Key figurative fields in modern Russian prose

The article examines the key figurative fields in the texts of modern Russian prose. The authors analyse the works of A. Varlamov, E. Vodolazkin, A. Ivanov, A. Matveeva, Z. Prilepin. The purpose of the research is to identify and describe the key figurative fields of different types in modern fiction. The key figurative field is defined as a set of lexical units of one semantic field, acting as images of comparative constructions (metaphors and similes), which is directly related to the development of the theme and plot of the work, its ideological and aesthetic content, to the characteristics of the main characters, and performs a text-forming function in the work of fiction. The analysis has identified three main types of such fields: 1. The field, whose composition is determined by the theme of the work; 2. The field, whose choice of units is motivated by the type of the protagonist and his point of view; 3. The field, determined by the ideological and aesthetic content of the work as a whole. The choice of units in the key figurative field is determined by the intentions of the author of a literary work. The nature of the field development in the text reflects the peculiarities of the writer's idiostyle. The article shows that the key figurative field is associated in a literary text with the deployment of its cross-cutting motives. The authors note that the dominance of the key figurative field is often set by the title of the work, which in this case is metaphorical or symbolic.