Vol 18, No 3 (39) (2023)
Articles
Genre and discourse conditionality of concept meaning (on the example of the concept ‘youth’)
Abstract
The article deals with variational nature of concepts on the example of the concept ‘youth’. The authors show that concepts as knowledge storage structures are modified under the influence of communicative usage and discourse preferences peculiar to different spheres of communication and genre forms. The analysis is based on the contexts selected from the National Corpus of the Russian Language with the differentiation of texts by types (functional spheres) and genre varieties. The selections from the newspaper sub-corpus (the texts of the federal and regional media) and from the main sub-corpus are limited by the modern period – the texts of 2015–2022. It was proved that different types and genres of speech are heterogeneous from the point of view of the actual meaning of the concept ‘youth’ revealed in them. The authors demostrate actualization of different semantic components and their combinations, as well specific placement of semantic emphasis within the boundaries of the same semantic components. The analysis has revealed the importance of a quantitative distribution according to genres and types of discourse. It is based on the quantitative data that we can elicit the semantic components and their correlations which are the most relevant (frequent) for an individual type of discourse and its genre variations – considering that the elements of conceptual content appearing in the texts of the same time sample are superficially similar. The authors argue that concepts are units of communication which are fully defined only on the level of their discourse realization and that concepts represent not a rigid structure with a fixed set of components but a probability of interconnections which are specifically manifested in different types and genres of speech.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):212-218
212-218
74
Speech genres of negative reaction
Abstract
The article presents a study of a group of speech genres, where the factor of the past is relevant, i.e. which are reaction genres. The relevance of the research is determined by the need for the next step in the study of speech genres: from the description of specific genres to the identification and description of systemic relationships between them. The study is a genre analysis of the statements of the Russian language, recorded in the Corpus of the National Russian Language. The article identifies subgroups of genres of negative reaction in relation to the type of initial remark: reactions to imperative genres, reactions to informative genres and a group of genres, which can be caused by both initial remarks and facts of reality. In the course of the research, it was found out that groups of genres united according to the characteristics of the initial remark break up into other groups in case negative reaction genres are grouped according to their illocutionary purpose. Thus, it can be argued that in the genre system of Russian discourse one can see relations similar to paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations in the language system. Each genre, according to different genre-forming features, is associated with different groups of other genres. The approach proposed in the article allows to see those features of the speech genre that are not obvious in its isolated characterization.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):219-228
219-228
71
Casus generis
Abstract
The relevance of the subject of the research is determined by the fact that the problem of the genre differentiation of scientific literature in Latin is poorly explored. The research is based on the fragment of a medical text of the XVI century. The purpose of the research is the analysis of its genre originality. This fragment presents a dialogue – a genre borrowed from the philosophical literary tradition, there are no dialogues among medical essays, that is why the form of this text seems quite unusual. According to the main author’s intention, the analyzed dialogue is an informative genre, according to the role of the addressee; it is a didactic and unison dialogue. The main character expresses the author’s position; the remarks of the interlocutors perform meta-textual functions. The speech of all the characters in the text contains numerous lexical and grammatical means of dialogization. Imitation of professional dialogue occurs at all levels, starting with the plot and composition. The presentation of rejected opinions, remarks of solidarity, imitation of requests and motives bring into the text the features of informal professional communication: evaluation, phatic and imperative elements. The presence of digressions describing some medical cases from practice and stylistic devices bring this scientific text closer to works of fiction. It is concluded that the author of the fragment skillfully imitates a professional dialogue, he does not neglect his true (informative) purpose and considers the written form in which it will actually be presented to the addressee. Moreover, the reader observes a unique composition, scientific in content and artistic in the form of embodiment.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):229-236
229-236
52
Unrestricted remark as a genre of parliamentary speech (based on Russian parliamentary discourse of the early XX century)
Abstract
The article deals with the remark as a special genre of Russian parliamentary speech. The author analyses various approaches to parliamentary genres. Parliamentary discourse is viewed as institutional, having a dynamic genre structure. The research studies the institutional restrictions imposed on statements in the form of a remark. There is a conclusion about the role of procedural regulation in the formation of a system of discourse genres and the possibility to distinguish unregulated and regulated remarks. The State Duma discussions of the early twentieth century are a basis of the research which focuses on unrestricted remarks from the hall and their genre status. Parliamentary remarks are classified according to the communicative aspect. The article presents the results of the analysis of more than 200 statements by members of the State Duma from the hall, recorded in official transcripts. Three types of remarks are singled out: an interrogative remark, a replying remark and an imperative remark. The conclusion is made about the provocative nature of the remark as a parliamentary genre. The functional features of two types of remarks are distinguished: a regulated remark is conventional and dialogic; an unregulated remark is aggressive and provocative. The main features of an unregulated remark are non-normativeness in terms of procedural regulations, super-briefness (one phrase), reactivity, expressiveness, evaluativeness and provocativeness.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):237-244
237-244
The image of Russia in Russian language textbooks
Abstract
The article presents a study of the relationship between the language and the genre of speech as different types of communication organization which, however, have a common communicative nature. The research hypothesis is that the language offers options for the verbal embodiment of the image of Russia, but the genre (textbook) selects from the options the one that corresponds to the type of communication between the authors of the textbook (addressers) and the students (addressees). The research is based on the subject vocabulary, which has been extracted from didactic text materials of the analyzed Russian language textbooks and has been organized into lexico-semantic groups for more meaningful analysis. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the nouns from the texts has shown that in the Russian language textbook for public Russian schools texts selected for its didactic material reflect the image of the country, created by the authors of works from the «golden» fund of Russian literature. These works highlight the Russian cultural constants which play the role of moral tuning fork in the spiritual upbringing of a person. The textbook of Russian as a foreign language demonstrates a vulgar and pragmatic view on the image of Russia. Russia is represented as a consumerist society. Moreover, such a view reflects the intentions of disparagement of the country which is represented by the authors in those texts.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):245-251
245-251
The genre features of A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs
Abstract
The article justifies that A. I. Solzhenitsyn expands the potential of the memoir genre by synthesizing techniques of different genres and creating new ways of displaying History. The growing interest in the memoirs of the 20th century, in particular in Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs, in recent decades makes the research topical. Solzhenitsyn considers the truth of history as a priority, and the completeness of the material and polyphony of its presentation as necessary requirements. The research aims at presenting the originality of Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs. The objectives of the research include determining the nature of the memoir genres in Solzhenitsyn’s works, identifying traditional and innovative forms in them, as well as substantiating polygenre as a sign of the writer’s “new oeuvreing”. Simultaneous presence of not only the signs of traditional memoirs, but also documentary features, journalistic, fictional, speech genres, their overlapping and synthesis in the text is the main problem of Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs. In addition, Solzhenitsyn’s heritage can be interpreted as a metamemoir text, based on inextricably linked writer’s biography and Russian history of the 20th century. A separate aspect of Solzhenitsyn’s memoir lies in the analysis of the author’s image and the dialogue with the reader. All genre levels – compositional, problem-thematic, stylistic – are involved in the research. Solzhenitsyn’s memoirs were studied by the methods of comparative, immanent, intratextual analysis. The results of the research can be used to study A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s creative method and the memoirs as non-fiction. The major conclusions point to the consistency of Solzhenitsyn’s position, who does not move away from the word of truth, from the desire for Truth even in memoir genres.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):252-259
252-259
The subgenre “address” in the speech of the Soviet intelligentsia (abased on the Soviet dramatic texts of 1950–1980-s)
Abstract
The present article deals with the subgenre ‘address’ in the speech behavior of members of the Soviet intelligentsia. The research is based on 9 Soviet plays of V. Azernikov, S. Aleshin, A. Arbuzov, L. Zorin, S. Mikhalkov, M. Roshchin. The character’s education, profession, the author’s description, the actual speech portrait of the character (lexical, stylistic, communicative content), moral qualities of the character were important criteria for definition of a member of intelligentsia. All the selected characters were divided into three generational groups. The analysis showed that the subgenre “address” is a polyfunctional communicative unit, one of the components of the genres “greeting”, “farewell”, “congratulation”, “gratitude”, “apology”, “compliment”, “consolation”, “reproach”, “argument”, “declaration of love”. Addresses with possessive pronouns, ameliorative adjectives, metaphors and precedent names are actively used in the speech of members of the intelligentsia.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):260-266
260-266
Values of power in Anglo-Saxon heroic epos of the early Middle Ages
Abstract
The concern of this study is to explore the values of power that form its images in Anglo-Saxon epic culture of the early Middle Ages. The research is based on the epic poem “Beowulf” and applies cultural approach to linguistic study of social phenomena. Considering the stylistic features of the epic genre as a form of world codification, categorization and ideological influence in “the age of prowess and predatory life” (Thorstein Veblen), the authors emphasize the role of alliteration rhythmic patterns of the spoken verse, “words-pictures” (kennings and compounds), sound symbolism in verbal culture of fostering a the martial spirit of warriors in the culture of public praise, encouragement ferocity and enthusiasm for war. Values of power, viewed as collective conceptions of what is good and desirable, shape patterns of behaviour and virtues demonstrations prevalent among people of a superior status. Such patterns in the form of expectations motivate the characters of the poem to perform the actions assigned to them by their social standing. Studying these virtues is an efficient way to capture and characterize society of the early Middle Ages, since they had a direct impact on how that society functioned. To gain entrance to the superior status, the main character had to be gifted with assumed traits. Thus, the key theme of the poem is how he fights his way up to the top of the honourable superior class. The authors analyse the language means of cultural values introduction, including words, denoting the proper qualities and actions, small stories and evaluative utterances of aphoristic nature, falling into different types (statements, open appeals, comparative and superlative constructions, positive and negative imperatives).
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):267-274
267-274
Amor: Verbalization of romantic love in the song genre
Abstract
The article deals with the ideas about romantic love in the song genre. The research is based Spanish-language texts of Julio Iglesias’ songs. It is established that romantic love is a rather vague concept that allows at least four interpretations: love-passion, intensity of love in general, falling in love and a specific love feeling that has its own characteristics. A generalization of the interpretations of romantic love indicates that it is a subspecies of erotic love, in which value and depression-euphoria moments are accentuated and a dramatic color is added to the circumstances of the evolution of this feeling. In Spanish, the feeling of love is verbalized through the triad amor, querer, cariño, where amor is the name of the generic concept of love, and querer and cariño are mainly focused on conveying its subspecies associated with the desire for physical intimacy and the desire for the good for the beloved. The texts of the song repertoire of Julio Iglesias are dominated by the characteristics of romantic love: a reference to tragic and dramatic life circumstances – betrayal and loss of love, separation, lack of reciprocity, doubts about fidelity, jealousy; features that are predominantly characteristic of the initial stage of love – bursts of euphoria and depression, a feeling of joy and grief, pleasure and suffering; manifestations of love affection – are mentioned frequently. The reflex of romanticism in the lyrics of Julio Iglesias is the deification of the object of love, confidence in the constancy of love, the opposition of “authentic” and “non-authentic” love, the idea of the merging of lovers into a single whole.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):275-282
275-282
Analytical article as a mass media genre (based on English mass media texts)
Abstract
The article which is based on the research of English newspaper texts gives an insight into the characteristics of the analytical article. Due to insufficient studies of the English analytical articles this research direction is still an academic challenge. In the paper the analytical article is defined as a text based on an analytical approach which aims at presenting a comprehensive outlook on significant socio-political issues with a focus on cause-effect relation between different informational blocks. The analytical article is aimed at transmitting an objective coverage of a situation for the readers to form their own opinion and work out behavioral tactics. The research made it possible to single out the following basic characteristics of the analytical article: presence of argumentative framework, accurate fact representation, critical approach as an instrument of public dialogue, absence of emotional narrative, fixed structure, where the conclusion plays a significant role. The paper also defines themes and functions of the analytical article.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):283-293
283-293
Cultural knowledge as the conceptual basis of the speech genre of religious instruction (based on media discourse)
Abstract
In the modern media environment covering all fields of human endeavour different types of discourse, religious ones with their genres as well, get representation. The speech genre of religious instruction seems to be most widely spread. The genre under discussion is viewed as a part of the primary genre in the religious discourse – preaching which is presupposed to interpret principles of practical usage of religious postulates and rules. In the Internet this genre acquires new characteristics, studying of which is seems relevant due to the researchers’ interest to media communication issues as well as to the society’s growing attention to religion in general. The present research is aimed at studying the ways of actualizing the speech genre of religious instruction, its cultural-conceptual bases, the genre being introduced in Internet publications at the biggest Orthodox websites. The interpretative and notional analysis, the conceptual analysis of discourse and the cultural-semiotic analysis of media texts have been applied as the research methods. The authors have defined cultural knowledge units which realize the main affective function of the speech genre of religious instruction. The cultural meanings and concepts are believed to be key knowledge phenomena organizing the semantic concept of the speech genre of religious instruction. The cultural dominant of the conceptual genre basis is the Holy Scripture text. The components of cultural knowledge are objectified by illustrations of the ways of behavior, appealing to the authority figures’ opinion and biblical texts’ quotations.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):294-299
294-299
COVID-19 discourse as a specific type of discourse in the structure of the university Internet portal (based on the Russian and German materials)
Abstract
The article presents the analysis of linguistic and cultural features of COVID-19 discourse. The current research is an attempt to identify the discourse-forming features of the given discourse as well as to analyze the empirical material focusing on its genre and language features. The analysis is based upon general scientific methods, with the use of interpretive methodology and contextual analysis. The author analyzes methods of construction and navigation of COVID-19 Internet pages integrated into the university Internet portal providing the justification of its hypertext characteristics and describing the thematic features of the headings. The article describes constructive features of the COVID-19 discourse including its participants, chronotope, goals, strategies and values. The author considers COVID-19 discourse an institutional hybrid interdiscursive phenomenon which forms a thematically limited communicative space in the structure of the university Internet portal during the coronavirus pandemic. The article contains the analysis of the genre aspects of the given discourse based on two non-similar languages (Russian, German) focusing on their discourse-conditioned lexical, syntactic peculiarities. The research revealed the specific genre nature of the COVID-19 university discourse which is determined by the formation and existence of the COVID-19 discourse in different linguocultures. The author shows the interdependence of genre structure and intra-genre linguistic means focusing on the similarities and differences in syntactic and lexical markers of discourse. All this allows to suggest the presence of linguocultural determination of COVID-19 discourse in the structure of the university Internet portal of two non-similar languages. The study opens up the prospects for further focus on the linguocultural determination of COVID-19-discourse and a detailed analysis of its linguistic and translatological features.
Speech genres. 2023;18(3 (39)):300-308
300-308