The Opposition of the ‘Own - Alien’ Space in the Anglo-Saxon Charms

Abstract

The study is devoted to the peculiarities of the representation of the category of space in Anglo-Saxon charms. The linguo-semiotic model of space allows accentuating a charm text’s binary structure, which, within the framework of the study, is considered as the opposition of the ‘own - alien’ space. The relevance of the research is due to the unfailing interest in the study of traditional folk spiritual culture and the reconstruction of ancient world visions, such as, in particular, archaic concepts of space. The latter invites a question about ancient charms as a source to restore the picture of the world of the primitive worldview since the charms had clearly preserved some value-semantic elements of the archetypal image of the world. The scientific novelty of the paper is attributed to the description of the dichotomous structure of spatial representations in Anglo-Saxon charms, with an emphasis placed on revealing spatial objects in rituals and charms. Of particular attention are the vertical and horizontal models of the representation of the ‘own - alien’ dichotomy in the texts of the charms and prayers. As a result, it was determined that their binary structure has a border zone where the ‘own’ space has a specific objectification in the material world while ‘alien’ space is reflected Abstractly, at the associative level, and does not possess pronounced distinctive features.