Abstract

This article describes linguistic and cognitive aspects of medical myths. To attain this goal, the structural approach of the myth semantics in the text by Lévi-Strauss is used. Medical myths are commonly held beliefs based on well-known concepts about health and the body. They acquire linguocultural meaning, become symbols, and are passed down through generations. Our hypothesis is that mythological narrative (mythological information) is superimposed on a specific situation by means of reference. It contributes to the explication of a medical myth in the work of fiction. Mythological images, facts, and narratives serve as examples of reference. They are represented by an individual’s cognitive base. When referring to myth, the author implies that the representative linguocultural society has the “perception invariant” of the linguocultural phenomenon. In conclusion, mythological information is preserved and rendered by conceptual structures, which represent medical myths in the work of fiction. Mythological information can be represented by such linguistic means as a precedent phenomenon or a statement, and allusion (Greek, Judeo-Christian, Shakespearean and literary). The research findings reveal the connection between mythological narrative and means of its actualization, which contribute to the realization of the author’s idea, namely to the creation or explosion of medical myths in works of fiction.