The article is devoted to the research of the metaphorical model with biological stem, which objectively represents the structure and pragmatical potential of a lingo-cultural component of the national picture of the world in modern Ukrainian language. The work’s methodology was formed under the influence of the theory of metaphorical modeling, which was created in the USA in the 20th century. Besides this, the following aspects are engaged in the research: cognitive research, content analysis, modeling, classification, context analysis, lingo-cultural characteristics of metaphors taking into consideration national specifics. The academic novelty lies in the fact that the peculiarities of the usage of biological metaphors in modern fiction have been carried out, and individual consistencies of the usage of metaphorical models in the text have been pointed out. Metaphorization of animalistic lexis is an important process of making the axiological lexis bigger. It enforces the specification and variety of assumptions aimed at the realization of certain pragmatic tasks that specify the modal mindset of the subject in the conversation as well as of the author of the fictional text.
Key words: zoometaphor, animalistic lexis, zoonym, metaphoric modeling, artistic discourse