Культурно-языковые контакты
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Sheveleva A. I.,
Professor, Chair of Grammar,
IFL, FENU
An Intent Look at Newspaper Headlines Borrowed from American Political Discourse about Russia
The image of Russia as described in foreign mass media is of great interest for researchers. Mass media produces a great influence upon the process of international cooperation and, on the whole, on the situation within a country itself.
Newspapers are the most widespread among other mass media means.
Newspapers inform how successfully Russia is going on the way to democracy, market economy and a strong legal foundation for the functioning of the state and public life (Поляков 1998).
Newspapers give evidence concerning US political interests towards Russia.
Newspapers show that for American journalists, national, rather than international, interests are their primary concerns (Быков 2001).
As mentioned, any article begins with a headline regardless of the genre. A headline makes the initial contribution to the text and as a result possesses the highest degree of communicative affect upon a reader. It is typical of a headline to be brief and laconic structurally and informative semantically. As a rule, headlines are intended not only for specialists but for common readers as well.
Now and then newspaper headlines have attracted researchers’ attention. The researchers underline that the interaction between a headline and the rest of the article is a bilateral process characterized by intercommunication and interdependency of the text’s components. On the one hand, a headline subordinates the body of the article. On the other hand, it is developed in the text, and thus dependent on it at the same time. It is the text’s content that limits the informative possibilities of a headline (Несветайлова, 1983: 7-8).
The object of our investigation is newspaper headlines borrowed from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and News Week. The headlines were analyzed structurally, functionally and pragmatically.
1. Structural approach
The analysis allowed us to state that, structurally, headlines are divided into:
1.1 The compressives. As a rule, these headlines arc devoid of unimportant, insignificant, useless words that make difficulties for perception. They are aimed at giving as much information as possible in the frame of an extremely compressed grammatical structure.
Russia Cuts Belarus Oil Duty
By Steven Lee Myers
January 13, 2007
Russia: Putin Lifts Moldova Trade Ban
By Steven Lee Myers
Ch. S. M., November 29, 2006
Such headlines traditionally consist of simple, primarily nominative, sentences. Their use is connected with the expressiveness and dynamism of a headline, which must be accepted by a reader quickly and effectively.
Usually the headlines of this type contain such key words as "Putin, Russia, Kremlin, Gasprom ", etc. Their task is to attract and sustain the readers’ attention and to concentrate it on the article.
Belarus-Gasprom Gas Talks Reach Impasse by Steve Gutterman. (N. Y. Т., December 26, 2006)
Russia: Arrest in Killing Central Banker by Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M., January 12, 2007)
Ex-spy’s death adds to Kremlin Intrigue (Ch. S. M., November 27, 2006)
Very often such headlines are built up on the basis of contrast or a sharp comparison used as a stylistic means.
The Best, the Worst, the Waekiest...and the End by Lisa Dickey (W. P., November 22, 2005)
Looking Back and Ahead by Lisa Dickey (W. P., November 21, 2005)
Back to the Future: New US - Russia Arms Race (Ch. S. M., June 16, 2004)
1.2 The extensives expressing the main idea of the text which remains unchanged in the course of the political narration. These headlines are usually represented by syntactic structures with a verbal predicate.
Belarus Learns That Days of Wine and Ruses Are Over by Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M, January 12, 2007)
Russians Say Their Radiation Exposure Occurred during Earlier Trip to London by Peter Finn and Mary Jordan (W. P., December 14, 2006 )
Mystery Illness Hits Another High Profile Russian by Peter Finn (W. P., November 29, 2006)
For Russian Followers of Contemporary Art, Best Part of the Exhibit Might Be the Venue by Nora Fitzgerald (W. P., March 19, 2007)
It is believed that such headlines are more informative in comparison with nominative ones due to the presence of the verb. It is the verb that promotes the appearance of a great number of attending members and more efficient performance of the Functional Sentence Perspective. In the sentences of this type, dictum and modus (token) are represented separately. So it becomes much easier to discover the personality of the author in the article. The latter corresponds to the open author’s I in the publicistic style (Рогова 1975: 11).
1.3 The interrogatives. This group of headlines under analysis is represented by interrogative sentences (direct and indirect) which produce an effect of an easy, natural communication with a reader without any embarrassment. It seems as if a journalist had foreseen the readers’ questions and included them in a headline. The article itself contains an answer to this question. The question is considered to be a stimulating means that impels a reader to commit certain actions: to read the article, to attempt to answer the question himself or to look for this answer in the text. Stylistically a question makes the narration more vivid and more emphatic (Розенталь, Кохтев 1981: 59-60).
Here it is necessary to add that the analysis of interrogative sentences used in political headlines allowed the researchers to distinguish the following types: a) a direct question making up a headline, b) a question expressing doubt, c) a question conveying supposition and d) a question-retard (Шейгал 2000: 228). All of these types characterize the scientific prognostication which is defined as “the guess-work” resulting from problematic character of the political discourse (Карасик 2004: 285). In our material, the above - mentioned types of questions are represented in the following ways:
Should This Man Lead to the G 8? - The question expresses doubt. By Jeffrey E. Garten (N. W., April 25, 2005)
War in the Caucasus? - The question expresses supposition. By Liven. (N. W., October 6, 2004)
Debate Renewed: Did Moscow Free Estonia or Occupy It? - It is a direct question. By Steven Lee Myers. (Ch. S. M., January 25, 2007)
These headlines arc characterized by their clarity, expressiveness and strong influence upon a reader. It is natural to suppose that the use of interrogative sentences provides close contact with the reader.
1.4 Multicomponent headline complexes (Сорокина 2007: 65) in which a headline is accompanied by a subheading which plays the role of a comprehensive thesis. This thesis gets its explanation in the course of the narration.
Kremlin Inc. Widening Control over Industry
Critics say Russian government is using takeovers to do its political business. By Peter Finn. ( W. P., November 19, 2006)
British Police Investigate Poisoning of Putin Critic
Former spy falls ill after meeting contact. By Mary Jordan. (W. P., November 20, 2006)
Russians to Take Poisoning Inquiry to London
Investigators want to question more than 100 people in death of former agent
By Peter Finn and Mary Jordan. (W. P., January 13, 2007)
Communist Past Fells Polish Archbishop
Stanislaw Wielgus’s resignation is the latest example of post-Soviet Europe’s struggle to address its past. By Robert Marquand. (Ch. S. M., January 8, 2007)
2. Functional approach
Functionally, there exist three types of headlines:
2.1 The informatives which give the information about the described events described in the text of the article. This group differs from the rest by privileging the nominative component over the axiological one.
Blair Minister Accuses Putin of Attacking Democracy. By Karla Adam. (W. P., November 22, 2006)
Putin's Assertive Diplomacy Is Seldom Challenged by Steven Lee Myers. (Ch. S. M, December 27, 2006)
2.2 The expressives rousing the interest or curiosity of a reader, producing a striking impression on the mind of a reader, perhaps, making him/her take somebody’s viewpoint or follow somebody’s advice.
Poisoning of Ex-Agent Sets off Alarm Bells
Nuclear regulators fear wider attempt. By Peter Finn (W. P., January 7, 2007)
Russia's Riches in the Hands of a Few (Ch. S. M., November 16, 2003)
2.3 The requestives. In other words, those which create close contact with a reader, and foster an atmosphere of natural communication with him/her. It is achieved through the use of reduced constructions, and interrogative sentences.
Intimidating the Press? by Own Matthews (N. W., May 22, 2000)
Debate Renewed: Did Moscow Free Estonia or Occupy It? By Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M., January 25, 2007)
3. Pragmatic approach
In recent years, linguists’ attention has been drawn to the functional aspect of communication. The success of the latter depends upon the sociological, cultural, and psychological conditions which should be taken into account in discourse analysis. This success is also predetermined by the correct choice of linguistic means used by the communicants. Unlike other types of discourse, political discourse is closely connected with the interests of certain social groups and is aimed at-conveying these interests. That is why the investigation of the linguistic, social and cultural aspects typical of this discourse is garnering more and more interest. On the one hand, this discourse belongs to linguistic pragmatics, which studies speech acts from the viewpoint of their influence upon the addressee (order, request, advice, menace, etc.) (Почепцов Г.Г., 1981: 271-278). On the other hand, it belongs to sociopragmatics, which “is the social interface of pragmatics” (Leech, 1983: 10). The analysis of headlines borrowed from the above - mentioned newspapers shows their enormous functional potential revealed in the text of the article. Pragmatically, headlines:
3.1 can inform
Russian Exile Got Warning on Day He Was Poisoned.
By Mary Jordan and Sarah Delaney (W. P., November 22, 2006 )
3.2 can criticize
Russia’s Extended Winter Holidays: A Binge of Drinking and Spending
By Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M., January 8, 2007)
3.3 can threaten
Gazprom Threatens to Cut off Gas if Belarus Rejects Higher Price
By Andrew E. Kramer (N. Y. T., December 27, 2006)
3.4 can warn
Belarus: Leader Warns of Hard Times
By Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M., January 20, 2007)
3.5 can express a hidden irony or can condemn somebody’s actions
Russia Billionaire Detained in Prostitution Ring Inquiry
By Thomas Crampton (Ch. S. M., January 12, 2007)
3.6 can suppose
Moscow May Seek Accord with Tehran on Gas Supply
By Steven Lee Myers (Ch. S. M., February 2, 2007)
3.7 can ask
How to Handle Russia?
By Frank Brown (N. W., May 9, 2005)
3.8 can mark certain tendencies in the development of the society
Gasprom: Rising Star of New Kremlin Capitalism
The Russian energy giant fuels Moscow’s agenda, blurring the line between business and politics.
By Fred Weir (Ch, S. M., January 23, 2007)
3.9 can even predict
Russian TV Shines Warmly on a Likely Successor to Putin
By Peter Finn ( W. P., February 2, 2007 )
St. Petersburg: the Future of Russia
By Lisa Dickey (W. P., November l8, 2005 )
Concluding remarks
In recent linguistic publications, headlines arc regarded as bearers of valuable information defined by the author. Researchers suppose that the pragmatic focus of headlines is realized in their informative expressiveness and imperative character. Conveying the author’s estimation of described events, headlines possess the highest degree of estimation connotation: positive or negative. In this connection it is necessary to say that the pragmatic potential of headlines distinguishes itself in their depth and variety (Комаров 2003: 213-217; Сорокина 2007: 64-67).
To sum up, we would like to add that the above - mentioned information doesn’t exaggerate all communicative and informative possibilities of headlines. The cognitive aspect demands to be investigated further in a more detailed way.
References
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Abstract
In the context of intercultural cooperation, typical of recent decades Russia is constantly attracting foreign journalists’ attention. Political, economic, military, religious and cultural spheres of Russia’s life are carefully described by various newspapers. As is known, any newspaper article begins with a headline, which plays a great role in the structural, functional and pragmatic composition of the article. A newspaper headline possesses the highest degree of communicative impact upon a reader and is characterized by its extreme semantic expressiveness. Our object is to analyze the headlines used in newspaper texts about Russia, to penetrate into the mechanism of influencing readers, and to describe the linguistic means by which certain results were obtained. The paper brings forward structural, functional and pragmatic analyses of newspaper headlines borrowed from American newspapers.