Article.

Anna Kryshtaliuk

DOI 10.31558/1815-3070.2019.37.17

UDC 811.111 (081)

PHRASEOCOGNITIVE DIMENSION OF MEDIA EVENT REPRESENTATION

Медіа-подія та фразеологічні одиниці неодноразово були об’єктами дискурсивних досліджень. У цій роз­відці ми пропонуємо міждисциплінарний, когнітивно-дискурсиний підхід до вивчення ролі фразеологізмів у репре­зентації медіа-подій. Виокремлений у дослідженні фразеокогнітивний вимір дозволяє розглядати фразеологізми як одиниці, які активують значеннєві концептуалізації з доступом до конструювання медіа-подій.

Ключові слова: медіа-подія, фразеологічна одиниця, когнітивно-дискурсивний підхід, фразеокогнітивний вимір, концептуалізація.

Introduction

At the present stage of interdisciplinary investigation wide scientific attention is paid to the media discourse and its constructs (Potapenko; Bednarek; Bignell; Matheson; Talbot). One of them is media event which is defined as an embodied, discursive, meaningful construct resulted from the transformed conceptualization of a raw event (Kryshtaliuk 190) based on mental structures and operations. The inherent characteristics of an event are historical significance, novelty and change of knowledge about environment. These basic features are grounded in such profound operational characte­ristics as giving specific meaning to and focusing on a single occurrence as well as being contingent, consequential and carrying expectations. The discursive features of an event generated by the media are public reach, group-building potential (Bösch 2), simulation of visual evidence and physical presence.

Initial construction and interpretation of media events often occur in the newspaper discourse, which being a subtype of media discourse, is viewed as a mediated reality generated by verbal and non-verbal means that strongly influences the public. Newspaper discourse is a complex unity of news items and analytical texts.

One of the verbal dimensions of newspaper discourse participating in event construction is phraseocognitive formed by the meaning of a phraseological unit and the access it gives to the conceptualization of an event. The problems raised in the investigation are of high relevance but the phraseocognitive dimension and its role in media event construction have not been within the scope of linguocognitive study yet.

Theoretical prerequisites and methodology

Phraseocognitive representation of a media event in the newspaper discourse is based on the theory of the embodied cognition (“Embodied Cognition”), the cognitive study of the modern English media discourse (Potapenko) and the theory of construal (Langacker 55–89).

Cognition relates to all aspects of conscious and unconscious mental function and constitutes the mental events (mechanisms and processes) and knowledge involved in a whole host of tasks ranging from ‘low-level’ object perception to ‘high level’ decision-making tasks (Evans 17). According to the theory of embodiment cognition is grounded in the human body and its interaction with the environment, thus in perception and action (Kristiansen, Michel, Dirven and de Mendoza Ibáñez 2). According to this theory all cognitive abilities, activities and their products are embodied. They are shaped by image schemas which are recurrent patterns of our actions, perceptions and conceptions (Rohrer 127–128).

Image schemas are good at constructing media events in the newspaper discourse because of some reasons: (1) they are recurrent patterns of bodily experience; (2) they preserve the topological structure of the perceptual whole; (3) they operate dynamically in and across time; (4) they are structures which link sensorimotor experience to conceptualization and language (Johnson, Rohrer 37).

In the cognitive study of the modern English media discourse developed by S. I. Potapenko image schemas were grouped and proved to be effective mechanisms of recreating events by constructing topological, perceptual, spatial-motor and dynamic relations between referents (Potapenko 38). Phraseological units give access to different image schematic conceptualizations and construe them differently. Phraseological units construe event conceptualizations with the appli­cation of construal phenomena such as schematicity – specificity and others introduced by R. Langacker (Langacker 55).

The discussed above theories are used as the basis in developing the methodology of cognitive-communicative analysis applied to the study of phraseological units and their role in the formation of the phraseocognitive level as a discursive construct.

Aim and material

The aim of the paper is to specify the activated by phraseological units meaningful conceptualizations that participate in constructing the phraseocognitive dimension of a media event representation in the modern English newspaper discourse through the prism of the image-schematic component of its structure. The data for the research has been taken from the web-site of the British newspaper the Guardian (2012–2018). Newspaper discourse samples with phraseological units have been continuously selected for the investigation.

Approaching phraseological units

Phraseological units have been approached from structural-semantic (Lakomska), linguocultural (Malcolm), functional-cognitive (Mishchenko 28) perspectives in different types of discourse. But their status in language and discourse as well as their definition are not fully decided.

From a cognitive perspective a phraseological unit is defined as a complete construction having unity of form and meaning underpinned by embodied semantics formalized by image schemas (Mishchenko 40) and mental operations. Phraseological units are distinguished as condensed representations of extensive world conceptualizations. The differen­tiating features of phraseological units are iteration and anomality (Kuznetsov 62). Scientists emphasize the semantic continuum of the phraseological meaning from the most exact to the vaguest (Numberg 492). The phraseological units are non-compositional but conventional, i. e. their meanings cannot be interpreted from their parts (Cacciari 668). Con­sequently, the conventional meaning of a phraseological unit is the access to the contextual-interpretational construction of meaning in discourse. It is supposed that phraseological units treated as conventional referential signs are originally new metaphors (Munat 391). Like signs phraseological units are complete, fixed, minimal and covert (Munat 393).

Integrity, stability, separability, expressivity (Kuznetsov 62) together with focusing and coherence are those corre­lative features that establish common ground between phraseological units and newspaper discourse.

Phraseological units form a phraseocognitive dimension as their functioning in the modern British newspaper discourse is based on such principles of cognitive linguistics as symbolic and encyclopedic nature of a linguistic sign (Evans, Bergen, Zinken 21). The meaning of a phraseological unit as meaning of any linguistic expression presupposes an elaborate conceptual substrate, including such matters as background knowledge and apprehension of the physical, social, and linguistic context (Langacker 4). On the other hand, a phraseological expression imposes a particular construal, reflecting just one of the countless ways of conceiving and portraying the situation in question (Langacker 55).

We will further demonstrate that the phraseocognitive dimension results from the embodied interaction of phrase­logical semantics with the means of mass communication and the environment of language users. Phraseological seman­tics or conceptualization is the basis of an event representation.

Dynamic semantics of phraseological units

The phraseocognitive dimension of event representation is mostly structured by dynamic semantics. It has been found out that in the newspaper discourse phraseological units with meanings of ability, inability, blockage and blockage restraint prevail.

Phraseological units with the meaning of ability represent event participants as able to gain success, e. g. take office, prepare the ground, gain ground, pave the way for, set the stage for, throw light on, etc. The key components of the given above phraseological units are verbs take, prepare, gain, pave, set, throw activating the vector of ENABLEMENT. Nouns office, ground, way, stage, light are dependent specifying components indicating the goal of ENABLEMENT, its final point that can implicate instruments to movement and further success, e. g. It’s two weeks till Trump takes office (The Guardian 7.01.2017). In the given newspaper headline the phraseological unit takes office with semantics ‘to assume a position of political authority, especially one that is granted as a result of public election’ (The Free Dictionary) indicates the prospective ability of the event participant (Trump) to become a president.

The phraseological unit prepare the ground with semantics ‘to create or prepare the basics or essential foundation’ (The Free Dictionary) in the headline Chelsea see off Stoke and prepare the ground for key game with Napoli (The Guardian 11.03.2012) signals ability of the event participant (Chelsea) to cause one more event (key game with Napoli).

The phraseological unit to throw light on with semantics ‘to reveal information or details about something’ (The Free Dictionary) gives access to constructing a new perspective on the well-known event participants, e. g. Beyoncé meets Botticelli: how tabloid photos throw new light on old masters (The Guardian 20.08.2018). In the given headline due to the phraseological unit throw new light on tabloid photos are conceptualized as sources of a new event based on reminiscences (old masters).

In the newspaper discourse the choice of phraseological units is determined by the associative correlation of its meaning with media events, e. g. How the ‘blues’ of polar heroes throws light on Sad syndrome (The Guardian, 13.10.2018). In the given above headline the choice of the phraseological unit throw light on is predetermined by closeness of its socially abstracted meaning to the real physical conditions of the lack of light in Antarctica, that has a negative influence on the health of explorers (polar heroes). The component light becomes salient in construing the meaning of ability to explain Sad syndrome which is spread on the territory.

The meaning of inability is connected with those event participants who cannot gain results and are unsuccessful. This meaning is represented by such phraseological units as not playing with a full deck, fall flat, lose ground, bring something to its knees, shoot oneself in the foot, take the shine off something etc.

The verbal phraseological unit fall flat with semantics ‘to fail or be ineffective’ (The Free Dictionary) signals about ineffective solutions or actions of politicians, e. g. Boris digs himself in deeper as his usual tricks fall flat (The Guardian 14.03.2018). In the given headline the phraseological unit fall flat construes the inability of the UK Foreign Secretary Boris to use successful manipulative techniques (his usual tricks).

The semantics of the phraseological unit lose ground ‘to lose a previously held advantage or lead’ (The Free Dictionary) is determined by the salient verbal component lose and gives access to conceptualizing event participants as losing their former position, Britain’s big supermarkets lose ground to cut-price rivals and upmarket grocers (The Guardian 19.11.2013). The conceptualization of the given headline is determined by the meaning of the phraselogical unit lose ground, indicating the inability of event participants (Britain’s big supermarkets) to keep their high position.

The harm done by an event participant to himself or herself is represented by the phraseological unit to shoot oneself in the foot meaning ‘to damage or impede one’s own plans, progress or actions’ (The Free Dictionary), e. g. Theresa May has shot herself in the foot with the Brexit starting gun (The Guardian 4.10.2016). In the given headline the phraseological unit to shoot oneself in the foot indicates the reflexive inability by representing the event participant (Theresa May) simultaneously as source and goal of the force.

The meaning of blockage is constructed by the presence of physical, social, cultural and psychological barriers blocking the further activity of event participants, e. g. Danny Alexander: another top-rate tax cut would happen ‘over my dead body’ (The Guardian 5.02.2014). In the given headline the phraseological unit over my dead body with semantics ‘used to emphasize that you completely oppose something and would do anything to prevent it from happening’ (The Free Dictionary) indicates highly intensive blockage. Its source is the event participant (Danny Alexander) and goal is another top-rate tax cut.

Some phraseological units like at liberty, get someone off the hook give access to the meaning of blockage restraint which is opposite to blockage, e. g. $18m plan to replace bail aims to keep defendents at liberty until proven guilty The Guardian 8.07.2015). In the given headline the phraseological unit at liberty with meaning ‘freely able to do something’ (The Free Dictionary) represents a temporary (until proven guilty) blockage restraint for defendents.

Conclusion

Media events are initially constructed in the newspaper discourse in the process of conceptualization which is embodied and structured by image schemas. Newspaper discourse is linguistically and conceptually multidimensional. One of such dimensions is phraseocognitive, which arises out of meaningful conceptualizations accessed by means of phraseological units.

The conducted research has shown that phraseocognitive dimension is mostly structured by dynamic meaningful conceptualizations. Among these conceptualizations prevail meanings of ability, inability, blockage and blockage restraint. Accordingly phraseological units represent media event participants as able to gain success, to cause one more event, to show the event in a new perspective as well as unable to gain results or being unsuccessful and losing their position.

Phraseological units with the meaning of blockage represent physical, social, cultural and psychological barriers that can occur on the way of event participants. Some media events are represented by phraseological units conceptua­lizing event participants as goals of blockage restraint.

The prospect of further research is to look at discursive functions of phraseological units and their contribution into media event construction.

References. 

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List of Sources

1. The Free Dictionary. Web. 20 Nov. 2018

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3. The Guardian, 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2018.

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