The zoomorphic code in the linguistic imagery of the artistic picture of the world in works by Russian and Kazakh writers

The article presents a linguoculturological analysis of comparative structures in works of fiction by Russian and Kazakh authors written in the first half of the 20th century. The analysis aims to identify lexemes contained in these structures as an agent of comparison and nominating objects of wild fauna such as animals, birds and fish. The research attempts to establish the importance of particular animal universals in cultural life of the ethnos and also to reveal the cognitive strategy of naming in language, i. e. to determine what properties are perceived and reflected in human consciousness when referring to a certain animal. Natural universals are considered as part of ethnic universals connected with the location of a certain ethnos. At the same time, it is noted that the traditional character of a natural universal determines the durability of its inclusion into cultural and language fund of the ethnos and the scope of its associative links. All the areas of the ethnos's existence are reflected in the language as a system of cultural codes, fundamental ones among which are temporal, spatial, somatic, substantive, biomorphic, etc. The existence of the biomorphic code of culture is recognized by many linguists. It is a set of names of man (anthropomorphic code), florae (phytomorphic code) and faunae (zoomorphic code). The study has revealed that in Russian literature the zoomorphic code is represented by the names of animals that are objects of hunting and fishing. For Russian consciousness, the utilitarian function of a wild animal is important: animals are a source of food and material for making household items. In Kazakh mentality, the importance is attached to the projective function: giving animals human traits. Identification of themselves with animals exists as a result of learning historical cultural experience, whose roots go back to the deep past, where there was a totemic cult of animals. The problem of the language picture of the world is closely connected with the problem of comparison as a way of creating it. Being the reflection of the opposition between man and the world, it reflects both national stereotypes of thinking and a personal worldview, therefore comparison is of special interest not only for linguists but also for psycholinguists and cultural scientists.