Verbal representation of the concept of "disease" in English-language works of art

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the verbal representation of the concept of "disease" in English-language fiction and its role in the educational process. The purpose of the study is to identify the key language tools used to reveal this concept and analyze their potential for the development of critical thinking and empathy among students. The methodology of the work includes a comprehensive linguistic analysis of relevant text fragments from 20 English-language novels of the XX-XXI centuries, as well as a pedagogical experiment involving 50 students of philological specialties. The results demonstrate that the concept of "disease" is verbalized through a wide range of lexical, semantic and stylistic means, such as medical terminology, metaphors, euphemisms, etc. The inclusion of selected fragments in educational materials contributes to the deepening of students' understanding of the multidimensional nature of the disease phenomenon, the development of their semantic reading and text interpretation skills. In addition, working with "painful" narratives has a positive effect on the emotional intelligence of students, their ability to empathize and comprehend existential issues. The obtained data open up prospects for the introduction of "literary medicine" into the practice of teaching English and literature at the university.