PROSODIC COMMUNICATIVE COMPONENTS OF NON-VERBAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE SERIAL KILLER CHARACTERS IN THE AMERICAN PROSE OF THE XX CENTURY

Abstract

Thе article focuses on the study of nonverbal behavior of serial killer characters, including prosodic communicative components. Research is carried out on the material of the American thrillers of the XX century, including Robert Bloch’s trilogy «Psycho», «Psycho II» and «Psycho House», B. E. Ellis «American psycho», S. King «Misery», T. Harris «The silence of the lambs», P. Highmith «The Talented Mr. Ripley» and J. Paterson «Along Came a Spider». Prosodic components such as coughing, speech errors, pauses are analysed. Findings show that coughing is aimed at attracting attention; speech errors point to the discrepancy between the words and thoughts of the serial killer characters; pauses are used to increase the time for reflection before the next statement. The combination of prosodic component with other non-verbal elements, as well as its interaction with verbal components is studied.