joined by writers, directors, and screenwriters. The idea of multiple worlds captivated humanity. Many literary works and numerous films were created on this topic, primarily in the science fiction genre. Among the wordsmiths who addressed the issue of the multiplicity and variability of worlds, one should mention C. S. Lewis's (1992), Roger Zelazny's (1992) series among others.

Methodology

In this theoretical study of the nature of the literary multiverse, several methods have been employed. Among them are the method of analysis and synthesis, used for the generalization and systematization of factual material, as well as for developing the theoretical and methodological foundations of the work. The inductive-deductive method was applied for hypothesis generation and subsequent verification, as well as for formulating general conclusions based on the analysis of models for the functioning of multiple worlds in literary texts.

In this study, a qualitative and interpretive approach was adopted, as these methodologies are best suited for analyzing literary texts and exploring the multiplicity of worlds within them. The interpretive approach is essential for understanding the subjective experiences and perceptions of characters, authors, and readers, as it considers the meanings and interpretations that emerge from the text.

When analyzing the various worlds within a literary text, it is essential to apply a comprehensive methodology tailored to the specific characteristics of each world. This approach ensures that the analysis is appropriately nuanced and aligns with the unique aspects of the world under consideration.

This study acknowledges several limitations: subjective interpretations may introduce bias, as the analysis relies on the researcher’s perspective; also the complexity of literary texts may prevent a comprehensive analysis of all aspects within the given scope, necessitating further research to address these gaps.

Results and discussion

Theories related to the multiplicity of worlds in semantics are connected with the concept of a “possible world”, which can generally be interpreted as a possible state of affairs or a possible course of events. In the paper by M.-L. Ryan we can find such statement about different worlds in the narrative universe: “I conceive the semantic domain of the narrative text of a modal universe consisting of a central planet, realm of actualized physical events, surrounded by the satellites of the private words of characters: wish worlds, obligation worlds, belief words, intentional worlds (goals and plans), mock-belief worlds (fake representations used in order to deceive), and fantasy worlds (dreams or fictional stories told within the story). These worlds differ in their internal structure and in functions within the narrative universe” (Ryan, 1992).

A literary text itself represents a possible world, as the author, modeling various situations and creating character personalities, engages in constructing possible scenarios for the development of events.

The issues of conceptual research in linguistics are closely intertwined with questions of linguistic personality, national identity, culture, and mentality. Since a literary text can also be represented as a certain world or even a collection of worlds, it is appropriate to turn to literary works when attempting to model the theory of multiple worlds from the perspective of linguistic analysis.

In this context, the text should be viewed as a system that implies dual reference (external and internal): concerning the real world and the world of the subject. External reference involves comparing events that have taken or are taking place in the real world with those that occur in the literary world; internal reference is determined by how the depicted events are perceived by the subjects of the literary world. Accordingly, within a literary text, one can distinguish the surrounding world and the world of the characters.

Under such conditions, internal reference pertains to how the world is perceived by the subjects of the literary work, with the possible world of the character representing a cognitive world containing knowledge, values, beliefs, and convictions resulting from unique experiences; and external reference involves the events and everyday life of the literary reality, as any literary world created by a writer serves as a model of the objective world, where familiar laws operate. It is important to understand that the recipient views the literary world only as a kind of mental map of reality that exists only on paper and moves into the reader's consciousness, conveying various impressions and creating a new picture of the world in the recipient's soul. Thus, it is appropriate to talk not only about the character's world, the immediate world, but also about the recipient's world.

Given the existing approaches in scientific discourse towards analyzing the problem of multiple worlds, we consider that the literary multiverse of an author consists of a certain number of worlds. For better reception, we suggest considering multiple worlds through the following framework (Model of Multiple Worlds in a Literary Text).

The Immediate World and Its Means of Explication

The Immediate World is the objective world, perceived by people as a given that they attempt to understand and explain, is considered reality. However, all criteria for assessing reality are relatively subjective and cannot convey the absolute truth of existence. Human knowledge about reality is a description of familiar notions of the established order of things. The world of a literary work should be considered a reflection of reality. To analyze the world of a literary text, it is essential to focus on the features we find in objective reality.

Speaking about the dialectic of the subjective and objective principles in reflecting the world, it is necessary to emphasize that by selecting a particular fragment of reality for description or characterization, a person concretizes the world, fills the essential realities of existence with individualized representation. Thus, a 'new reality' constructed by the speaker is formed. This new reality can be divided into certain parts – conceptospheres, which, in the context of the concept of multiple worlds, are considered as paradigms of concepts that represent the realities of culture, epoch, and community of a particular artistic multiverse. The analysis of the nearest artistic text through the prism of objective reality and conceptospheres allows for a deeper understanding of how the author creates this world, how it interacts with the real world, and which elements are used to model the atmosphere and convey the message.

Currently, there are many different approaches to the study of concepts, among which the dominant ones are linguocognitive, linguocultural, linguopragmatic, linguophilosophical, semiotic, and integrative (linguoconceptual) approaches. Each of these approaches offers its own definition of the term "concept." In our work, we refer to the integrative approach. We understand the concept as a linguomental category that contains human knowledge and experience, meanings of an extralinguistic, customary, and idiolectal nature, and represents the conceptual picture of the world of a creative personality in the author's speech. The concept has a spherical structure and is characterized by multilayeredness. The formal components – the core, near-core zone, and periphery – are a set of paradigmatically and syntagmatically connected representatives of concepts in the macrotext. The semantic layers, as a content characteristic of the concept, contain the author's interpretations in various text situations.

We believe that concepts do not have a clear structure, yet in their architectonics, one can identify a core (conceptual layer), which is a set of customary meanings; a near-core zone (cultural component), which contains archetypal meanings determined by mythological and symbolic significance; and a periphery, which is an accumulation of individual authorial interpretations.

Accordingly, the concept belongs to the world of the "Ideal." It is a linguomental product of consciousness that reflects both universal and cultural, national meanings, as well as individual interpretations.

To denote the semantic layers, we use the term "artistic and semantic content," which we understand as a combination of customary and contextual meanings. The concept is realized in the immediate world through verbal form.Начало формы

Description of The Immediate World involves attention to everyday human objects. This includes descriptions of nature, artifacts, interiors, and exteriors.

Accordingly, the analysis of the Immediate World in a literary text will include studying various conceptual spheres such as NATURAL ELEMENTS, NATURAL PHENOMENA, ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTS, FLORA, FAUNA, HOME, and DAILY LIFE. Within each conceptual sphere, specific concepts can be identified. For example, in the conceptual sphere of NATURAL ELEMENTS, important concepts are EARTH, WATER, AIR, FIRE; for NATURAL PHENOMENA, the conceptual spheres include RAIN, SNOW, FOG, HAIL; the conceptual sphere of ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTS encompasses concepts like STAR, SUN, MOON, CONSTELLATION, METEOR, PLANET, COMET, NEBULA, GALAXY. Regarding the conceptual sphere of FLORA, relevant concepts include TREE, FLOWER, BUSH, GRASS; within the conceptual sphere of FAUNA, it is necessary to focus on concepts that denote animals; and the conceptual spheres of HOME and DAILY LIFE involve analyzing concepts such as WEAPONS, HOUSE, TOOLS, and concepts denoting household items. It should be noted that this classification is conditional and may include different divisions of conceptual spheres and concepts, depending on specific texts.

The Сharacter World and Its Means of Explication

The following types of characters function in the literary multiverse:

Main characters are the protagonists who are central to the plot and possess individual characteristics.

Secondary characters, or supporting characters, often receive considerable attention and detail but are not central figures in the narrative.

Episodic characters are figures who appear only in certain episodes and remain on the periphery of the author's attention. They are described rather briefly as they appear for a short time and do not play a significant role in the plot development or in characterizing the main characters. Episodic characters add details to the description of events or surroundings but have minimal impact on the main narrative. Their linguistic expression is mostly limited to a few concise characteristics or actions without deep description and development. Here we encounter common nouns like man, woman, child, student, often without specifying personal names. These nouns may be accompanied by epithets that briefly convey external or internal characteristics, such as old, young, tall, slender, etc.; or short descriptions of actions: passing by, standing, said, etc. Episodic characters use short expressions that do not reveal personal traits and deep motives. They help create the backdrop for the main events and interactions, adding realism and depth to the artistic world.

Implicit characters are those who are only mentioned in dialogues, monologues, or authorial digressions but do not appear directly in the text – the reader does not see them directly, but their presence can be felt through the language, actions of other characters, or context. In literary studies, such figures are called "absent characters" (Bulakhovska, 2015). Analyzing the linguistic expression of implicit characters requires careful examination of the text for hints, symbols, and indirect references that help reveal their role and significance in the literary work.

Group characters are those who form a "crowd" in the literary text. At the linguistic level, such figures are represented by collective nouns (children, students, people, gentry, etc.). These characters are constant companions of any literary work, as they are important for imitating the real world, demonstrating interaction within a group, and creating contrast with individual heroes.

The Сharacter World involves the analysis of the portrait characteristics of the acting person, as external features often contain implicit information about the perception of the character by the author and other characters. This purpose also encompasses the analysis of the internal world and speech of the character. Typically, within these outlined blocks, it is advisable to distinguish the areas of SOCIAL STATUS, AGE, EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS, INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS, and SPEECH FEATURES. Within each area, artistic and semantic content is formed.

Within the SOCIAL STATUS sphere, indications typically include the character's education level, social standing, marital status, religious preferences, ethnic background, occupation, and more.

The EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS sphere encompasses the linguistic tools the author uses to depict their character. These markers help the reader to better visualize the character and often contain evaluative components. This sphere also includes the analysis of age characteristics, as a text might present different age stages of the same character. For instance, the narrative may start with the character as a young man, use retrospection to show the character's childhood, and conclude with the character as an experienced adult.

Additionally, the description of clothing can be highlighted as part of the EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS sphere. Clothing descriptions can emphasize the character's social status or their desire to stand out, and also help the writer convey the flavor of a specific era or locale.

The INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS sphere highlights the character's moral virtues and value system, which are crucial in understanding the character's decisions and behaviors.

The area of SPEECH FEATURES considers the quantitative and qualitative composition of the character's lexicon, the peculiarities of using literary language or dialects, and foreign words. The lexicon of the acting person plays only an auxiliary role in revealing the character's nature and value system, so it should be viewed only in the context of the entire discourse of the personality. Observing word usage in a literary work allows for the identification of key concepts through quantitative analysis of the use of certain lexemes, and through the expansion of larger semantic-thematic groups around specific lexemes, where important conceptual categories become the intersections of the thesaurus and lexicon. For example, if a character loves nature, their speech will be filled with words belonging to the corresponding thematic group. If the characters love their native country and is close to the concept of native country, their speech will be rich with national symbols and lexemes that express feelings of patriotism. Key concepts form artistic and semantic spheres and artistic and semantic content.

An important aspect of analyzing the character world is the self-assessment of the character, their evaluation by other characters, and the analysis of the character's key concepts. Self-assessment involves forming the cognitive plane of self-identification, such as I AM HAPPY, I AM SAD, I AM BRAVE, etc.

The Author's World and Its Means of Explication

The Author's World is a multidimensional and complex formation. On one hand, the author's persona is not identical to their biographical figure; on the other hand, biographical facts inevitably influence the individual style of the writer. The recipient perceives the author through the plot lines, compositional features, and linguistic means of the work. Thus, the text reflects the author's worldview, demonstrates the axiological system of the master of words, and provides their assessment of reality. A deep reading of the work requires attention to extra textual factors that influenced the formation of the author's persona. Among such factors are the following: 1) genetics and talent; 2) upbringing and education; 3) life and work peculiarities; 4) aesthetic credo; 5) ideological and thematic preferences; 6) linguistic imagery; 7) narrative style.

Researchers agree that the concepts of the author and the writer are distinct. The author cannot fully represent the conceptual-linguistic system of the creator of a literary work, since their entire worldview cannot be realized in one or several texts. The author's image cannot be derived from a single work of a writer but only from the sum of all their works, supplemented in the reader's mind by biographical information related to the author.

Thus, we observe that there are different perspectives on the author's world. When discussing the concept of multiple worlds in a literary text, it is appropriate to consider the author's world as a collection of idiolect features and important concepts for the wordsmith (incidentally, these concepts may be part of the immediate world and the character's world, which allows us to speak about the diffuseness of the worlds in a literary text). In this regard, the notion of the author's world converges with the concepts of idiolect and linguistic personality, as it pertains to the writer's preferences rather than the image of the narrator, who may be implicit in the text.

The concept of analyzing the author's world can be approached theoretically by exploring the various contextual and linguistic factors that shape an author's creative output. This approach emphasizes understanding the influence of biographical, historical, and literary contexts on the author's work. It also includes examining linguistic features and key concepts that reflect the author's unique style and thematic preoccupations. Ultimately, a theoretical analysis synthesizes these elements to form a comprehensive understanding of the author's world, situating their work within the broader cultural and literary landscape.

Unreal World and Its Means of Explication

The question What is real and what is not? is one of the most pertinent ontological questions in the realm of philosophy, and recently, in physics as well. Scientists are still unable to provide a definitive answer to this question.

The category of the unreal is a category of the negation of reality: it includes everything imaginary, nonexistent in reality, and impossible. Speaking in a broader context, the world of a literary work is an unreal world because the events described in it never happened, and the people described never existed. However, we believe that this interpretation is not entirely correct, as the real world produces a hologram of other worlds, and one of these worlds is the world of the literary text.

The artistic world is a secondary reality in relation to the primary reality, which is our world. For this reason, the world of a literary work cannot fully reflect primary reality, as the secondary reality has certain boundaries. Specifically, the artistic world is only a fragment of reality, presented through the prism of the author's worldview. It is a universe that adheres to its own laws and the laws of its creator. Each secondary reality contains its own rules, its own hierarchy of values, and includes quasi-real and unreal elements.

The components of the unreal include categories such as the transcendent (God, spirit, soul, metaphysical entities, afterlife); the supernatural (occult beings, magical rituals, mystical properties and forces, mythical creatures); and the surreal (dreams, visions, mental disorders, imaginations, fantasies). The distinguishing features of the unreal are impossibility, abnormality, strangeness, inexplicability, incomprehensibility, mystery, and secrecy. The description of unreal events involves deformational changes in the invariant structural-semantic model of perception. The lexical level is marked by indeterminacy, strangeness, and blurriness of perception objects, which may be caused by the state of consciousness of the recipient-character. The unreal space is irrational and connected with sacrality and the otherworldly. This problem “of development (revival, formation, assimilation, affirmation) of spiritual values is extremely relevant today” (Chernenko et al., 2021).

Regarding the conceptual content of the unreal world, the dominant spheres include SACRED BEINGS (concepts of GOD, DEVIL, ANGEL), MYTHICAL BEINGS (e.g., concepts of MAVKA, DRAGON, BASILISK), the TRANSCENDENT (concepts of SOUL, SPIRIT, MAGIC), and the SURREAL (concepts of DREAM, VISION, MENTAL DISORDER).

The unreal space is heterogeneous but still characterized by the violation of generally accepted ontological norms. In this context, another criterion of unreality arises – the point of view. Two positions can be distinguished: external and internal. The external point of view is the perspective of the reader, the recipient of the secondary reality from the primary reality – from our world; the internal point of view is the perspective of the character, that is, the subject of the secondary reality.

The unreal world is mostly secondary, opposed to the primary, familiar world since fantastical images are absent in the real world (they are only products of human imagination). When discussing the unreal world, it is appropriate to distinguish its subtypes.

Unreal Earthly World: Alternative history and cryptohistory as subgenres can be considered vivid expressions of the unreal earthly world. Alternative history as a fantastical genre describes a possible reality that could have existed if history had taken a different path at a bifurcation point – a turning point – leading to different outcomes. That is, at some moment in the past, for some reason, either accidentally or as a result of external intervention (e.g., aliens from the future), something different happens from what occurred in real history. This change can be related to well-known historical events or figures, or it may seem insignificant at first glance. As a result of this change, history 'branches out': events begin to develop along a different path. The action takes place in a world with altered history, and it can occur in any time – past, present, or future. In cryptohistory, a similar rethinking occurs, but it asserts that certain events happened without the public being informed.

The unreal earthly world also includes fantastical novels that depict the distant future, encounters with aliens, wars with machines, and so on. Attention should be paid to neologisms, names of spaceships, planets, etc.

The unreal earthly world is also represented by the dreams of characters, their visions, and mental disorders.

Thus, the main criterion of the unreal earthly world is that events take place on our planet, involving ordinary people, but these events are unlikely to have ever been or will ever be a reality. The unreal earthly world is a world that never existed, does not exist, and will never exist.

The unreal extraterrestrial world is primarily depicted in fantasy novels, where the narrative involves parallel universes, other planets, or entirely different realities. The fantasy world operates according to its own laws, allowing for the use of magic, rituals, and so forth.

Linguistic markers of the unreal extraterrestrial world include the names of its inhabitants: elf, dragon, orc, goblin, etc. The main characteristics include:

Connotation: Positive or negative, which is provided directly or indirectly (associatively). The evaluation can be conveyed implicitly through the semantics of the lexemes or explicitly through various intensifiers (e.g., adjectives or adverbs).

Semantic Structure: Monosemantic units or polysemantic lexical units. Predominantly, unambiguous lexemes are used to name beings based on certain characteristics, for example, basilisk – a snake-like creature that can kill people with a single glance.

Gender Characteristics: For instance, Mavka – a female mythological being that lives in the forest, believed to be the souls of unbaptized or cursed children.

Age Characteristics.

Physical Parameters: Height, strength, appearance.

Degree of Abstraction: Animal-like creatures, human-like creatures, personifications of natural elements.

Family Relations Among Creatures: Familial, friendly.

Location of Creatures: In water, in the forest, underground, on the ground, in the air, in the mountains.

Additionally, it should be noted that images of the unreal extraterrestrial world can also appear in non-fantasy works – in the stories of other characters or their belief in the existence of supernatural forces. This creates a textual situation where the narrative involves the appearance of a fantastical being in the objective world.

Unreal Illogical World: Such a world is not possible from a logical perspective. Here, the relationships between beings and events are not driven by any specific cause: there are no aliens that could influence the course of events, nor are there ultra-modern technologies; and the action does not take place in some fantastical world. In the unreal illogical world, miracles can happen, and practically anything is possible. The unreal world is a world where the unrealizable is realized, the unfulfilled is fulfilled, and the impossible becomes possible. In the unreal illogical world, there are no magical beings, but ordinary beings possess supernatural abilities. For example, in fairy tales, animals, plants, or even objects gain the ability to speak, perform certain actions, and help other characters. Also if a character has obtained special abilities such as flying, reading minds, etc. such abilities are not explained; they are simply inherent to the characters; the events are not motivated by any specific cause, they just happen, and thus can be interpreted as illogical.

Thus, the unreal world of a literary text is a world where the fantastical is realized, where the impossible becomes possible. It is a world of magical beings, a world of magic, a world of dreams and hallucinations.

The recipient's (interpreter's) world

When analyzing a text, the reader's subjectivity is inevitably intertwined with the interpretation. Within the literary multiverse, this interaction forms a distinct sub-world that the reader imagines, filled with personal fears, desires, and expectations. It is nearly impossible to analyze a literary work without considering the reader's perspective, as the act of reading transforms the text, imbuing it with new meanings. Umberto Eco highlights that texts exist within cultural and social contexts, with readers bringing their unique experiences, knowledge, and beliefs to the interpretation process (Eco, 1992). According to L. Doležel, the reader's role in recreating the fictional world involves a reciprocal interaction between author and reader (Doležel, 1998). This bidirectional relationship means that the reader is not a passive recipient but an active participant in creating personal interpretations and uncovering new meanings. Each reading experience is distinct, as readers filter the work through their individual consciousness, shaped by their background and emotions.

Conclusions

The study of conceptual issues in linguistics is deeply interconnected with topics related to linguistic personality, national identity, culture, and mentality. Considering that a literary text can be seen as a distinct world or a collection of worlds, it is appropriate to explore literary works to model the theory of multiple worlds through linguistic analysis.

We propose that when discussing the literary texts of a particular author, the term “multiverse of literary works” should be used. The multiverse implies the existence of several worlds, among which the semantically significant ones are the immediate world, the author's world, the character world, the unreal world, and the recipient's world. Each of these worlds has its own characteristics and methodology for analysis.

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