Co kryje się w umyśle seryjnego mordercy? Rozważania w kontekście powieści Borisa Akunina "Dekorator"

The main aim of this paper is to answer the question which appears in its title. In order to do so, I analyse the mind style of the eponymous character from Boris Akunin’s book The Decorator (1999). The notion of mind style coined by Roger Fowler relates to a unique correlation between certain linguistic constructions (metaphors, transitive patterns, underlexicalization) and their role in projecting particular world-views. The analysis shows that in the case of Akunin’s hero, who is inspired by the legendary Jack the Ripper, it is metaphors that serve the function of “consistent structural options”. They demonstrate how the murderer conceptualizes and interprets such concepts as MURDER, MURDERER, BODY and BEAUTY.