The article deals with the basic features that distinguish linear and nonlinear types of texts. It is proved that a film is a polycode text and it is possible to study it by means of philological analysis.

The article deals with the devices of personage introduction in fictional texts through the prism of content aspects and the linguistic devices of various kinds. The empiric basis for the analysis is an English children’s literary tale by a postmodern writer Roald Dahl “Matilda”.