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Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2016. № 3
ЯЗЫК. ПОЗНАНИЕ. КУЛЬТУРА
И.В. Гоббенет*, Т.Л. Черезова**
ПИСЬМА В ГАЗЕТУ: ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ ПОДХОД
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение
высшего образования «Московский государственный университет имени М.В. Ломоносова» 119991, Москва, Ленинские горы, 1
В рамках исследований, посвященных языку средств массовой информации, анализируется специфический газетный материал: письма в редакцию. Основой для исследования послужили публикации популярной британской газеты Daily Mail, рассчитанной на самые широкие круги англоязычных читателей. Данная разновидность публикаций имеет долгую историю и широко практикуется в западной прессе, однако не имеет аналогов в российских газетах. На основе тематики и особенностей газетного оформления создана предварительная классификация публикуемых писем, в частности это вопросы (в том числе обращение к специалисту), дискуссия и волнующие авторов писем проблемы. Поставлен вопрос об интерактивном характере этих материалов. В центре внимания находится наиболее распространенный вид писем, а именно письма, посвященные актуальным с точки зрения авторов вопросам и событиям. В статье данное явление рассматривается с филологической точки зрения: предложенный авторами анализ включает социологический (пол, возраст, профессия), культурологический (место жительства и образовательный уровень) и лингвистический (уровень владения языком и экспрессивность) аспекты. На основании проведенного исследования сформирован языковой портрет типичного автора «письма в газету»: это мужчина среднего возраста и старше, образованный и социально ангажированный.
Ключевые слова: газета, филология, культурология, социология, интерактивность, стиль, языковая личность.
Among the texts that comprise the object of philological studies mass media take up a special place because of their role in the life of modern society. The approach to this material can vary a great deal in terms of methodology: it can be studied as a separate language aspect [Добросклонская,
* Гюббенет Ирина Владимировна — кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры английского языкознания филологического факультета МГУ имени М.В. Ломоносова (e-mail: cheretatyana@yandex.ru).
** Черезова Татьяна Львовна — кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры английского языка для естественных факультетов факультета иностранных языков и регионоведения МГУ имени М.В. Ломоносова (e-mail: tcherezova@list.ru).
2007: 16], as a cultural phenomenon [Болдырева, 2014: 116—123], or from the point of view of their organization [Измаелян, 2011: 168]. Here we would like to present the results of an analysis of a certain section of newspaper texts that so far has not been the subject of philological investigation. Our aim is to discuss letters to newspapers as a linguistic and cultural phenomenon and as a means of creating a collective portrait of the most active section of newspaper readers.
Writing to newspapers is a well-established practice in English-speaking countries and can be viewed as a cultural phenomenon. In this country such interaction between a newspaper and its readers has never been as widely spread. Most British newspapers regularly publish various letters which are allotted a special place in their layout. In English literature we can often come across a character, particularly a gentleman of a certain age, profession and social position with his Telegraph, Times or Morning Post intending to communicate his point of view through the newspaper he respects.
The material for this analysis is obtained from the popular British newspaper the Daily Mail. It has a wide readership not only in the UK, but also throughout the world. For example, one of the countries this newspaper is printed in is Cyprus. Its popularity cuts across different social groups which predetermines a large variety of issues covered in it. It might be noted that this newspaper has as its subscribers both members of the royal family including the Queen, and middle-class people.
Analysis shows that readers' letters come in several categories. These texts can be divided into four groups, namely questions, debate participation, personal experience, and letters on the issues of the day. Letters with questions, in their turn, can be further subdivided into those seeking expert opinion and asking about various points of interest.
The experts addressed by the readers are doctors (section Ask the Doctor) [Черезова, 2016] or either amateur or professional psychologists in the so-called 'agony columns' (Bel Mooney's section with letters addressed to Dear Bel). Besides, there exists a section with a simple name Questions & Answers in which questions are answered not by the editorial staff, but by other readers. Almost every issue of the Daily Mail contains a list of questions (about five) that are later published with the answer given by some reader. To promote this interactive exchange the newspaper regularly offers prizes for the best question.
Opinion exchange or debate is always provoked by some newspaper publication arousing a particular interest of readers. It can be triggered not only by current events but by everyday matters or some point of purely personal interest. This section is called Debate and is published approximately every two or three days. Thus, in the one week of January 2016 one section was devoted to readers' reaction to the news of young doctors' strike (people were mostly angered by the suggestion that doctors could violate the Hippo-
cratic Oath, but there were also voices in support of this action). Another section in the same week contained answers to a letter which proposed an introduction of England's own national anthem. Again the people were on the whole in favour of such an idea, but there were also dissenting views.
Letters sharing some personal experience can also be viewed as promoting readers' interaction. People are invited to offer their everyday impressions under such headings as Out of the mouths of babes, Jokes, This England, One-line philosophers.
Talking of the letters on the issues of the day, it should be noted that they form the bulk of this correspondence and historically were the first to appear in newspapers. The topics of these letters are varied and sometimes quite unexpected. For example, on a randomly selected page of letters from the January 25, 2016 issue of the Daily Mail the following topics are being discussed:
1. The scandal of no Oscar nominations for black actors;
2. Misleading wealth statistics;
3. A suggestion for the disposal of nuclear waste;
4. Misbehaviour of African students at Oxford University;
5. Exaggerations of the environmentalists of the dangers of pollution;
6. Reaction to David Cameron's suggestion of a new approach to the immigrants' assimilation;
7. An atmospheric effect as a danger to transport safety;
8. Low quality of ready meals in a fast-food chain;
9. Lack of medical help in a hospital;
10. Inefficiency of wind turbines.
Besides the full texts of the letters there is also a box with short extracts called Straight to the Point.
It is also important to mention that this correspondence creates an atmosphere of interactive communication between the newspaper and its readers: thus the traditional part of the newspaper has become a means of meeting new challenges and satisfying the demands of the time.
The tone of the letters can vary from serious or emotional to sarcastic or facetious.
Reverend Dr. John Cameron from Fife has written: Oxfam wealth statistics, based on naive extrapolations from Forbes' billionaires' list and Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Databook, were misleadingly parachuted into the economic jolly at Davos.
In fact, disposable income inequality is not increasing, increased capital isn't bad for labour, wealth isn't a zero-sum game and high income taxes don't lead to more equal outcome.
The UK has a more progressive income tax than the US though even that pales by comparison with Sweden, but inequality is much the same in the three nations. Rather than being the defining challenge of our time, I believe hysteria
about wealth inequality is a distraction from our main goal: raising living standards among the poor.
On the other hand, the newspaper publishes letters like the one by Graham Ludlam from Derbyshire: Instead of relying on hideously inefficient wind turbines for our future energy needs, we should all buy nylon bed linen. Sliding up and down your bed a couple of times a night creates more electricity than those white elephants. It might even spark up flagging love lives.
The cultural-sociological analysis of letters on the issues of the day can be started with the authors' signatures. The newspaper's policy is not to consider anonymous letters; however, the writer may ask that his or her name is withheld. (It is worth mentioning that the right to remain anonymous is usually exercised in questions to professionals). Owing to that the material makes it possible to come to certain conclusions about the sex, nationality and the place of residence of the correspondents.
The amount of letters sent by men is much larger than that sent by women. On average the ratio of male and female writers is 3 to 1, in other words men are much more active in this respect. It should be mentioned that women's letters are mostly devoted to everyday matters (schools, health, problems of retirement) and are generally longer and more detailed.
Writer's names are mostly British and the majority of letters are sent from South-West of England (Kent, Cheshire, Midlands, Devon). Sometimes people name not counties but towns, usually small ones (Fareham, South Wingfield, Redditch). There are few letters from cities, except London, and practically none from abroad (in our material there were only two of them: one from Mozambique and one from New York).
Certain details make it possible to determine the writer's age. Writers hardly ever name it themselves, but they usually mention some facts or figures that show how old they are likely to be, e.g. I retired as a joiner after 51 years, or my father was 95 when he died.
A purely linguistic aspect of newspaper study produces interesting results. As far as the language of the letters is concerned, practically all of them do not contain any mistakes or deviations from the norm, as can be seen from the two texts cited above. Many of them are characterized by high expressivity, idiomaticity, and often humour or even sarcasm.
In the first letter cited here, for instance, the author uses a colourful expression misleadingly parachuted into the economic jolly which clearly shows his attitude towards both the statistics he is speaking about and the Davos forum. Dr. Cameron has his own clear ideas about the present-day economy and does not hesitate to express himself forcibly. This kind of writing is not an exception but rather a rule. There are many other examples of such expressivity, e.g. No doubt the grey suits and skirts who run the EUare delighted at Sepp Blatter's demise at FIFA. With his contempt for democracy, dismissal of accountability, haughty expectation of the trappings of power and authority, and
ingrained financially creative (if not corrupt) mindset, he would be perfect for a seat at the top EU table.
The letters manifest a very skilled usage of various literary devices: reiteration, synonymic condensation, deformation of idioms, literary allusions, etc. Here are some examples:
'Am I the only one fed up with the blasted BBC Children In Need cacophony?.. It's clear to me what children really need: teachers who teach them and parents who aren't frightened to say No. They need to offer their seat on a bus or train to an adult who is standing. They need to stop spitting, dropping litter and ignoring anyone over the age of 25. They need to learn to say 'please' and 'thankyou'. They need leadership and discipline'...
'What's all this nonsense about 'trans' people? Has no one heard of the Y chromosome? If you've got it, you're irrevocably, indelibly, indisputably and for ever male, and that's that.'
The educational level of the writers can be deduced both from the facts they mention (as a retired teacher,.. as a former chair of school governors... as a professional consultant in the welfare of wild animals and a fellow of the London Zoological Society.), and by the whole tone of the letters themselves: We must wonder whether the case would have gone on for so long if, instead of the adversarial system of justice prevailing in this country, we had the inquisitorial system of the civil law regimes of Continental Europe. In both cases the writers are clearly highly educated people. On the other hand, the newspaper publishes letters from skilled and semi-skilled people like nurses, salespersons, clerks, etc., and the vocabulary and grammar of some of the letters show that their authors while being wholly literate, have not had the benefits of higher education. The former group is much more numerous than the latter.
On the basis of the philological methods of studying the linguistic persona [Gyubbenet, Cherezova, 2015], it is possible to create a portrait of the typical letter writer of the Daily Mail. It is a male of about 50—60, highly educated retired professional living in a small English town, well-read, with a sense of humour. He is acutely aware of both international and domestic problems and possesses his own individual style. This portrait acquaints a philologist with a representative figure of a certain social class, education and interests. Moreover, it is clear that the letters to the newspaper provide one with the material that can be used to form a picture of modern life in the UK.
Список литературы
1. Болдырева О.В. Великобритания и вызовы современности: к вопросу о национальной общности в Соединенном Королевстве // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2014. № 1. С. 116-123.
2. Добросклонская Т.Г. Язык СМИ: содержание и становление понятия // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2007. № 4.
3. Измаелян Д.Б. Особенности производства новостных текстов массовой информации // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2011. № 2.
4. Черезова Т.Л. Медицина в газетном освещении: форма и содержание // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2016. № 1.
5. Gyubbenet I., Cherezova T. Linguistic Persona: Some Approaches to the Problem // Сборник материалов XII Международной конференции ЛАТЕУМ. Теория и практика междисциплинарного дискурса. М., 2015.
Gyubbenet Irina, Cherezova Tatiana
LETTERS TO NEWSPAPERS: PHILOLOGICAL APPROACH
Specific newspaper material, i.e. readers' letters, is discussed within the framework of the studies of mass media language. The material is obtained from the popular British newspaper the Daily Mail which is addressed to the wide sector of the English-speaking population. The letters are classified on the basis of their subject matter. They can be divided into the following groups: questions (including those addressed to a specialist), discussion and letters of opinion. The authors of the article underline the interactive character of this type of publications. Letters to newspapers as a subject of philological analysis are considered from the point of view of sociology (sex, age, profession), cultural studies (place of residence and education) and linguistics (language proficiency and expressivity). As a result of the analysis a portrait of linguistic persona of the typical writer is created: he is male, mostly retired, highly educated and socially involved. The letters to the newspaper provide one with the material that can be used to form a picture of modern life in the UK.
Key words: newspaper, philology, cultural studies, sociology, interactivity, style, linguistic persona
About the authors:
Gyubbenet Irina V., Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor at the Chair of Anglistics, Philological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University (e-mail: cheretatyana@yandex.ru).
Cherezova Tatiana L., Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor at the Chair of the English Language for Natural Sciences, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Regional Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University (e-mail: tcherezova@list.ru).
References
1. Boldyreva O.V. 2014. Wikobritaniya i vyzovy sovremennisti: k voprosu o natsionalnoy obshchnosti v Soedinennom Korolevstve [Great Britain and Challenges of Modern Times: the Problem of National Communion in the UK] Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19. Linguistics and Cross-Cultural Communication, no. 1, p. 116—123 (in Russ.)
2. Dobrosklonskaya T.G. 2007. Yazyk SMI: soderzhaniye i stanovlenie ponyati-ya [Mass-Media Language: the Meaning and the Formation of the Concept] Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19. Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 4 (in Russ.)
3. Izmaelyan D.B. 2011. Osobennosti proizvodstva novostnykh tekstov masso-voi informatsii [Production of News Texts in Mass-Media] Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19. Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 2 (in Russ.)
4. Cherezova T.L. 2016. Meditsina v gazetnom osveshchenii: forma i soder-zhaniye [Medical Problems in a Newspaper: Content and Form] Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19. Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 1, p. 66—70 (in Russ.)
5. Gyubbenet I, Cherezova T. 2015 Linguistic Persona: Some Approaches to the Problem In Sbornik materialov XII Mezhdunarodnoj konferencii LATE-UM. Teorija i praktika mezhdisciplinarnogo diskursa [Materials of the XII International Conference LATEUM: Theory and Practice of Interdisciplinary Discourse] Moscow, Universitetskaja kniga Publ.
