The article was prepared within the framework of the project “The Thesaurus Analysis in Humanities Knowledge” (grant from the Russian Foundation for the Humanities No. 12-33-01055).
Abstract ♦ The article examines the content of the term “thesaurus sphere”. We take a look at the history of the word “sphere” and how it functions in the thesaurus aspect. The article scrutinizes four images evoked by this concept: the sphere proper, the spherical surface, spatial model of the world, and a layer in a spherical model. A thesaurus sphere actualizes the fourth image. This justifies the “equal value” paradox: inside the layer, its segments are perceived beyond the hierarchy of importance.
The content of the thesaurus sphere is demonstrated by the example of “Shakespearean sphere”. An application of the concept of thesaurus spheres is shown by means of a case study — “Hugo, Balzac, Mérimée and their Russian contemporaries Pushkin and Lermontov” (a transition from the comparative interpretation to the understanding of the problem in the light of the thesaurus theory of spheres).
As a result, we can formulate the following definition of thesaurus sphere: it is a special construction (“layer”) of the cultural thesaurus (of various types — universal, general, group, individual), which contains fullest possible information on one of the constants in the core of the thesaurus.
Keywords: thesaurus, the thesaurus analysis, sphere, thesaurus sphere, the Shakespearean sphere, the Pushkin sphere, the Lermontov sphere.
Lukov Vladimir Andreevich (1948–2014), Doctor of Science (philology), professor, the director of the Theory and History of Culture Center of the Institute of Fundamental and Applied Studies, Moscow University for the Humanities, honored scientist of the Russian Federation, full member of the International Academy of Science (Innsbruck) and the International Teacher’s Training Academy of Science, member of the Shakespeare Committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Bunin Prize laureate.
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