Concept of «death» in the lyrics of G. Benn: cognitive-creative approach

The research topic is the concept of death in G.Benn's lyrics in the light of a cognitive-creative approach. This article discusses the problem of concept in modern linguistics, and proposes a new cognitive-creative approach to the designated problem. According to this approach, researchers identify cognithemes and mental-linguistic slots in the structure of cognitive-creative concept. Cognitheme is understood as an element of the author's world view, reflecting the ways of the author's investigation of the universe, his particular vision and the linguistic presentation of reality. The mental-linguistic slot in the cognitheme presupposes components of the meaning expressed by the author's peculiar language. In G.Benn's lyrics five cognithemes are identified in the structure of the cognitive-creative concept of «death»: a dead body, human struggle with death, perception of death in the state of the altered consciousness, and death as a phenomenon of the universe and a premonition of death. Each cognitheme has a definite mental-linguistic slot correspondence.