CC BY
48
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2021.28.4.25
ЛИНГВОКУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ УРОВЕНЬ ОПИСАНИЯ АНГЛИЙСКИХ МЕДИАТЕКСТОВ
Научная статья
Архипова Е.И. *
ORCID: 0000-0001-9992-3443, Новосибирский государственный технический университет, Новосибирск, Россия
* Корреспондирующий автор (gorina9[at]yandex.ru)
Аннотация
В статье предпринята попытка выявить и проиллюстрировать лингвокультурологические особенности английского медиатекста, определяющие инвентарь языковых средств и их организацию. Особое внимание уделено феномену прецедентности, коммуникативно-прагматическому потенциалу функционирования фразеологических выражений, аллюзий и использованию коллокаций в текстах масс-медиа. Семантически трансформированные фразеологизмы в медиатексте устанавливают связь с различными образами и стереотипами определённой культуры. Аллюзии на базе универсальных культурных или исторических концептов представляют способы познания окружающего мира, общие для различных языковых сообществ. Исследование имеет теоретическую и практическую значимость и будет полезно в дальнейшем изучении лингвокультурологических особенностей использования лексических единиц для воздействия на читателя и отражения индивидуального стиля автора.
Ключевые слова: медиатекст, фразеологизм, аллюзия, коллокация, прецедентный феномен.
LINGUOCULTURAL LEVEL OF ENGLISH MASS MEDIA TEXT DESCRIPTION
Research article
Arkhipova E.I. *
ORCID: 0000-0001-9992-3443, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia
* Corresponding author (gorina9[at]yandex.ru)
Abstract
The article attempts to identify and illustrate the linguocultural features of the English media text, which determine the inventory of linguistic means and their organization. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of precedence, the communicative and pragmatic potential of the functioning of phraseological expressions, allusions and the use of collocations in mass media texts. Semantically transformed phraseological units in the media text establish a connection with various images and stereotypes of a particular culture. Allusions based on universal cultural or historical concepts represent ways of seeing the surrounding world, common to different linguistic communities. The research has theoretical and practical significance and will be useful in the further study of the linguocultural features of the use of lexical units to influence the reader and reflect the individual style of the author.
Keywords: mass media texts, phraseological units, allusions, collocation, precedent phenomena.
Introduction
Mass media texts as units of communication reflect reality and convey culture, they are oriented to the maximum impact on the audience and are characterized by borrowing features from other styles, including vocabulary (scientific terms, clichés of the official business style), as well as adding expressiveness and emotionality to the artistic style for better perception and impact. This type of text presents a connected symbolic complex focused on the interaction between its author and a mass audience for the exchange of relevant social information, ideas, opinions and maximally actualizing the potential of textual dynamics [8, P. 116].
The operational component of these texts stems from the nature of journalism, the activity of which is related to pressing social and political issues: such a text is always the result of urgent problems that require an instant response [6, P. 144]. The specificity also lies in the combination of artistic and scientific methods, combining logical and figurative thinking. Publicism takes research methods from science. This is manifested in the use of conclusions, evidence, terms and concepts. Beyond that mass media texts borrow the image from art. Hence their main specific feature is syncretism, that is, the use of both scientific, rational-conceptual and artistic, emotional-figurative means in their indivisible unity [5, P. 246]. It is known that in most cases it is not enough for the author to simply "portray" reality. The author needs to force the reader to use his imagination. In this case, the text uses various artistic techniques to emotionally impact the audience.
Research methods and principles
A number of methods formed the basis of the study: the method of context analysis - revealing the characteristics of the components of the text as a result of deliberate decisions made by the author. Descriptive research method shows the characteristics of phraseological expressions, allusions and the use of collocations in mass media texts. The method of continuous sampling is used for the collection of factual material, as it occurs in the process of reading the mass media texts.
Discussion and Results
A linguistic personality has a cognitive base of the national-linguistic-cultural community, a set of collective cognitive spaces of societies that it enters into, and an individual cognitive space [2, P. 107]. In works on cultural linguistics and communication theory, a precedent text is considered as one of the components of basic spatial cognitive systems [1, P. 63].
The phenomenon of precedents (texts, situations, names and phrases) is characterized by recognizability, frequent reproducibility, and high cultural value. This phenomenon has been the subject of research of a number of scientists, such as A.N. Gudkov, V.V. Krasnykh, E.A. Prokhorov, etc. Precedent phrases include proverbs, sayings, quotes, aphorisms, slogans, mottos, titles of works of literature, songs, films, etc.
The use of phraseological units and linguistic aphorisms in mass media text plays a special role in the study of its language [4, P. 156]. The process of forming phraseological units, i.e. the selection of images, shows their connection with the various images and stereotypes that have been laid into a given culture over the course of many years [3, P. 138]. Mass media texts contain a large number of semantically transformed units. The communicative and pragmatic potential of the phraseological expressions functioning in printed media can be observed in both the usage and the occasional forms: "She married, divorced and vowed to marry again - when the pigs fly" (The New York Times); "When pets (pigs, too!) fly" (USA Today). "When pigs fly" is a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. "All that glitters is Ari Gold" (USA Today). "All that glitters is not gold" is an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. This example is used in the article about the popular singer who can be seen in shining armor in photos on his website. The choice of the pseudonym and controversial attitude to his art is deciphered in the allusion. "It's not enough for you to eat your words" (The New York Times). If someone has to eat their words, they have to admit that an opinion that they stated publicly has now been proved wrong. "Westray, sly as a fox, and Reiner, his face jutting into the frame like a cathedral gargoyle, share bloody tales that only make ghastly sense later" (The New York Times). The Times critic reviews the movie "The Counselor", describing its character as an exceptionally clever and cunning, especially in devious or underhanded ways. "Women's Place - At the table, but not for dinner" (The New York Times). The growing tendency of women's rights movements against gender humiliation is implied in the idea of changing the established opinion about women's destination.
Another aspect that reflects the relationship between language and culture is the use of literary allusion. Unlike quotation, which implies the repetition of some text with the original reproduction of the sample, allusion is the borrowing of only some fragments.
Authors use biblical or mythological allusions to make the text of the article emotional. Allusions that refer to biblical texts are often used to characterize people in a positive way. To convey non-standard, sensational information, the editors include mythological allusions in the titles. Most people are somehow familiar with the myths of Ancient Greece, due to this, it will not be difficult for them to determine the meaning of the title with such an allusion: "Talakhadze takes Olympic gold after Iranian Hercules" (USA Today). The allusion is based on the idea of comparing the sportsman to Hercules, a man of outstanding strength or size. "Where Jesus would spend Christmas" (The New York Times). The fact that consumerism has made Christmas a nationwide phenomenon encouraged the journalists to reflect on the idea of how Jesus, himself, would have celebrated this event.
Allusions based on universal cultural or historical concepts represent ways of cognizing the surrounding world, which are common to various linguistic communities. In contrast, there are examples of allusions of a particular community. They characterize specific national ways of understanding the world, which originate in the traditions of this ethnic group. There are also intermedia allusions based not only on verbal texts, but also on the "texts" of other arts, such as cinematography.
Also, newspaper headlines can contain double allusions: "Once and Future NATO" (USA Today). The first allusion to "Once and future" contains a reference to the work of Terence Hanbury White, in which the writer outlined the ideas of an ideal society. The ambiguity lies in the mentioning of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "NATO". In this title the allusion is used to create an ironic effect: the NATO military bloc should not harbor illusions in advance, because the joy caused by the admission of new members hides serious problems.
There are many sources of allusion used in newspaper headlines. One of the most frequent sources of allusion in mass media texts is classical literature, known throughout the world. There are several official translations for one work, which makes not necessary to know the source language.
It is worth mentioning the works of the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. The works of this author are often quoted in media texts: "Hamlet", "Othello", "Antony and Cleopatra", "Romeo and Juliet", "Julius Caesar": "To read, or not to read, novels on a mobile phone. That is the question" (The New York Times). "What's in the journals" (USA Today) - a transformed quote from the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet".
Poetic allusions are also used in newspaper headlines due to the fact that poems cling to the mind of an individual and their use is an effective technique for attracting the reader's attention: "Nothing gold can pay" (The New York Times). The author refers to the poem "Nothing gold can stay" by the American poet Robert Frost. The article describes the unsuccessful life of athletes who once received gold medals.
Literary allusions in the mass media texts may contain historical implications, because a lot of events are reflected in literature: "Barack Obama rewrites war and peace for Nobel audience" (USA Today). This is an allusion to the work of Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace". In his 36-minute speech Barack Obama dwells on the topic of controlling violence, the tensions between war and peace and the idea of a "just war". The reason for this title lies in the author's skepticism about the merits of Barack Obama, who became the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, despite of some controversy, because he is a president waging two wars abroad.
The names of famous writers (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, J. K. Rowling) are also common: "A Jane Austen state of mind" (USA Today). The name of the famous English writer Jane Austen is used to describe the problems of modern society and the fact that they should be solved in the near future. Irony, realism and criticism of social problems are clearly observed in the writer's works. With the advent of the Harry Potter series, the name of the English writer J.K. Rowling is also making headlines in the media: "At Last, Rowling Gets Back to School" (The New York Times), which is the transformed title of The New York Times Book Review "At Last, The Wizard Gets Back To School" published in 2000.
It is known that a significant part of the content in the media is devoted to politics. This is facilitated by the possibility of instantaneous transmission of information over long distances to a mass global audience. Therefore, social and political
vocabulary acquires the character of a kind of journalism terminology, making up an integral part of the newspaper's vocabulary. Linguistically, the language of politics is, first of all, social and political vocabulary, abundantly represented in the media [7, P. 21]. So, in political discourse, collocations often attract the attention of the reader: "Our parliamentarians who stood for election were chosen through online voting on the Rousseau platform - not inside a smoke-filled room like the established parties" (The New York Times); "For a few thousand dollars you can spend the night in what may be the original smoke-filled room" (USA Today). A smoke-filled room is a secret political gathering as a decision-making process. "A blistering summary of the administration's overdue obligation to make strategic decisions to deter Russia and China, as opposed to glad-handing them..." (The New York Times); "Iran's Rouhani Seen as Lame Duck After Trump Ditches Deal" (The New York Times). In the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators. In these contexts, it has the meaning of one whose position or term of office will soon end. "All of the top jobs in the Communist Party are chosen through intense horse-trading among outgoing and former leaders" (USA Today). Horse trading is the negotiation accompanied by shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions. "The grassroots group Arizona Educators United is asking teachers to cast ballots over three days on whether to risk a walkout that could shut schools" (USA Today). The grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national or international level. "Cracks appear at last in Thai economy's 'teflon' coating" (The New York Times). A metaphorical use of the title "Teflon" used of a politician able to shrug off scandal or misjudgement and deflect criticism on to others. These examples of collocations are non-equivalent that makes them culturally specific even after borrowing into other languages.
Conclusion
Linguistic and cultural features are reflected in the mass media texts through the use of phraseological units, different types of allusions, collocations, etc. These linguistic units may be used in a modified form, which is a reflection of the individual style of the author and their creativity. A significant number of allusions highlights the tendency of attracting the readers' attention due to various images and stereotypes of a particular culture, along with the existence of universal precedent phenomena familiar to people regardless of their belonging to a particular language community. Linguocultural potential of the media texts lies in the field of cognitive connection of a linguistic personality to the various images and stereotypes programmed by its culture. Thus, culturally specific precedent phenomena encode the text, limiting the readership able to understand the essence, thereby drawing attention to the text.
Конфликт интересов Conflict of Interest
Не указан. None declared.
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