DESPRE OAMENI ŞI STILURI

Author(s): Cristinel Munteanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 31/2014

Buffon is the author ot the most famous definition of style: Le style c’est l’homme même (Style is man himself). Referring to individual style as well, Nicolae Manolescu inverted this sentence, asserting that the statement Man is style (itself) is also valid in some situations. In this paper I aim at showing the extent at which the inverted formula can be applied to functional or collective styles, too. It seems that the way in which the great rhetors described the three types of style theorized in Antiquity (the plain, the middle and the grand), with reference to some human examples of excellent orators, offers us the proofs we were looking for.

Intelektualista jako upadły prorok. Dyskretny, retoryczny urok Syrakuz

Author(s): Artur Żywiołek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 10/2019

The article makes an attempt at describing the socio-symbolic field in which the contemporary intellectual has to act. The intellectual has undergone the processes of his/her position and his/her role in academic (intellectual) life, which is one of the reasons of the failure of thinking (reason). The article also encompasses an attempt at answering the following questions: what is the role of the three basic components of classical rhetoric: logos, ethos and pathos, in thinking? Why has the contemporary homo academicus ceased to be a guide and a translator? What is the influence of affections on thinking and where did all the intellectuals go? (Frank Furedi). What is the relation between knowledge, affections, and power, and stupidity?

Perestroika and a Short History of the Concept of Hope in Soviet Official Discourse

Author(s): Jakub Sadowski / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2019

The article analyses contexts in which the category of hope appears in the texts of Mikhail Gorbachev’s speeches and writings. His main programmatic texts and political manifestoes, in which the creator of the perestroika policy explained and justified its main assumptions, have been taken into account. Although “hope” does not belong among words with which Gorbachev’s reader is confronted on every page his writings, considered against the background of the Soviet authorities’ discourse, the last leader of the USSR uses this term in an extraordinary, courageous manner, testifying to a qualitative change in the way of the formulation of political messages in the Soviet Union.

Başkurt Türkçesinde Hayvan Adlarıyla İlgili Aktarmalar

Author(s): Nigâr Kalkan / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 66/2020

Regarded as one of the fundamental characteristics of language by many linguists and partaking at the very front of factors that create polysemy are transfers of meaning. Transfers that are approached since old rhetorical studies as part of strong figures of speech, which provide impressive expression, are shaped in line with society's characteristics and trends. Transfers, which provide the word with a large number of meanings, are evaluated under the titles "Metaphor transfer" and "Name transfer". Metaphor transfer, name transfer are ways to transfer the mental imageries of language. The most common type of transfers in every language is metaphor transfer or metaphor. Name transfer is besides being psycholinguistic and a gradually comprehension of fact also a rhetorical skill. This study evaluates the transfers related to animal names of one of the Turkish dialects, the Bashkir Turkish, which has a strong expression in terms of nature and the concrete. The name transfer, which is defined as the explaining of a concept with a related or another linked concept, is defined as "metonimiya" in the Bashkir Turkish grammar. "Metonimiya", which is also evaluated as different naming or name change, counts as the shortest way for naming. In the grammar of Bashkir Turkish the metaphor transfer however is approached within polysemy under a sub-heading called "metafora" and evaluated in three groups, which are; "atama metaforlar (naming metaphors)", obrazlı metaforalar (living metaphors)”, “individual-sitilistik metaforalar (individual metaphors)”. The innovation in transfers is based on the production of something new with semantic clarity (relevance) by using a non-specific (non-eligible) characterization path. As long as we recognize the habitual use of the word and thereby the incompatibility (mismatch) demonstrated at the level of the literal interpretation of the sentence while passing through new semantic clarity and in a sense through its semantic depth, transfers will always stay alive. Semantic novelty can be connected to the imagination of the producer. The emergence of a new semantic clarity in transfers, beautifully shows what imagination, produced according to rules may be. When the Bashkir Turks, who express the plant known as honeysuckle "ayıw balanı (bear plant)", long plants without flower "quyan qŭlaq (rabbit ear)" and to beat around the bush "at qŭlŭnlatıw (to birth a horse)", and their imaginative transfers about animals are evaluated, we can see an emerging richness, which is also an indication of the richness of the cultural structure of society.

Weasel Words and the Analysis of “Postcommunist” Politics: A Symposium

Author(s): Michael H. Bernhard,Venelin I. Ganev,Anna Grzymała-Busse,Stephen E. Hanson,Yoshiko M. Herrera,Dmitrii Kofanov,Anton Shirikov / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2020

A weasel word is a term used in academic or political discourse whose meaning is so imprecise or badly defined that it impedes the formulation of coherent thought on the subject to which it is applied, or leads to unsubstantiated conclusions. In this symposium we consider several key terms central to the study of postcommunist politics and discuss the extent to which they fall into this category. The terms discussed here include regime terminology, the notion of postcommunism, the geographic entity “Eurasia,” socialism, populism, and neoliberalism. While the authors come to different conclusions about the extent to which these terms are weasel words, they also provide pointers for how to deploy terms in ways that are consistent with the underlying concept and thus aid in the cumulation of knowledge about the region.

Metaphor and Irony in the Public Criminological Discourse of Lithuania

Author(s): Dalia Gedzevičienė / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2019

This article discusses metaphor and irony as discursive strategies employed by the Lithuanian media while construing the imagery of crime, criminal, and criminality. The method applied to analyse metaphor and irony in Lithuanian criminological discourse combines the framework offered by conceptual metaphor theory with corpus linguistics. First of all, metaphorical and ironical expressions were inventoried, and then conceptual paradigms were reconstructed from them. The conceptual-level analysis revealed that the relations between the conceptual domains of metaphor and irony are processed by different types of mapping (similarity [metaphor] vs. dissimilarity [irony]). Despite differences in the processing of cross-domain mapping, metaphor and irony realised in public criminological discourse carry out the same or very similar rhetorical and social functions. The main function of these discursive strategies is the vivid expression of emotional attitudes and values directed at the criminal—the text adresser evaluates the criminal and crime negatively, dissociates from the offender, and isolates him symbolically from our community. In this way, the contemporary Lithuanian media constructs and shapes the community’s approach to particular social phenomena—crime, criminal, and criminality.

A humanizmus az igei tudomány szolgálatában (I.)

Author(s): Dezső Buzogány / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2020

When speaking of Reformation and Humanism, we tend to connect them to each other. But as we come closer to the essence of each, we discover their substantially different nature. The gist of Humanism is the human nature. On statues and paintings of the Renaissance the man is portrayed as a great, powerful, almost almighty person. On the other hand, Reformation places God, Christ, salvation, reconciliation etc. at the centre of its teaching. Humans are included too, but only as sideliners, as weak, infirm, needy, helpless figures. Nevertheless, Reformation has benefited to a significant extent from Humanism via its emphasis on the grammar for mastering the languages of the Scripture (Hebrew and Greek), dialectics striving to a better understanding of the scriptural message, and rhetorics as a substantial technical help spreading the Gospel. Therefore, teaching these disciplines at the universities of the Reformation has become of major importance during the 16th century.

Termékenységkultusz és paráznaság Hóseás próféciájában. Hós 4,12–14 értelmezésének kérdései

Author(s): Norbert Magyar / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2020

In his well-known metaphor, the Book of Hosea describes the relation between YHWH and the people of Israel through the marriage imagery. Contemporary scholarship treats this metaphor in different ways. The diverging interpretations derive, on the one hand, from the dissimilar understandings of the cultic circumstances of Hosea’s age, involve high uncertainty. Moreover, the text of Hosea is regarded as one of the most challenging compositions in the Hebrew Bible. Finally, from a redaction-historical point of view Hosea is again a very complex book that needs careful approach. The most debated question concerning Hosea and the fertility cult seems to be the existence or absence of an institution of sacred prostitution within the ancient world. A decisive conclusion in this regard is impossible at the moment. While recent studies tend to question the existence of this practice, our analysis allows interpreting Hos 4,14 as a description of a sacred prostitute. The proposal that this woman, termed הָ שֵׁ דְ ק ,should be regarded as person having a devoted cultic role, is worth considering. Nonetheless, based on the meagre amount of data at our disposal, this study argues that her sexual activity did not stem from this role itself, but from her loose morals and willingness of attracting partners. Within the necessary limits of a case study, the resources and texts reviewed by us hig.

The Politics of Mourning and the Crisis of Poland’s Symbolic Language after April 10

Author(s): Joanna Niżyńska / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2010

This article analyzes the deep political and cultural impact of the plane crash on April 10, 2010. The tragedy that cost the life of a president, Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and a group of leading parliamentarians across political divides took place near the traumatic lly laden site of the Katyń forest and has led to a crisis of communal symbolic language. The crisis has been apparent in the radical polarization of Polish society over the rhetoric of the main political parties and their interpretations of the crash. However, the crisis transcends the political arena and indicates that Polish society no longer shares a unifying meta-narrative to form its sense of national identity. The author analyzes this process of societal polarization by looking at the stages of mourning—shock of the symbolic absurd, communitas, and the Wawel controversy—and the utilization of the communal affect in the presidential campaign led by the president’s twin brother, Jarosław Kaczyński. The campaign is characterized by the appropriation of the crash as Law and Justice’s “foundational myth” coupled with the language of indeterminacy and deferral to define a political program. At the same time, the crisis is fueled by the utilization of a reductive version of the Romantic paradigm, in which the late president is sacralized (as in Rymkiewicz’s poem) and by the proliferation of conspiracy theories that antagonize the society towards the current government and Russia.

Slavenka Drakulić: Dissidence and Rhetorical Voice in Postcommunist Eastern Europe

Author(s): Noemi Marin / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2001

What the communist regimes in Eastern and Central European countries left for posterity are scars of oppression. In spite of communist appeals and propaganda, for decades people fought to reinforce democratic values, freedom, and human rights, within and beyond these countries' borders. Moreover, due to communism's oppressive politics, some of the most eloquent representatives of civil societies chose expatriation and dissidence as a political, cultural, and rhetorical way to articulate democratic beliefs from behind the Iron Curtain. [...]

JEZIČKO-STILSKA ANALIZA I RETORIČKA SREDSTVA U HUTBAMA IMAMA U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI

Author(s): Hurija Imamović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 16/2019

This paper offers a stylistic analysis and exploration of the rhetorical devices used by the chief imams in their khutba sermons at Friday prayers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The khutba is a key tool in the mission of Islam. It involves elements and features of both the sacred and oratorical styles, but its basic purpose is persuasive and conative, viz. it aims to promote active change. It therefore deploys all the elements of discourse, with a stress on the use of proofs. Qur’anic quotations, hadiths, and statements from Islamic and Western thinkers are thus drawn upon as proofs, alongside sayings and anecdotes. Other devices also used to persuade or support the argument include rhetorical questions and repetition.

MOŽE LI POLITIČKA RETORIKA BITI „PREUVJERLJIVA“ ? KOMBINACIJA POSLOVICE I HIPERBOLE U SLUČAJU ENGLESKE POSLOVICE HAVE THE CAKE AND EAT IT

Author(s): Andreas Musolff / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

Can the use of linguistic devices to achieve persuasion, such as metaphor, irony and hyperbole, ever be “too persuasive”, i.e., overshoot its rhetorical aim? More specifically, can the combination of such devices be “too much of a good thing” in that it commits speakers (and approving hearers) to actions that they were not part of their persuasion intentions? This paper investigates the semantic and pragmatic development of the Brexit-related applications of the metaphorical proverb, You cannot have your cake and eat it, during 2016–2019 in British public discourse. At the start of that period, the proverb’s reversal into the assertion “We can have our cake and eat it!” by the then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and other “Brexiteers” became a highly prominent endorsement of Brexit and its supposed benefits for the UK; it even temporarily set the agenda for the public perception of UK–EU negotiations. Over time it became an object of hyperbolic praise as well as derision and recently seems to have lost much of its persuasive force. The paper argues that the proverb’s new reversed application by Johnson was initially successful in reviving its metaphorical meaning and framing it in a hyperbolic rhetorical context but that it also pushed Brexit proponents to an “all-or-nothing” outcome of the conflict narrative, both vis-à-vis the EU and within the British political debate. Thus, rhetorical success can lead to argumentative (and political) commitments that may have been not foreseen by the speaker and may run counter to their persuasive interests.

Тодоров в диалог с Бахтин

Author(s): Karine Zbinden / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

В търсене на смисъла: Цветан Тодоров и художниците

Author(s): Jana Damianova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

Consent and cooperation in the Greek context: Rhetoric and praxis

Author(s): Maria Anagnostaki / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2014

The core alternative measures in Greece have traditionally been implemented without supervision in the community. Since the early 1990s, however, new community measures have been introduced, following European developments and under the pressure of prison overcrowding. This article examines how issues of consent and cooperation in the supervision of offenders have been addressed in practice in relation to four community measures that are currently available in Greece: treatment interventions for substance abuse offenders, the community service order, the suspended sentence with probation and home detention with electronic monitoring. Different types and scales of approaches in relation to consent and cooperation are observed in different stages of the criminal procedure and between different community measures. An explanation of these variations is proposed with reference to the framework of the different ‘visions’ of community sanctions and measures – managerial, punitive, rehabilitative and reparative. Official language – rhetoric – is utilized in this exploration, while possible further action – praxis – is proposed.

Tri metafora konceptuale në ligjërimin politik në Shqipëri

Author(s): Elsa Skënderi Rakipllari / Language(s): Albanian Issue: 38.1/2019

The aim of this paper is to shed light to the employment of some conceptual metaphors and metaphorical scenarios in the Albanian political discourse. The theoretical framework of the paper is focused on concepts related to the political discourse, ideology and the analysis of language devices that serve for the rhetorical strategy. The empirical data for this research is collected from the minutes of the plenary sessions of the Albanian Parliament and from various speeches of important political leaders. The conceptual metaphors in this discursive variety are either used in the same way that other Albanian speakers use them or connotatively especially for the sake of polemics, irony and satire. Through a Critical discourse analysis, it is noticed that there are some very generic conceptual metaphors in the Albanian Political Discourse, such as POWER IS FOOD, GOVERNING IS A VEHICLE, and MEDIA IS A CALDRON etc. The present paper draws the conclusion that the Albanian politics suffers the populist syndrome and thus conceptual metaphors could be interpreted as a communicative trick employed not only to address the political adversary but also to interpose textual features that are very common to the daily informal speech of the people.

Gender Politics and Radical Right Parties: An Examination of Women’s Substantive Representation in Slovakia

Author(s): Ekaterina R. Rashkova / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2021

On the crossroads between preserving a nationalist rhetoric and adding ways in which it can offer an alternative to mainstream politics, the Slovak Radical Right has transformed itself from having an unsteady presence in parliament over the last two decades to having two nationalist parties with a significant portion of seats. This article examines the radical right parties’ (RRPs’) gender rhetoric and parliamentary activity, and in comparison to other parties evaluates the substantive representation of women within these parties. The study covers the period from 2006 to 2016 and shows that while women are still significantly outnumbered in RRPs, they are more active on women’s issues than any of their counterparts. Moreover, their activity can be characterized as “positive representation,” as opposed to the usually assumed “negative representation” of women by RRPs.

KRIKŠČIONIŠKOJI RETORIKA XIX A. VIDURIO LIETUVIŲ LITERATŪROJE

Author(s): Irena Skurdenienė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 13/2004

Religious and secular rhetoric differ in their intentions, aims and linguistic expression. Christian values, witnessed through cultural, psychological and social factors, were dominant in the middle of the 19th century in Lithuania. The rich religious literature of that period was subordinated to the practical needs of its addressee; its strongest emphasis was on education and didactics. Cultural values, particularly reflected in public discourse, were illustrated by the genre of the sermon. Preachers of that time, who were writing under the pressure of tsarist censorship, were restricted to certain themes, interpretations and means of expression. This genre was based on baroque principles: the authors depicted the temporality of life, the cult of death, and life after death. Those general tendencies are reflected in the sermons of R. Jasikevicius, officially accredited for use in churches. The preacher explains the principles of Christian life, emphasises the temporary nature of everyday life, and advocates asceticism and constant penitence. In the sermons of R. Jasikevicius we find a very strong cult of death: the author presents intimidating images of the Inferno and awakens emotions of fear rather than love in man’s relationship with God. As a preacher, Jasikevicius orients his thought towards transcendence, thus reminding us in his sermons of baroque religious literature. Stylistically, these sermons were adapted to peasant audiences. The religious discourse of the mid-nineteenth century vaguely reflects the active social position of the Church during these years troubled by the struggle for freedom.

Риторика и поэтика «Пушкинской речи» Ф. М. Достоевского

Author(s): Evgeniya Petrovna Litinskaya / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2021

The article examines the F. M. Dostoevsky’s Pushkin’s Speech in the context of modern studies of the way ancient heritage was reflected in the writer’s work. The analysis of the speech was carried out in the categories of rhetorical poetics. The author proves that the speech is structured according to the rules of epideictic eloquence, with a pronounced emotional component characteristic of Christian preaching. The author identifies established stylistic figures, the use of which is always justified: repetition, parallelism, gradation, amplification, polyphonic forms, period, allusion, irony. Rhetoric is translated into poetics. Pushkin’s characters (Aleko and Onegin, Tatiana, Pimen) become images with apparent features of both Christian culture and antiquity. Evangelical motifs and images, allusions to antiquity, concepts of Orthodox and ancient culture are integrated in a journalistic form. Christ and Pushkin are connected figuratively in poetics and rhetoric of the speech. Dostoevsky creates a portrait of the Russian poet, his image, and it is no accident that the “speech” is called an essay by its author.

Retoryka ekspresywnej egzemplifikacji w językach typologicznie odległych – na przykładzie wybranych wypowiedzi polskich oraz japońskich

Author(s): Jarosław A. Pietrow / Language(s): Polish Issue: 05/2021

A confrontative analysis of distant natural languages proves fully useful in terms of cognition when, as a result, formal differences in statement/utterance structures arising from typological dissimilarities, yet disclosing universal communication strategies, can be noticed. This refers also to the colloquial rhetoric, which is illustrated by this attempt at comparing the strategy of expressive exemplification combined with the mechanism of negation in Polish and Japanese. Usages of the Polish negative pronoun żaden (no, none) are compared here based on an extensive corpus of colloquial sentences to the corresponding Japanese exemplification structure based on the use of the form nanka, which, in turn, permits the observation of characteristic shifts in the hierarchy of the exponents of the former and the latter semantic function mentioned here. The synthetic nature of the Polish structure places the negation higher in the hierarchy, thus prevailing over the meaning of the exemplification, while in the Japanese language the analytical separation of both meanings places the exemplification and the negation at an equal level as part of the separately shaped thematic-rhematic segmentation of statements/utterances.