Geopoetic (re)construction of the literary image of the Alps in the texts of German-speaking writers

The geopoetic construction of literary space is understood as an intentional choice of linguistic means and narrative techniques of recreating certain geographical regions in literature. The methodology of geopoetic reading implies a topographically accurate analysis of the whole set of geophysical characteristics of space and their topological interpretation. The result of the study is the reconstruction of the geopoetic image of space in the totality of its geo- and metaphysical, historical, socio-cultural and mythopoetic characteristics. The article considers the history and current state of literary exploration of the Alps. As a result, the ‘mountain’ topoi of the beautiful-idyllic, sublime, deadly-dangerous and their linguistic markers are singled out. Among the markers considered are oronyms, names of landscape vocabulary, designations of mountain geomorphological processes. Considering the universal character of the category of literary space, this methodology can be applied in analysing and interpreting texts of various literary and journalistic genres.