Emotional Content of Non-Formal Interview Text in the Aspect of Respondent’s Reactive Utterances

Abstract

Margarita V. Ereshchenko (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation)

In the article according to the material of the informal interview texts, the respondents’ reacting utterances are analyzed, which are formulated in such a way that the final lexical segments differ significantly from the rest of the utterance content in terms of stylistic coloring and the emotionality of communication. In this case there is a so-called code-switching: for reproducing the humorous effect the reacting subject uses various versions of the language, in particular shifts the focus of the interviewer’s attention from the standard (literary) English to a particular regional or social dialect. Code-switching consists of the use of a specific lexical unit or expression that is markedly different from the rest of the lexical units (expressions) in the same utterance. The choice to use the mechanism of code-switching is determined in an informal interview by such pragmatic factors as the context and the topic of discussion, the interlocutors’ attempt to create a positive emotional mood of communication. Code-switching generates a humorous effect in the informal interview text, which subsequently determines the coverage of additional information interesting for the readership, the reimplementation of the code-switching mechanism, which creates a positive emotional atmosphere of the relaxed communication. The activation of this mechanism is based on the use of tokens with pronounced negative connotations in a strong position of the respondent’s reacting utterances.

Key words: non-formal interview text, respondent, emotions, codeswitching, humorous effect, double addressee.

DOI 10.23683/1995-0640-2019-2-60-67