REPRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPT SENSE OF HUMOUR IN JANE AUSTEN’s NOVEL ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’

The study is aimed at analysing the representation of the concept sense of humour through characterisation as well as in lexemes used for depicting humorous things in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” The paper is relevant because it analyses one of the key concepts of the English culture in the novel of a global influence which enjoys a wide popular readership among both English- and Russian-speaking readers. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the representation of the concept sense of humour in the early 19-century literary work is correlated to the specifics of English humour described in the popular scientific book by Kate Fox “Watching the English. The hidden rules of English behaviour,” which came out in the early 21 century. As a result of comparing, a significant similarity of characteristics of the English humour in both books has been revealed, suggesting the stability of this trait of the English mentality. The analysis of language representation of the concept sense of humour in “Pride and Prejudice” allowed to reveal diachronic differences in the verbalisation of the concept between the period, when the novel was created, and present time. The set expression sense of humour is not present in the novel, because it did not come into the colloquial usage in the early 19-century. But the lexemes that represent the concept and characterisation suggest that at Jane Austen’s time the concept sense of humour has already been developed and acquired significance in the English culture.