Everyday Life Confession in the Existential Discourse: Features of the Genre (on the Basis of the Story by A.P. Chekhov “The Lights”)

Abstract

Existential discourse in a literary text reflects the characters search for an experience of ontological meanings. Existential communication is characterized by the desire of communicants to define accurately the concepts and associatively represent experiences and emotions. Emotional accuracy in reasoning and defining concepts in the speech of the characters is achieved by the author’s skill in creating artistic images. The structure of existential discourse is characterized by the formulation of the question to which the characters must find the answer, based on their own or someone else’s life experience and knowledge, comparing this life situation with precedent phenomena, texts, events, referring to precedent names, building logical chains, proving or refuting statements.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the speech genre of the everyday life confession in the existential discourse presented in A.P. Chekhov’s story “The Lights”. Confession is always an emotional shock, because the confessor experiences again the sense of guilt and shame for the evil he has done. The essence of confession is the reflection which results in selfcondemnation and remorse. The confessional tone of the character’s speech allows the author to create his image and generalize his personal experience, deducing philosophical maxims and aphorisms from it. The powerful emotional message of the confession leaves in the memory of the interlocutor the image of a specific suffering person and evokes sympathy. The everyday life confession here is a tactic of speech influence and at the same time an argument confirming the validity of the confessor’s philosophical maxims, since his very worldview has been suffered.

Key words: existential discourse, speech genre, everyday life confession, emotional accuracy, sincerity, remorse.

DOI 10.18522/1995-0640-2021-3-21-29