Concept «the American dream» in the discourse dimension (on the material of Theodore Dreiser’s novel «An American tragedy» and modern Americans’ perceptions)

The article presents the experience of the discourse interpretation of the concept «The American Dream» based on Theodore Dreiser’s «An American tragedy», which reflects the illusionary nature of dreams in search of better life in the American society of the second half of the 20th century, as well as modern Americans’ perceptions. The study is aimed at identifying the specifics of this concept objectification. The relevance of the research is determined by the significance of achieving life goals and success in modern pragmatic society. The interpretative method based on the discourse analysis, as well as the diagnostic method (survey) are used for the concept analysis. The authors describe the concept in the unity of figurative, conceptual and valuable components, analyze its content in the novel and in the texts of the personal discourse based on the survey of the American citizens. The attention is drawn to the ambiguity of modern Americans’ interpretations of the concept due to the objective realities of the changing world. The authors come to the conclusion that the concept under consideration is a purely national phenomenon reflecting the American people’s mentality, their cultural specific traits of character.