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RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
2313-2299 (print), ISSN 2411-1236 (online)
Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: ТЕОРИЯ ЯЗЫКА. СЕМИОТИКА. СЕМАНТИКА
2024 Vol. 15 No. 2 415-429
http://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics
DOI: 10.22363/2313-2299-2024-15-2-415-429 EDN: OUWBAY UDC 811.161.1'27:2
Research article / Научная статья
Linguistic Personality Transformation in Speech Reproduction
Оlga А. Kadilina1'2 <E E, Elena N. Ryadchikova3
'RUDN University, Moscow, Russian Federation 2Kutafin Moscow State Law University, Moscow, Russian Federation 3Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russian Federation El olgakadilina@gmail.com
Abstract. A linguistic personality is capable of transforming consciously and unconsciously under the influence of a number of factors and it can change qualitatively, including turning from a strong and average into a weak linguistic personality, moving to a lower, presystemic semantic-structural level. Among such factors, various influences in religious organizations play an important role. The relevance of the proposed article on the one hand, is due to the active use of "speaking in tongues" by believers in a number of religious organizations, and on the other hand, to the lack of an unambiguous understanding of this phenomenon and its impact on people, the lack of linguistic studies of such speaking. The purpose of the research conducted in the article is to identify the essence, goals and consequences of such a phenomenon as "speaking in tongues", which is practiced in particular by adherents of the Pentecostal religious organization "Bethany" and compare these parameters with what is promoted. There is a reason to imply some difference between the interpretations. The definition of the so called "angelic languages", which the Bethanyians consider to be real, serving communication, leads to the conclusion that its use puts a person into a trance, plunges into an altered state of consciousness, deprives the ability to reflect. This is indicated by certain lexical and syntactic means found in the statements of Pentecostals, including adherents of Bethany, analysis of videos and texts posted on the websites of these religious organizations. The article examines the religious origins "speaking in tongues", modern interpretations of this phenomenon by believers, reveals the distortion of the concept of "speaking in tongues" by Pentecostals and adherents of Bethany, unfolds the means of manipulating believers in explaining the phenomenon of glossolalia (e.g., interpretation of religious texts, manipulation of numbers, affecting the emotions and feelings of believers, sometimes odd explanations). Subsequently, the authors come to the conclusion that in some cases Bethany representatives deliberately build their speech communication to immerse the flock as often as possible in a state of altered consciousness, affect, ecstasy, when a person renounces reality, becomes unable to answer for his words and actions. Then people might become vulnerable to the necessary suggestion.
Keywords: linguistic personality, speech influence, speaking in tongues, angelic languages, altered state of consciousness, Pentecostals
Article history:
Received: 01.02.2024 Accepted: 15.02.2024
© Kadilina O.A., Ryadchikova E.N., 2024
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode
For citation:
Kadilina, O.A. & Ryadchikova, EN. (2024). Linguistic Personality Transformation in Speech Reproduction. RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics, 15(2), 415-429. https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2299-2024-15-2-415-429
Трансформация языковой личности в процессе репродукции речи
О.А. Кадилина1 2 E, Е.Н. Рядчикова3 )
'Российский университет дружбы народов, Москва, Российская Федерация, 2Московский государственный юридический университет имени О.Е. Кутафина, Москва,
Российская Федерация
3Кубанский государственный университет, Краснодар, Российская Федерация
El olgakadilina@gmail.com
Аннотация. Языковая личность способна сознательно и бессознательно трансформироваться, что характеризуется семантико-структурными потерями на пути превращения из сильной и средней в слабую языковую личность. Факторами, влияющими на трансформации, являются практики, используемые в религиозных организациях. Актуальность статьи обусловлена активным использованием «говорения на языках» верующими в отдельных религиозных организациях и отсутствием однозначного понимания и лингвистических исследований рассматриваемого явления. Цель — выявить сущность, цели и последствия явления глоссолалии / «говорения на иных языках», которое практикуется, в частности, приверженцами пятидесятнической религиозной организации «Вифания». Определение так называемых «ангельских языков», которые бе-танийцы считают реальными, служащими общению, приводит к выводу, что их использование вводит человека в транс (измененное состояние сознания), лишает способности размышлять. На это указывают определенные лексические и синтаксические средства, встречающиеся в высказываниях пятидесятников, в том числе приверженцев Вифании, анализе видео и текстов, размещенных на сайтах этих религиозных организаций. В статье рассматриваются религиозные истоки «говорения на языках», современные интерпретации этого явления верующими, выявляется искажение понятия «говорение на языках» пятидесятниками и приверженцами Вифании, раскрываются средства манипулирования верующими в объяснении феномена «говорения на языках» / глоссолалия (например, интерпретация религиозных текстов, манипуляция числами, затрагивающая эмоции и чувства верующих, иногда странные объяснения). Авторы приходят к выводу, что в ряде случаев представители религиозной организации «Вифания» сознательно строят свое речевое общение так, чтобы как можно чаще погружать паству в состояние измененного сознания, аффекта, экстаза, когда человек отрекается от действительности, становится уязвимым для необходимого внушения и неспособным отвечать за свою жизнь, слова и действия.
Ключевые слова: речевое воздействие, говорение на иных языках, глоссолалия, ангельские языки, измененное состояние сознания, пятидесятники, религиозная организация Вифания
История статьи:
Дата поступления: 01.02.2024 Дата приема в печать: 15.02.2024
Для цитирования:
Kadilina О.А., Ryadchikova E.N. Linguistic Personality Transformation in Speech Reproduction // Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Теория языка. Семиотика. Семантика. 2024. Т. 15. № 2. С. 415-429. https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2299-2024-15-2-415-429
Introduction
In relation to the linguistic personality, we adhere to a classification that includes three components: 1) weak linguistic personality; 2) average linguistic personality; 3) strong (elite) linguistic personality [1; 2]. Our research has shown that not only speech acts differ in complexity, but also the ability to perceive and create them with varying degrees of structural and linguistic complexity in people is different, that a strong linguistic personality is incompatible with underdeveloped intellectual activity, that highly developed intelligence is prerequisite for a strong linguistic personality [1], suggesting that among other things, creativity and reflection as the ability to self-knowledge, tracking and evaluating the events of the surrounding reality.
It seems important to delineate how different types of linguistic personalities react to attempts from the outside to transform them in order to achieve certain goals of the addressee. The long-term practice of one of the authors of this study as a forensic linguist has shown that the linguistic personality undergoes this kind of transformation in a number of religious organizations [3].
The official website of the religious organization "Bethany" provides the following information: "The Russian Church of Evangelical Christians is one of the branches of the Pentecostal trend of Christianity in Russia. Pentecostals are Evangelical Christians, followers of Pentecostalism, one of the branches of Protestantism. They attach special importance to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, understanding it as a special spiritual experience, when the power of the Holy Spirit descends on the regenerated believer. Pentecostals consider this experience to be identical to that experienced by the apostles on the fiftieth day, after the resurrection of Christ. And since this day has been called the day of Pentecost, hence the name 'Pentecostals'"1.
In the religious organizations of Pentecostals, including the Evangelical Christians of Bethany, which are actively operating in Russia, it is accepted and even necessary "speak in tongues". Adherents of these religious movements present it as a way to achieve a bliss, as an overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, as a means of separation from the mundane and even as a direct conversation with God in his language. Members of organizations spread the idea that when the Holy Spirit descends on them, they receive the gift of speaking in angelic tongues2. However,
1 Церковь Вифания. Режим доступа: vifanija.ru (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
2 Исупов Б.Г. О крещении Духом Святым // Церковь Вифания. Режим доступа: http://xn--80adsby4b2e.xn—p1ai/2020/06/06/o-kreshhemi-duhom-svjatym (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
for an outsider, such a speech appears as a set of words or individual sounds, it is incomprehensible, does not correspond to any of the languages of the Globe. We shall try to consider the causes of its occurrence, what it means and what it is intended for.
Religious texts on "speaking in tongues"
The religious origins of "speaking in tongues"
In the section "Confession of faith. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit", the website of "Bethany" among other things, indicates the obligation for baptized believers to speak in other languages, otherwise baptism is not recognized as accomplished: "The physical proof of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the sign of 'speaking in tongues'".3 The word 'sign' has the meaning 'a boding, auspices; a natural phenomenon that serves as an omen of something according to religious concepts (fixed collocation is "a celestial sign")4. From this interpretation, it clearly follows that it doesn't imply learning foreign languages; what is meant is a sudden illumination from above, a momentary miraculous discovery of the ability to speak a hitherto unfamiliar language.
"Speaking in tongues" is discussed in detail on the official website of "Bethany", e.g., in the sermon "On the Baptism with the Holy Spirit". It retells a passage from the Gospel, when on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in the form of flame tongues. "The apostles began to speak in tongues and received supernatural power from God to carry the gospel 'to the ends of the earth'. This is the main purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit"5. Quoting the words that Jesus Christ uttered shortly before His ascension, "I will send the promise of my Father upon you; but you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from above (Luke 24:49)", the author of the sermon focuses on how on the fiftieth day after the ascension of Christ, the apostles gathered in the house and suddenly felt there was a noise from the sky, as if from a rushing strong wind. "And there appeared to them parting tongues, as if of fire, and rested one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-5)"6. This miraculous phenomenon was perceived as a sign of God's promise fulfillment of the Holy Spirit outpouring on earth. Speaking about the main purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the preacher calls the main task of the Bethanyians as Christians to be led by the Holy Spirit and to hear from Him when and to whom to testify about Christ.
3 Исповедание веры // Церковь Вифания. Режим доступа: xn--80adsby4b2e.xn-p1a (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
4 Знамение // Википедия. Режим доступа: wikipedia.org (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
5 Там же.
6 О крещении Духом Святым // Христианская газета от 06.06.20. Режим доступа: cgazeta.ru (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
The sermon mentions new languages in the sense that "The Holy Spirit will give common words that will penetrate to the depths of the heart", that those who believe in Jesus "will speak in new tongues (Mark. 16:17-18)"7.
Modern interpretations of "speaking in tongues" phenomenon by believers
The described phenomenon is called "glossolalia", the use of this term serves as a distinguishing feature from the ability to speak foreign languages, in the human languages of the planet. We emphasize that Wikipedia has an indication of the antisemantic and anti-communicative principle of "speaking in tongues": "Glossolalia (prayer in other languages) in Christianity — a special manifestation of glossolalia, the so-called 'speaking in tongues', described in the New Testament and again became popular in various Protestant denominations since the beginning of the 20th century. Originating from the Greek word 'уХюоооХаМа', the term 'glossolalia' is a combination of two words — 'уХюооа' (language) and 'XaXsro' (to speak, proclaim, babble). Thus, in modern Christianity, 'glossolalia' is the practice of speaking, which is widespread in different churches, and which is hardly meaningful to the speaker"8.
The practice of glossolalia is openly used in Catholic, Pentecostal, Charismatic and neo-Charismatic churches, sometimes used in some Protestant communities, as well as by individual believers belonging to various denominations. However, most modern Christian movements (including Orthodoxy, Baptism, and some movements in Protestantism) do not accept such practice, as they have come to the conclusion that modern glossolalia is not identical to the phenomenon described in the New Testament. "So, some opponents of glossolalia believe that the Pentecostal practice is an autosuggestion, or a mental aberration. According to another point, modern glossolalia does not originate 'from God', since the divine gift of different languages is supposed to have irrevocably disappeared around the 4th century (according to the testimony of the Church fathers). The third widespread theological concept says that the current 'Pentecostal languages' are not identical to other languages, as evidenced by the Holy Scriptures"9.
"Speaking in tongues" mind alterations
Some scholars consider glossolalia to be incoherent utterance of meaningless sounds and exclamations, an arbitrary combination of sounds that do not exist as meaningful semantic units in any language of the world. Psychologists are
7 О крещении Духом Святым // Христианская газета от 06.06.20. Режим доступа: cgazeta.ru (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
8 Глоссолалия в христианстве // Википедия. Режим доступа: wikipedia.org (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
9 Там же.
convinced that this happens even to people who do not have firm religious beliefs at all. Glossolalia is observed in cases of predominance of the unconscious. It throws a person back to the childhood, to infantile linguistic communication, becoming a mechanism for regulating the state of mind, since it practically does not involve the mind, but is provided with a high level of emotions. Glossolalia is also related to childish babble by its focus on finding the "addressee" of children's language messages, which expresses the need for omnipotent parental or maternal compensation.
The experience of glossolalia is associated with a pleasant feeling, relaxation, and an altered state of consciousness, which protect the body from stress. Numerous observations on adherents of glossolalia have shown that this is achieved in the following way. Religious chants are heard, the leader of the meeting calls on believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak to him with "angelic tongues". Adherents tune in to complete detachment from all worldly things, striving to lose control of their body and consciousness for a while, utter incoherent sounds vaguely resembling speech. Reaching the point of tension during the ritual changes the behavior of the adept, leads to short-term amnesia accompanying the trance state. After leaving the altered state of consciousness (ASC), the adept returns to the pre-trance functioning of consciousness.
Particularly fanatical Bethanyians strive to achieve this state not only while worshipping rooms, but also in any living environment. However, the deep level of mind alterations is possible only within the framework of a collective ritual, providing sufficiently high level of psychological stress, which is difficult to achieve in private. "Bethany" videos show that the participants demonstrate special behavior: they sing along with enthusiasm, sway to the beat of the music, raise their hands to the sky (gestures of inspiration), their faces express empathy and pleasure. This contributes to emotional liberation, weakening of the critical function of consciousness; experiencing positive emotions of high intensity contributes to the formation and maintenance of a stable positive attitude towards a religious organization.
Personal charisma of the leader is important to be able to influence believers within the framework of the ritual. Glossolalia of this type can be classified as a self-sufficient type of ecstatic trance. Glossolalia is associated with a vivid emotional experience, with an experience that is different from what a person usually experiences. People practicing glossolalia in the church noted phenomena that were interpreted as mystical: extraordinary sensations in the body, insights related to understanding the meaning of life, and even unaddressed erotic feelings. Ecstatic experiences are exciting, and after them comes a state of calm, enlightenment, and peace, as described by glossolalia practitioners. Having gained such an experience in religious organization, in the future, whenever a person experiences positive emotions, they will be associated with faith and positive emotions. However, people who have been
exposed to such an impact, at least for a while, lose the ability to be a strong and even average linguistic personality and become a weak linguistic personality, unable to reflect.
Distortion of "speaking in tongues" concept by religious adherents
The publications of religious adherents of glossolalia ignore the fact that "speaking in tongues" (glossolalia) is actually meaningless, that no one understands such "languages", including the speakers themselves. The absence of interpreters also does not bother anyone. And this is also a violation of what is commanded in the Holy Scriptures since it prescribed the mandatory presence of an interpreter. If there is no interpreter, it is recommended to remain silent. The adherents of "Bethany" in their explanations refer to the description in Acts, when the Spirit descended in the form of fiery tongues, the believers spoke in tongues, and everyone around them was amazed that the Holy Spirit reveals the secrets of their hearts and exposes them in their native languages. The adherents completely ignore the fact that the Acts speak about the native languages of believers, about languages that were understandable for their native speakers. For the people, "speaking in tongues" nowadays is incoherent mumbling, meaningless shouting. It is impossible to distinguish any words or sentences in any real language there, that is, it is impossible to determine the lexical and syntactic means of such languages — for the reason that they simply do not exist.
Hence, it reveals the assumption that the religious adherents have distorted what was written in the Holy Scriptures.
Notwithstanding this, the adepts of "Bethany" justify their interpretation of "speaking in tongues" by the fact that, firstly, there are many people in this practice, and secondly, by the fact that God understands any prayer addressed to him.
However, the Holy Scriptures condemned the utterance of meaningless, incomprehensible words and speeches; such "speaking" was equated with emptiness as throwing words to the wind: "Now, if I come to you, brethren, and speak in [unfamiliar] tongues, what good will I do you when I am not speaking to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophecy, or by teaching?.. So what if you, too, use INARTICULATE tongue to find out what you are saying? You will speak to the wind' (1Corinth.14:6-9).
The adherents of "Bethany" distort the words of the Apostle Paul about saying prayers in unfamiliar languages. Paul, as it appears from his words, certainly spoke about saying prayers in a language unfamiliar not to people of earth in general, but only to the speaker — for example, native Russian-speakers say the Lord's Prayer not in Russian, but in Church Slavonic language foreign to them, similarly to other canonical Orthodox prayers. Correspondingly, Catholics, being, for example, by origin, Russians, Germans, Armenians, Bashkirs, etc., say prayers not in their native language, but in Latin, which they may not know at all. Considering
Spanish-speaking countries — prayers ate said in Latin and Spanish (although after the reforms that occurred after the Second Vatican Council, you can say prayers in your native language) (1Corinth.14:5). Many Muslims, who do not speak Arabic, nevertheless say their prayers in Arabic.
Apostle Paul said, "I wish that you all speak languages" (1Corinth.14:18). "I thank my God: I speak languages more than all of you" (1Corinth.13:15). No data is provided here that non-human, meaningless languages shall be spoken; the apostle Paul thanks God for sending him the gift of the knowledge of foreign languages, so he encourages his readers to study. Apostle Paul points out that he speaks languages that are not native to him and obviously, he expresses the wish that everyone succeeds in speaking foreign languages.
Apostle Paul insisted on the need to understand the prayers that a person utters: "Therefore, speaking in an unfamiliar language, pray for the gift of interpretation. For when I pray in a [foreign] language, although my spirit prays, my mind remains barren. What is to be done? I shall pray with the spirit, I shall pray with the mind; I shall sing with the spirit, I shall sing with the mind' (1Corinth.14:19). "But in church, I'd rather say five words with my mind to instruct others, than a thousand words in an unfamiliar language"
Considering the knowledge of at least two major world religions — Judaism and Christianity—the chaotic "reproduction" of languages, the presence of "individual" languages is a big problem, a disaster, a sin, contradicts the plan of God, which is clearly reflected in the story of the Tower of Babel: God sent punishment to the proud in the form of multiplication of tongues, as a result of which mutual understanding between the builders disappeared: "Speaking in 'other languages', one becomes a stranger to himself. The consequence of this sin was complete misunderstanding between people"10.
Means of manipulating believers in explaining the phenomenon of "speaking in tongues"
The leaders of "Bethany" understand and actively use the power of influencing parishioners [4] with modern prayers and speeches at general meetings.
The analysis of the texts made it possible to identify the following key manipulative techniques of forcing believers to "speak in tongues". A. False interpretation of religious texts
Referring to the words of the Apostle Paul, "If I speak with the tongues of men and angels" (1Corinth.13:1), the preachers of Bethany contrast human speech and "angelic tongues", commit themselves to the mission of speaking on behalf of God, expressing his wishes: "It turns out that there are angelic
10 Иные языки пятидесятников — история столетнего обмана // livejournal.com. Режим доступа: https://m-e-l-n-i-k-o-v.livejournal.com/10352.html?ysdid=lb9ry84xp9852896470 (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
languages. And God wants us to communicate with Him in spirit in a spiritual language, not limited by the possibilities of our mind. After all, we often do not know what to pray about right now. Sometimes we know what to pray for, but there are not enough words. Or emotions overwhelm us so much that we are unable to express all the gratitude we feel to God for one or another of His benefits to us. Then we pray in tongues and in the spirit we say exactly what God wants to hear, because we are led at this moment by the Holy Spirit. God gave us this ability through the gift of other languages"11. The preacher insists that ordinary human language is too poor, meager in its means, that the cognitive capabilities of a person fetter him, do not allow him to rise above the mundane and soar in spirit to the heavenly abode that is, human capabilities are presented with a minus sign, in a negative way. In contrast, the supramundane is presented in a positive way. The gift of "speaking in tongues" is also included here as a means of approaching the divine. Due to this confusion of concepts, believers are inspired with a sense of inferiority in the implementation of ordinary, everyday life and language communication and a high ideal is drawn, achievable exclusively through "speaking in tongues". B. Manipulating of emotions and feelings
If glossolalia is not implemented issues of faith might be doubted: "Unfortunately, some baptized with the Holy Spirit neglect this and are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Many who have received the gift of 'speaking in tongues' do not pray 'speaking in tongues'. This is dead capital for them. The result is a joyless Christianity, believers with sad faces. People of the church have communion with the living God. Therefore, the anointing that comes with the baptism of the Holy Spirit is called the oil of joy. It brings the joy of being in God!"12. From the context one can guess that sometimes people are implicitly inspired with a sense of guilt according to the following scheme: if you are not happy, then you are a bad Christian, and you cannot rejoice because you do not pray in other languages.
Emotional experience during divine services performs the function of repressed emotions abreaction. A person who is under regular stress of everyday life, experiencing the problems of modern society, is freed from negative experiences at worship services — it is not surprising that personality and consciousness quickly acquire a religious orientation. Therefore, the efforts of the leaders of some religious assemblies e.g., "Bethany" and Pentecostals aimed at stimulating ecstatic trance states among believers at meetings are accompanied by glossolalia are understandable, since these states are a powerful means of influencing the personality and consciousness of the believer.
11 О крещении Духом Святым // Христианская газета. 06.06.20. Режим доступа: cgazeta.ru (дата обращения: 27.07.2023).
12 О крещении Духом Святым // Христианская газета. 06.06.20. Режим доступа: cgazeta.ru (дата обращения: 27.07.2023).
C. Manipulating numbers
Religious adherents of glossolalia, in order to defend their position, did not hesitate to mix the numbers of believers, often bringing up assumed figures. For example, in the publication "Why do Pentecostals speak languages they don't understand?" religious advocates of such speaking cite impressive data: "To begin with, not only Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, but also some Adventists, Baptists and Catholics (more than 120 million) speak other languages. And in Orthodoxy, too, there are such people, but they do not display themselves.
Even 300 years ago in Russia, Molokans and possibly Doukhobors and others (half a million people), also spoke in tongues.
And 2000years ago, the first church created by God, consisting of apostles and hundreds of thousands of disciples, did this.
For the record, today there are in the world more than 644 million people (from 600 to 800 million, including 120 million Catholics) are in the world baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues.
Think about these numbers before you outrage 'sects' — this is more than the entire population of Europe, 2 times more than the entire population of America, and 4 times more than the entire population of Russia"13. Furthermore, in the same publication, a large number of African, American, and southeastern countries are mentioned, where many people pray "speaking in tongues".
Such powerful data should serve as a convincing reasoning, remove possible uncertainty about the righteousness of the religious actions being carried out, and encourage people to join the majority practicing "speaking in tongues".
D. "In the name of God interpretation"
The above-mentioned publication "Why do some Christians speak in tongues they do not understand?" is based on the questions of people who criticize glossolalia, and on the answers of its supporters, interpreting God's will as follows: "Do they really not understand what they are praying for? Yes, this is what God intended, this is a special prayer language that only God understands, it goes past the human mind, so the worshipper does not know what he is praying for, but he always prays EXCLUSIVELY according to the will of God"14.
Alteration of consciousness as the main goal of «speaking in tongues»
The attitude of the leaders of Pentecostals and "Bethany" to "speaking in tongues", glossolalia, to a certain extent demonstrates the manipulative origin [5] of their activities. Some consider, the announcement of the obligation
13 О крещении Духом Святым // Христианская газета. 06.06.20 Режим доступа: cgazeta.ru (дата обращения: 27.07.2023).
14 Почему пятидесятники говорят на языках, которых не понимают. | Ключи разумения. Апокалипсис // Дзен. Режим доступа: https://dzen.ru/a/X4pGIUq3w3ZaUPwQ (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
of glossolalia by representatives of "Bethany" is made in order to turn off the rational thinking of believers of "Bethany", to put them into a trance, into an altered state of consciousness, which allows you to reduce or completely remove critical thinking and easily lead, manage such people.
Alteration of consciousness has relatively recently come to the attention of linguistics — since the 1980s [6]. It turned out that in the language of fiction such a condition is represented quite widely, and it can be identified by the speech of the characters and the author's description of their thoughts and actions, including the state of prayer.
Alteration of consciousness is not a disease, but it is not a regular status either. This state may or may not be related to pathology and is divided into artificially induced (hypnosis, psychoactive substances), psychotechnically conditioned (religious rituals, dreams, etc.) and spontaneously occurring in normal human conditions — "under significant stress, listening to music, playing sports, or in unusual, but in natural circumstances (for example, during normal childbirth), or in unusual and extreme conditions (for example, peak experiences in sports, near-death experiences of various etiologies)"15. In addition, linguistic studies have established that "an altered state of consciousness can be caused by contact with phenomena such as prayer, dance, music, emotional shock, shock, events and memories of them, sleep, words of another person, etc." [7].
Universal means of speech immersing into an altered state of consciousness, as well as reflecting this state in descriptions, are special words and word combinations, the use of extremes or absolute word forms (always, all, all), syntactic constructions — parallelism, repetitions, pauses, omissions, rhythmicity, etc., various techniques and means of depiction (metaphors, comparisons, oppositions, etc.) [8].
Given the fact that in the "Bethany" believers are strongly recommended to "speak in tongues", to resort to glossolalia, not understanding their saying, thereby falling out of everyday life, from common society, a person immerses in a state of "speak in tongues" prayer, enters an altered state of consciousness in order to isolate oneself from the regular, non-religious environment [9]. A believer who says prayer "in tongues" experiences internal tension and a kind of split consciousness: to convey his aspirations to God, but in no case utter meaningful phrases, that is, he is about to use language in a completely unusual function, moreover, in a function directly opposite to what language is for it exists as a means of communication and a means of expressing the inner world, thoughts, feelings, emotions.
The maximum, peak state of altered consciousness is a state of affect. "Affective is the opposite of logical, it is an irrational category designed to express the feelings and emotions of the subject. The linguistic term 'affectivity' ('affective' is the term
15 Измененное состояние сознания. Что это? // Нарколикбез. Режим доступа: http://narcolikbez. шЪо1о.Йт (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
of Sh. Bally) is interpreted as the potential possibility of a linguistic sign to express the fact of the maximum emotional experience by the subject of a certain phenomenon of reality, the phenomenon that constitutes the subject content of the word" [10].
Wanting to turn off reason, rational and critical thinking, certain representatives of "Bethany" church strive hard to constantly be in a state of joy, to experience love and bliss. Critical perception hinders this. Prolonged stay in such emotions can cause a state of affect: "Affective means include means with the scheme 'strong impulses of affection, love, passion'. Affective means are characterized by subjectively oriented components of meaning: intensity, imagery, evaluativeness, the presence of stylistic coloring. We consider all means to be effective, which both name and express a strong emotional state of mind... The criterion of excessiveness, extreme manifestations of feelings allows speak not just about the emotionality of the text, but specifically about affectivity. As rhetorical techniques for the formation of affectivity, we consider tropes and figures (figures of thought and words), which relate to the means that ensure the speech expressiveness, its impact on the addressee, speech transformation into something other than normative"16.
The achievement of religious ecstasy is by no means hidden by the adherents of glossolalia. Thus, the article "Historical information on the emergence and activities of the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith 'Bethany'" reports: "The religious content of Pentecostal organizations were the ideas of returning to the times of the true Apostolic Church, overcoming social evil and human vices through moral renewal based on ecstatic individual religious experience"11.
The adjective "ecstatic" is formed from the noun "ecstasy": "Ecstasy (from other Greek. sKomoi^ — 'displacement, frenzy, admiration, sidestepping, delight', from ¿к — 'from, with' and loi^M-i — 'to stand') — an elevated mood with an experience of the highest degree joy, delight, inspiration, exultation, extraordinary, exciting happiness, with detachment from reality. The term was also used in the Greek translation of the Tanakh Septuagint: Deuteronomy, Psalms, the Book of Daniel, the Book of Habakkuk, the Book of Zechariah, as well as in the books of the New Testament: the Gospel of Mark, the Acts of the Holy Apostles, to denote a special state of consciousness in which the boundaries between the external and internal are lost.
This state is accompanied by a feeling of ecstasy. In psychiatry, ecstasy is an ecstatically enthusiastic emotional state accompanied by an affective narrowing of consciousness, a feeling of dissolution of one's ego in the object of an enthusiastic attitude (self-identity deprivation), significant limitation of contacts with the real word and mental motor blocks (In some cases excitement) 18.
16 Историческая справка о возникновении и деятельности Церкви христиан веры евангельской «Вифания». Режим доступа: http://cgazeta.ru/church.html (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
17 Там же.
18 Экстаз // Википедия. Режим доступа: wikipedia.org (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
In affective state, ecstasy, it is easy to transfer subthreshold information against the background of music. This technique is used in neuro-linguistic programming, which is confirmed by the following statement: "... Of course, in this, as in many other similar cases known to experts, we are talking about the use of neuro-linguistic programming, suggestive practices, for the purpose of manipulating the consciousness, which contributes to the introduction into an altered state of consciousness. Alcoholism or drug addiction do not differ much from sect addiction. Considering such precedents, chemical dependence may not be the most difficult kind of dependent behavior manifestation in terms of treatment and further prognoses" 19.
Thus, the religious practice of glossolalia is aimed at forming a mental split in the believer, since the task in this case is a kind of "talking not talking". Such a split causes a rejection of common ideas and of one's own personality since it leads to an affective narrowing of consciousness. However, believers do not perceive this as a tragedy — on the contrary, they are inspired with a state of lightness, joy, bliss, unity with the Holy Spirit and with God. In this regard, their transformation, relegation to the level of a weak linguistic personality does not cause them anxiety, agitation, or rejection. People capable of being subjected to an altered state of consciousness in religious organizations certainly belong to the type of weak linguistic personalities who are led, rather than leading, in a communicative act. The linguistic analysis conducted by N.G. Zakutskaya showed that "weak, limply" personalities, often with low self-esteem, unreasonably resort to the use of suggestions (directive speech acts expressing advice) where requestive (encouraging beneficial action for the addressee) or even prescriptive (prescribing the addressee's action) directive speech acts would be more reasonable [11. Р. 109].
Conclusions
Taking into account the fact that religious "speaking in other languages", glossolalia, differs from the average normative everyday speech, it should be concluded that the leaders of "Bethany" deliberately build their ideology and speech communication to immerse their flock in altered mind state as often as possible, introducing affect, ecstasy, when a linguistic personality undergoes transformation and a person becomes detached from reality, unable to answer for his words and actions. Then he is as open as possible to the necessary suggestion. It seems that a strong linguistic personality will not voluntarily be exposed to this kind of influence, so as not to the loss of the ability to reflect and not transform into a lower, weak linguistic personality.
19 «Вифания» — дом безбедных мошенников // Антисекта.ги. Режим доступа: (дата обращения: 23.07.2023).
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Information about the authors:
Olga A. Kadilina, PhD in Philology, Senior Lecturer of Foreign Languages Department, Kutafin Moscow State Law University (9, Sadovaya-Kudrunskaya Street, Moscow, Russian Federation, 1259933); Senior Lecturer of Foreign Languages Department, Institute of Medicine, RUDN University (6, Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, Russian Federation, 117198); e-mail: olgakadilina@gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0002-9471-6143; Author ID: 1090271.
Elena N. Ryadchikova, Dr.Sc. (in Philology), Professor, Professor of the General, Slavic and Russian Linguistics Department, Faculty of Russian Philology, Kuban State University (149, Stavropolskaya str., Krasnodar, Russian Federation, 3500402); e-mail: e.n.ryadchikova@ gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-5239-8995; SPIN-code: 2752-1490; Author ID: 425533. Сведения об авторах:
Кадилина Ольга Александровна, кандидат филологических наук, кандидат филологических наук, старший преподаватель Московского государственного юридического университета имени О.Е. Кутафина (МГЮА) (125993, Российская Федерация, г. Москва, ул. Садовая-Кудринская, 9); старший преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков медицинского института Российский университет дружбы народов (125993, Российская Федерация, г. Москва, ул. Садовая-Кудринская, 9); (117198, Российская Федерация, Москва, ул. Миклухо-Маклая, д. 6); e-mail: olgakadilina@gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0002-9471-6143; Author ID: 1090271.
Рядчикова Елена Николаевна, доктор филологических наук, профессор, профессор кафедры общего и славяно-русского языкознания филологического факультета, Кубанский государственный университет (350040, Российская Федерация, г. Краснодар, ул. Ставропольская, 149); e-mail: e.n.ryadchikova@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-5239-8995; SPIN-код: 2752-1490; Author ID: 425533.
