Ответственность как диалог
Otvetstvennost’ as dialogue

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes the semantics and valency of the Russian legal concept of otvetstvennost’ ‘responsibility’, documented in Russian dictionaries since 1834 and connected with the notions of guilt and punishment. The starting point for the analysis is Bahktin’s idea that responsibility leads to an internal bond within the society, which guarantees the latter’s unity. The nature of the bond is explicable, according to the author, by means of the key concept of dialogue. In order to show the dialogic nature of otvetstvennost’ as well as the individual and collective nature of its subject, the author investigates a model of action which consists of the object, the doer, the reason and the consequences. The language data come from stylistically diverse texts (colloquial, journalistic, legal). A conclusion is drawn that the responsibility of individual subjects has a social nature, manifested in dialogue (promise, recommendation, acknowledgement of guilt). The most important components of the concept are (a) commitment, (b) guarantee and (c) guilt and punishment.

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