Contrastive lexicology 7. Mass media language: functions and interpretation презентация

THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF JOURNALISM
The functional style of journalism (публицистический стиль) differentiated according to the function of impact (функция воздействия), covers a diversity of language phenomena which, on the one hand, reveal features of the belles-lettres style (беллетристический стиль), while on the other – convey informational content (функция сообщения).
In other words, journalism draws on a wide range of communicative and stylistic resources specific to different genres and registers.

THE FUNCTIONS OF PERSUASION AND APPEAL
Newspaper essays, feature articles, reportage, editorials as well as news and opinion sections share the communicative purpose of persuasion (функция убеждения) and the function of rhetorical appeal (функция побуждения) directed at the reader.
It is believed that readers’ views are confirmed by the newspaper they read, rather than altered by it. People tend to buy a paper that they know will agree with their views.

EXPRESSIVITY AND EVALUATION
There is always an evaluation value judgement (explicit or implicit) that is accompanying the unfolding of the main content – the information or ‘news’ aspect of a newspaper article.
Expressivity is an obligatory qualifying feature of journalism. Without it, a newspaper text would have lost its very purpose – the communicative intent behind the story.
The style of journalism can be defined as a combination of “standard usage and expressive elements”.
«Использование лексических средств языка в публицистическом тексте подчиняется конструктивному принципу сочетания стандарта и экспрессии: модель газетного текста «раскрывается как обязательное и прямолинейно-постоянное соотнесение стандартизированных и экспрессивных сегментов речевой цепи, их чередование и контрастирование».
(Д. С. Мухортов «Значение слова в тисках речи», М., 2014, с. 97-98; В. Г. Костомаров «Русский язык на газетной полосе», М., 1971, с. 57)

THE NOTION OF DRAMATIC STYLE
The communicative purpose behind the style of journalism has a direct bearing on the way words are used and combined in speech.
Since additional or peripheral features of the referent are not covered by the word’s denotative meaning, it is opposed to the expressive-synonymic one focusing on the connotative or emotional-evaluative semantic component.
Thus, pairs such as ‘attempt’ / ‘bid’, ‘disagreement’ / ‘row’; ‘investigation’ / ‘probe’, ‘explosion’ / ‘blast’, ‘situation’ / ‘drama’ or ‘бессмысленность’ / ‘ахинея’, ‘ноша’ / ‘бремя’, ‘расплата’ / ‘возмездие’, etc. make us think of words for which there are stylistically neutral parallels in language vocabulary.
Besides neutral nominative items, there exist expressive synonyms that contribute to the rhetoric of the utterance by making its style more ‘dramatic’: «слова с такими значениями существуют в языке самостоятельно и отражены в словарях, однако воспринимаются в сознании носителей языка по ассоциации с их номинативными синонимами»
(М. И. Фомина «Современный русский язык. Лексикология», М., 2001, с. 42).

THE EXPRESSIVE-SYNONYMIC MEANING
This kind of meaning is expressed not only through the word’s reference to the object it denotes, but, first and foremost, though its relation to other items in a synonymic set.
Rather often expressive synonyms are contrasted with the most neutral or common word (s), which comes first in a row of synonyms (the unique beginner).
For example, ‘naïve’, ‘trusting’ // ‘gullible’

THE WORD’S STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
In stylistic differentiation, we mostly deal with ‘neutral’ words (нейтральная лексика), which are stylistically unmarked to be equally applicable in a variety of genres, registers, and functional styles. Such items belong to the core of language vocabulary.
By contrast, some words tend to be used in informal situations and belong to the spoken mode (обиходно-разговорная лексика) or are characteristic of written language, literary bookish or poetic style (книжная и поэтическая лексика).
Stylistic dimensions can be demonstrated by sets of synonyms, such as ‘kill’ (neutral), ‘slay’ (literary), ‘finish off’ (colloquial); ‘journey’ (neutral), ‘odyssey’ (literary); ‘evening’ (neutral), ‘eventide’ (poetic); ‘dusk’ (neutral), ‘gloaming’ (literary).
Similarly in Russian we distinguish between ‘увлечение’ (нейтральное) / ‘конек’ (разговорное); ‘клевета’ (нейтральное) / ‘поклеп’ (разговорное) / ‘навет’ (устаревшее).

REGISTER FEATURES
As for the word’s register features, they are defined with reference to a given speech-situation. Our messages are worded differently depending on the immediate social context.
The relationship between the speaker and the listener in terms of age-difference, social status, degrees of intimacy is associated with levels of style such as ‘formal’ or ‘informal’. Another relevant feature is the distinction between written and spoken modes in terms of characteristic vocabulary.
Thus, “русские оболтус, паршивец, трескать относятся к фамильярному регистру; авоська, подкачать (в смысле ‘подвести кого-нибудь’), подвыпивший – к непринужденному; прибыть, отчислить, очередной, бракосочетание – к формальному; стезя, вкусить, лицезреть – к возвышенному” (Бархударов, 2007: 111).

STYLISTIC VALUES IN DICTIONARIES
In dictionaries, we find a paradigmatic description of synonyms aimed at specifying their features of ‘difference’ rather than those of ‘sameness’.
In The Dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian Language by Z. E. Alexandrova, we find both stylistic markers ( colloquial, literary, poetic, old use, etc.) and supporting minimal contexts limiting the use of lexical items to a given particular area or situation:
«мошенник – плут, аферист, прохвост, жулик, любитель ловить рыбу в мутной воде (разговорное)»;
«интересный – представляющий интерес, достойный внимания, любопытный, достопримечательный (книжное), занятный (разговорное)»;
«интриговать – плести интриги, каверзничать, мутить воду (разговорное)».

COGNITIVE SYNONYMS
Synonyms which differ in respect of the varieties of discourse in which they appear can be defined as cognitive synonyms (Cruse, 1995: 284).
The distinction between such items lies not so much in their inner lexical meaning, but in the sphere of their actual application or usage. In the Russian tradition we also come across the term ‘функционально-стилистические’ or ‘стилевые синонимы’ which enter into functional-stylistic paradigms.
Thus, according to М. И. Фомина, «межстилевому слову беспристрастный синонимичны и межстилевое объективный и употребляемое преимущественно в книжных стилях нелицеприятный; с межстилевым возбуждаться, волноваться синонимируются слова разговорного стиля будоражиться, взбудораживаться, взвинчиваться и др.» (Фомина, 2001: 108).

“THIS WILL BE DIFFICULT TO BEAT” (BY KATE MUIR, THE TIMES, JANUARY 16 2015). A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE FUNCTIONS
The informative function – the title of the film, the names of the director and the main characters, “the film has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar”, “Whiplash is directed by 29-year-old Damien Chazelle and is extraordinarily accomplished for a second film”, “Whiplash is entirely about jazz drumrolls and the battle of wills between two men over how, precisely, they should be played”, etc.

THE PERSUASIVE FUNCTION (THE FUNCTION OF APPEAL)
The persuasive function (the function of appeal) is directed at the audience. The communicative purpose of the utterance is to engage the interest of the reader, so that he or she is intrigued or ‘hooked’, to urge them to watch the film:
“I suggest you take a defibrillator to Whiplash, since the chances of a heart attack or spontaneous combustion are high”.
A hyperbole is used here to evoke an emotional reaction from the reader as well as to express intensification. There is, however, no irony because the author means that, it is the author’s true attitude to the film.

THE EXPRESSIVE-EMOTIVE FUNCTION
Expressive synonyms are apparently privileged in persuasive writing:
1) ‘whipped up’ – “…keeps you whipped up with excitement”;
2) ‘exploding’ – “the indie film has become a phenomenon exploding from a debut…”;
3) ‘raw meat’- “Fletcher’s raw meat arrives in the form of 19-year-old percussion student…”;
4) ‘terrific’ – “…in this taut, terrific film”;
5)’the battle of wills’ – “Whiplash is entirely about jazz drumrolls and the battle of wills between two men over how, precisely, they should be played”.

EXPRESSIVE SYNONYMS VS. NEUTRAL KEY-WORDS

EXPRESSIVE-SYNONYMIC MEANING IN JOURNALISM VS. METAPHORIC-DERIVATIVE MEANING IN FICTION
Expressive synonyms do not present a challenge to the reader in terms of their content. They are easily recognized and comprehended in the text as emotive-expressive-evaluative elements, which serve to convey the speaker’s / writer’s attitude or state of the mind.
Unlike the metaphoric-derivative meaning – a prevailing feature of the functional style of fiction – the expressive-synonymic meaning is easier to grasp: the dynamic aspect of the word’s semantics in this case is focused on the theme which develops within a strictly limited space of a newspaper article.

THE POETIC FUNCTION AIMED AT HOW THE MESSAGE IS FORMED AND CONVEYED
In newspaper discourse, figurative language is often employed for purposes of expressivity: to add a stylistic colouring to the text, to make it ‘appealing’ to the reader as well as to avoid tediousness.
Some ‘stock’ (trite) metaphors may acquire a dynamic aspect and become stylistically marked elements. The use of such words contributes to the expression of the author’s attitude in presenting the story, e.g. in rendering irony.
The author’s views on topics of general interest, cultural, social, or political, become the chief communicative purpose, which ultimately determines the use of language resources.

‘SUSTAINED’ METAPHOR
A ‘sustained metaphor’ (развернутая метафора) is a trope used as a stylistic device in constructing the text.
‘to beat’ – “to play percussion instruments” // “to defeat”: This will be difficult to beat, it deserves a loud drumroll to announce its opening, he rises up and the rhythms of his heart and instruments infuse the soundtrack, the tension is already electric, the road from percussion to concussion is absolutely thrilling (paronymic attraction).

THE SUSTAINED METAPHOR BASED ON THE FILM FULL METAL JACKET:
THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 British-American war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay by Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford was based on Hasford's novel The Short-Timers (1979). Its storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their training, primarily focusing on two privates, Joker and Pyle, who struggle to get through camp under their foul-mouthed drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by soldiers.
In many ways, this is FULL Metal Jacket set in an elite music conservatory in New York // a brutal sergeant-type breaks down a rookie recruit // music teacher…actually looks like a military killer, with veins angrily popping in his shaved head // When he shouts, you want to hide under the cinema seat (a humorous effect) // he sees Neiman’s talent and drive and sadistically manipulates it to the farthest extreme…
In a sustained metaphor, the nomination process covers not only the object that is being described, but also the related phenomena in the situation. Most words in the co-text then acquire connotative pragmatic meanings.

THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION: THE PREVIOUS BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.