The Constitutive Features of Discourse Dramaturgy

Abstract

The phenomenon of discourse dramaturgy is the object of this research. Discourse modelling from the perspective of dramaturgy is one of the ways to examine the structure of discourse. This article presents a broad and a narrow approach to defining discourse dramaturgy. In a broad sense, it is the performance of social roles, which are determined by the structure of social relations. The narrow approach views discourse dramaturgy as a strategic planning of speech behaviour, maintenance and correction of one’s social persona. This research aims at revealing the main constitutive features of discourse dramaturgy. The key scientific method employed is the content analysis of studies on the dramaturgy of speech behaviour, communicative self-presentation and self-expression, presentative dimension of discourse, insincerity as a communicative concept, and indirect communication. The theoretical findings are illustrated by discourse excerpts from works of fiction found in the National Corpus of the Russian Language. They were selected using words naming speech genres or the way of performing a speech act. As a result, the following constitutive features of discourse dramaturgy were identified: intersubjective admission of the code of trust; determination of the genre of the communicative situation; profiling of the conceptual opposition between sincerity and insincerity; gradual character of dramaturgy; agency of the subject; performativity. The model of discourse dramaturgy analysis synthesizes the methodological tools of pragmalinguistics as well as cognitive and sociolinguistic studies. The scientific value and theoretical significance of this research lie in clarifying the notion of discourse dramaturgy using the example of the dramaturgy of everyday discourse as well as in determining the foundations of discourse dramaturgy typology and classification of dramaturgy indicators. The identified constitutive features allow us to distinguish the following types of everyday discourse dramaturgy: diffuse and accented dramaturgy; spontaneous and pre-designed dramaturgy. Discourse dramaturgy indicators are determined by means of linguopragmatic analysis and discourse analysis of the strategic implementation of the dramaturgy of social interactions.