Vol 22, No 1 (2018): The discourse of emotions

Articles

LANGUAGE AND EMOTION: DISCOURSE-PRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVES

Alba-Juez L., Larina T.V.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):9-37
pages 9-37 views

EMOTIONS OF JESUS

Wierzbicka A.

Abstract

In a book entitled The Sermon on the Mount: The modern Quest for its meaning, theologian Clarence Bauman (1985) discusses, inter alia, Jesus’ teaching on “anger”. The book opens with a chapter on Tolstoy: “Leo Tolstoy: The moral challenges of literal interpretation”: “Christ’s first commandment is “Do not be angry” (Matthew 5: 22-25). Tolstoy noted that the text had been tampered with by redactors. By the fifth century the word εικη, meaning “needlessly” or “without cause,” had been inserted into the initial uncondi-tional statement: “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause...”. But what did Jesus really teach about “anger”? The term used in Matthew’s Gospel (5:22) is of course not the English word anger but the Greek word orgizomai - and the two don’t mean the same. The term used by Tolstoy - the Russian word gnevat’sja - is different in meaning from both anger and orgizomai. But the word used by Jesus was neither English, nor Greek, nor Russian, but Aramaic. So what did that Aramaic word mean - and what did Jesus intend to say with it? Tolstoy’s impulse to look for the “literal interpretation” is understandable, but as this chapter shows, the idea that we can pinpoint what Jesus meant with one word, from a particular lan-guage (be it Russian, English, Greek or Aramaic) is simplistic. The paper argues that in order to fully under-stand Jesus’ teaching about “anger” in a precise and unbiased way, we need to go beyond single words of this or that language, and to try to articulate it through simple sentences couched in universal (i.e. universally-contestable) words. Furthermore, the paper shows that what applies to Jesus’ teaching about emotions applies also to Jesus’ “emotional practice”. What did he feel when he saw someone doing some-thing very bad, or someone to whom something very bad was happening? As the paper demonstrates, the “Natural Semantic Metalanguage” (NSM) developed by the author and colleagues allows us to replace crude formulations such as “Did Jesus feel angry?” or “What did Jesus teach about anger?” with questions which are far more fine-grained, and which enable us to reach far more fine-grained, and more meaningful answers.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):38-53
pages 38-53 views

THE COGNITIVE MATRIX OF EMOTIONAL-COMMUNICATIVE PERSONALITY

Shakhovskiy V.I.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to show the development of scientific thought that leads to the origin and definition of the concept of “language personality”. Attention is drawn to the fact that up to the 1970s emotions had been completely excluded from the scope of linguistic attention. With the advent of an-thropocentric linguistics, emotions were recognized as the human being focal point, but linguists’ atten-tion was still attracted merely to the language of homo loquens / sentiens - the emotional component was missing. Therefore, the objectives of the article are as follows: 1) to present and discuss the develop-ment of the Language Personality Theory; 2) to prove the necessity of including the emotive component into the concept of the language personality structure; 3) to substantiate the introduction of the new term - “emotionally-communicative personality”, which logically fits into the terminological system of mod-ern communicology and emphasizes its communicative significance. The theoretical material includes nu-merous works devoted to the problem of language personality, beginning from V.V. Vinogradov (the 1930s) to G.I. Bogin, Yu.N. Karaulov (the 1980s), from the 1990s to the present O.A. Dmitrieva, I.A. Murzi-nova (2015); Shakhovsky, 2000; V.I. Shakhovskiy (2008 a&b); A.A. Shteba (2014) and many others. To my knowledge, the notion of language personality has not been discussed by foreign linguists. Another block of theoretical material is dedicated to the problem of the language and emotion correlation. Russian linguistics has been researching this problem since 1969. Main results of these studies can be found in the works of V.I. Shakhovsky, from (1969 to present), S.V. Ionova (1998, 2015), N.A. Krasavsky (2001), T.V. Larina (2009, 2015), and Ya.A. Volkova (2014) among others. The problem of the language and emotion correlation is varied in its formulation - the language of emotions or language and emotions: A. Schleicher, 1869; Ch. Bali, 1944; A. Binet, 1946; F. Daneṧ, 1987; B. Volek, 1987; R. Dirven, 1997; S. Niemeier, 1997; A. Wierzbicka, 1999 and others. The main research methods used in the article are the critical analysis of theoretical studies, by means of the hypothetical-deductive method, and the scientific intuition of the author of the article. It is found that 1) Language Personality Theory is many-faced but does not constitute a full picture of the described phenomenon, which does not, in its turn, allow to accept a common definition of the language personality; 2) due to the development of emotive linguistics and the theory of communication, it is obvious that there is a lack of the structure-emotive component in the language personality matrix. Also, due to the emergence and rapid development of the linguistics of emo-tions and the theory of communication, a gap in the structure of the language personality has become evident - namely, the absence of the emotional structural component in its model (matrix). In this regard, the article provides argumentation to support the introduction of a new term - “emotionally-communicative personality”, as well as an attempt to describe the cognitive matrix of the emotionally-communicative per-sonality along with the term “language personality”. The new term completes the term “language persona-lity”; 3) the structural emotive component of language personality allows to explain how language per-sonality can be ecological or non-ecological; 4) the term “matrix” helps explaining the emotive-cognitive intellectual competence of homo loquens / homo sentiens.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):54-79
pages 54-79 views

SENTIMENT AND CONFIDENCE IN FINANCIAL ENGLISH: A CORPUS STUDY

Mackenzie J.L.

Abstract

In the financial world, the words sentiment and confidence are frequently employed to invoke the feelings of an individual investor or of investors in general about the future movement of a share or of the stock market in general. The article focuses on the use of the two words in financial journalism by examining all instances of sentiment and confidence in the on-line Hong Kong Financial Services Corpus and explores the hypothesis that they will differ from each other in line with how they are deployed in ordinary usage. Drawing inspiration from functionally-oriented semantics and Appraisal Theory, the core of the article reveals how the two words are employed in clauses and noun phrases in the corpus. Our findings reveal that sentiment and confidence are to a very large extent used in financial parlance as though they were synonymous. The use of these terms reflects the writers’ awareness of the role of emotions as a vital constituent factor in decision-making.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):80-93
pages 80-93 views

ATTACHING FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS TO PROPOSITIONS. SOME INSIGHTS ON IRONY AND INTERNET COMMUNICATION

Yus F.

Abstract

Feelings and emotions, typically non-propositional, play an important part in the eventual quality of the interpretations to which they are attached. However, relevance theory has preferred to focus on how hearers build up propositions that fill the gap between what is meant and what is eventually inter-preted (Carston 2002). These are easier to handle, possess a mental representation and are a genuine ob-ject of analysis for linguistics (Chapman 2001, García-Carpintero 2010, Moeschler 2009). In this paper, a review is provided of several ways in which feelings and emotions play an important part in the even-tual quality of interpretations, specifically focusing on irony (Yus 2016a, 2016b) and Internet-mediated communication (Yus 2016c, forthcoming).
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):94-107
pages 94-107 views

IRONIC METAPHORS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Gornostaeva A.A.

Abstract

The article is aimed at revealing the current trends in the usage of ironic metaphors in Russian, British and American political discourse. Given the diversity of political genres, which makes it difficult to classify them, the article draws on the division into primary, secondary and folklore genres (Bazylev 2005, Sheigal 2000). The study focuses on secondary and folklore genres, as, being informal, they presuppose the use of irony. The data was taken from the speeches of Russian, American and British political leaders (V. Putin, S. Lavrov, D. Trump, B. Obama, N. Farage, B. Johnson and others). Drawing on the works on po-litical discourse (Beard 2001, Budaev 2010, Charteris-Black 2005, Chudinov 2001, Lakoff 2003, Ponton 2016, Van Dijk 2009) and developing a discursive approach to the study of irony which is often conveyed through metaphor (Shilikhina 2008, Alba-Juez 2014, Attardo 2007, Giora 2003, Hutcheon 2005), we have identified the conceptual spheres that are the most active sources of modern metaphors. We have traced the link between the new political trends and new metaphors, as well as existing metaphors which acquire a new ironic meaning. The results of the conducted analysis show the frequency of ironic metaphors, includ-ing aggressive ones, and the diversity of their functions in modern political discourse. The comparative analysis made it possible to reveal some peculiarities of the usage of ironic metaphors in Russian, English and American political discourse, which are presupposed by the speakers’ individual characteristics as well as culture specific discursive features.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):108-125
pages 108-125 views

THE EMOTIONAL PROSODY OF U.S. FATAL AIR-ACCIDENT DOCKETS ONLINE: RISKING RISK COMMUNICATION?

Guinda C.S.

Abstract

Risk communication is grounded in both rationality and emotion (Fischhoff & Kadvany 2011, Bo-holm & Corvellec 2014). Recent investigations have proved that emotions do affect risk and danger percep-tions by functioning as ‘mediators’ (Xie et al. 2011) and become important in decision-making. My study explores how emotion is induced by the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States of America (NTSB for short) to influence the mentalities and behaviours of its broad mixed audience and thus increase risk prevention. With that research purpose in mind, I examine an electronic corpus of over 500 online samples of fatal aviation dockets issued yearly online by the NTSB between the time span 2010-2015 and contained in its website databases. The emotional engagement deployed to mediate the perceptions of risk and danger by the general public constitutes a unique genre among all other world transportation agencies, since through informative vividness it pursues to activate the processes of memory, inference (i.e. judgement) and decision-making. I take Stubbs’ (2001) concept of ‘discursive prosody’ as point of departure and resort to a blended theoretical framework that combines Narratology, Corpus Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Proximisation (Cap 2013) and Positioning (Harré & van Langenhove 1999) Theories. I will show that the NTSB’s emotional prosody is more rhetorical than lexical and that the narrative strategies of focalisation and speech representation play a salient role. To conclude I will reflect on some of the possible consequences of over-exploiting emotional engagement in risk communication.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):126-143
pages 126-143 views

EMOTIONAL SELF-PRESENTATION ON WHATSAPP: ANALYSIS OF THE PROFILE STATUS

Maíz-Arévalo C.

Abstract

Self-presentation can be defined as “the process through which individuals communicate an image of themselves to others” (Yang and Brown, 2015: 404) and it is an essential part of human communication. Self-presentation has been widely studied both in face-to-face communication and online. Most online research, however, has focused on social networking sites, blogs, chatrooms, etc. while less attention has been paid to other online means of communication such as WhatsApp despite the growing im-portance of WhatsApp as a means of communication. The present paper aims to redress this imbalance by analysing self-presentation on WhatsApp; more specifically, by paying attention to emotional self-pre-sentation in profile status. To that purpose, a corpus of 206 WhatsApp statuses was gathered in Spanish. Results show the existence of recurrent patterns connected to variables such as sex1 or age, which play a crucial role in determining the emotions users choose to display in their profile status.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):144-160
pages 144-160 views

FUSTIGATION IMPOLITENESS, EMOTIONS AND EXTIMACY IN ARGENTINE MEDIA CELEBRITIES

de Marlangeon S.K.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the connection among fustigation impoliteness - a type of impo-liteness within Kaul de Marlangeon’s (2005, 2008) and Kaul de Marlangeon & Alba-Juez (2012) taxono-my of impolite acts, emotions and extimacy, focusing on Argentine media celebrities of the Río de la Plata cultural context. This article highlights the phenomenon of speaker’s or hearer’s extimacy as a vo-litional form within an aggressive relationship, used for the promotion of the speaker’s ego through me-dia exhibitionism that enlarges one’s own and others’ intimacy and sharing with the public. Within a prag-matic sociocultural approach, this work intends, on the one hand, to investigate fustigation impoliteness as a usual practice of violent public interactions of media celebrities, and on the other hand to consider when such expressions are due to the extimacy of the speaker or to that attributed to or imposed on the hearer or on a third party by the speaker.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):161-174
pages 161-174 views

DISCOURSE VARIATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF DESTRUCTIVE EMOTIONS

Volkova Y.A., Panchenko N.N.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to give a general idea of how emotion concepts and meanings of Russian emotion words denoting destructive emotional states change in discourse, reflecting changes in people’s understanding and evaluation of destructive emotions. The article focuses on changes in the terms for the specific emotions of gnyev ‘anger’, revnost’ ‘jealousy’, prezreniye ‘contempt’. The identified in-variant meanings of these lexemes are compared to their actualization in imaginative literature and pub-licistic contexts both synchronically and diachronically. The study of verbalization of emotional destructive concepts allowed the authors to identify their variability due to, firstly, overlapping and interpenetration of associative meanings in the peripheral semantics of the concepts, and, secondly, the discursive reali-zation of their names, reflecting the transformation of connotative meanings. The article concludes that the modification of the connotative meanings of emotion words results from the dynamics and inversion of linguo-cultural values associated with the attitude in a society to certain emotions, namely destructive ones, which reflect the shift in value orientation of the language personality. The data in the present study on emotion words came from dictionaries (explanatory and etymological ones) and from the Russian National Corpus. The methodological approaches employed in the study include the contextual analysis of particular words in the Russian National Corpus, as well as comparative analysis to reveal changes in the actual semantics and dynamics of the connotative meanings not fixed in modern dictionaries. The study expands on emotive linguistics and is based on the semantic-cognitive and discourse approaches towards emotion research of A.Wierzbicka (1999), H. Tissari (2017), B. Volek (1987), C. Gevaert (2007), Z. Kö-vecses (1990; 2005), G. Lakoff (1987), Z.D. Popova and J.A. Sternin (2007), V.I. Shakhovsky (2006; 2008), N.A. Krasavskiy (2008), S.G. Vorkachyov (2006) et al.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):175-194
pages 175-194 views

Chronicle: Book Reviews

REVIEW of Laura Alba-Juez and J. Lachlan Mackenzie. 2016. Pragmatics: Cognition, Context & Culture. Madrid: McGraw Hill, 307p

Foolen A.

Abstract

REVIEW of Laura Alba-Juez and J. Lachlan Mackenzie. 2016. Pragmatics: Cognition, Context & Culture. Madrid: McGraw Hill, 307p.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):195-199
pages 195-199 views

REVIEW of I. A. Bubnova, V. I. Zykova, V. V. Krasnykh, N. V. Ufimtseva (2017). (Neo)psycholinguistics and (psycho)linguoculturology: new sciences about Hомо loquens, Moscow: Gnosis, 390 pp. (In Russ.)

Chulkina N.L.

Abstract

REVIEW of I. A. Bubnova, V. I. Zykova, V. V. Krasnykh, N. V. Ufimtseva (2017). (Neo)psycholinguistics and (psycho)linguoculturology: new sciences about Hомо loquens, Moscow: Gnosis, 390 pp. (In Russ.)
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):200-209
pages 200-209 views

Chronicle: Conferences

CONFERENCE ON EUROLINGUISTICS “EUROPEAN PHILOLOGY AND SOCIETAL ISSUES” at VHS Donauwörth, Germany,29 september - 1 october 2017

Grzega J.

Abstract

Materials of the CONFERENCE ON EUROLINGUISTICS “EUROPEAN PHILOLOGY AND SOCIETAL ISSUES” at VHS Donauwörth, Germany,29 september - 1 october 2017.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):210-214
pages 210-214 views

LINGUISTICS TODAY: FROM INTERDISCIPLINARINESS TO TRANSDISCIPLINARINESS (The 3d Annual Firsova Readings. Moscow, Russia, 14-15 November 2017)

Ivanova S.V., Borissova A.S.

Abstract

Materials of The 3d Annual Firsova Readings. Moscow, Russia, 14-15 November 2017
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2018;22(1):215-222
pages 215-222 views

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