Scientific and Literary Speech - How Fiction Can Shape the Worldview of Scientists

This paper discusses the influence of the language and content of fiction on the development of the worldview of research scientists. It is based on the consideration of the theoretical aspects of terms such as “fiction,” “science,” “means of artistic expression,” “content,” “worldview,” or “research scientist.” The paper raises controversial questions about the possibility and significance of using artistic and expressive means in science. It begins with a clarification of the features of comparison. This includes metaphors and epithets and the comparison of their possible use in artistic and scientific speech. This extends to the areas and methods of application of each artistic device in scientific speech, as well as the analysis of the influence of the contents of books about research scientists on the personality of future scientists. It further includes the review of relationships between famous research scientists and the world of fiction such as their shared cultural environment, also the analysis of statements about fiction by some of the most famous research scientists and inversely, by certain literary figures about research scientists. The authors propose a methodology for teaching students how to understand and apply the means of artistic expression in scientific texts in English and Russian using different types of activities with students, including the text analysis, tests, discussion, and research paper writing. The mechanisms for transforming metaphors into comparisons are considered within the framework of the methodological approach. The authors explain the choice of grammatical constructions and the realization of artistic speech potentials in the production of a scientific text, including the semantic aspect of the choice of grammatical tense and the use of comparative phrases. The levels of artistry in scientific speech are identified and described. The methodology has been applied in order to compare the data for the experimental and control groups of learners.