Hyperbolization in modern English literary texts

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to identify in a systematized manner various means and ways of expressing hyperbolization in the speech of characters in modern English literary texts. The research is novel in that it is the first to systematize a variety of hyperbolic means in English-language fiction that allow achieving a certain emotional impact on the addressee. The paper analyzes the contexts of the use of exaggeration in the speech of 25 characters in the works of modern English writers: India Knight’s “Comfort and Joy” (2010), Sophie Kinsella’s “Finding Audrey” (2015) and “Love Your Life” (2020), and for the first time summarizes hyperbolic ways of expression in the maxims of modern English society. The study examines such hyperbolic means as hyperbole, hyperbolic metaphor, metonymy, irony, antihyperbole, meiosis and litotes. The results of the study showed that the hyperbolic ways contribute to the creation of a colorful image, comic effect, as well as an emotional and manipulative impact on the reader. The analyzed material revealed the existence of lexical, grammatical and stylistic ways of expressing hyperbolization, which are actively used in the speech of modern native speakers.