Linguistic Discussion In The Context Of The Soviet Journalese Discourse

The present article examines the text-based content of the discussion on linguistics held in 1950 on the pages of the newspaper Pravda. The focus is on the means and forms of expressing evaluation and axiological semantics. The authors set a goal to characterize the linguistic-ideological component of the discussion revealing at the same time the features determined, on the one hand, by the dependence on state ideology and the framework of the Soviet journalese discourse, and on the other hand, by the subject of the discussion and the status of its participants. The materials of the "linguistic discussion" reflected the signs of scientific polemical discourse and conflict communication in the discourse of the media. To the former belong: the abundance of evaluative vocabulary which expresses predominantly a rationalistic assessment; the active usage of interrogative sentences and question-answer complexes. The conditions of public communication accounted for the expression of the axiological notional "friend-foe" opposition and the expressive richness of separate text items. The main means of the "friend-foe" opposition’s representation are ideologemes and a system of metaphors. The common linguistic and pragmatic features of the discussion are found on the level of syntax and are manifested in the active usage of interrogative, negative and adversative constructions. A characteristic feature is the usage of question-answer complexes, and expressivisation of the text through adversative constructions and antitheses. It is shown that the question-answer complexes, the adversative constructions, the expressive richness of separate fragments of speeches carry out in this discussion a manipulative function. © 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK