A. Y. Vyshinsky’s prosecution statements: The specifics of the genre, interpretation of oratorical style

Vollständiger Abstract

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The article is devoted to the analysis of such a specific genre of legal literature as prosecution statement. The relevance of study is determined by the lack of an integrated approach to the study of the trial speech in linguistics. Both general methods of linguistic research (for example, functional-linguistic, stylistic, speech science, communicative) and integral methods meeting the goals and objectives of different scientific disciplines (such as logic, law, sociology, rhetoric) can be applied to the study. The purpose of the study is, firstly, to characterize the genre of the prosecution statement from the point of view of legal requirements for the speech of the prosecutor and traditions of court speaking, and secondly, to consider the linguistic means of implementing such rhetorical parameters as logos, ethos and pathos using the example of specific speeches. Since the oratorical style of A. Ya. Vyshinsky is characterized primarily by bright, historically marked, ideologically colored pathos, the main attention in the article is focused on the analysis of the content and linguistic organization of the pathos of speech both in Vyshinsky’s oratorical style and in general theoretical terms. The article suggests the following directions for reconstructing pathos: analysis of the speaker’s selfreflection, ethical and ideological conditionality of emotions demonstrated in speech; the individual pathos of the speaker is considered in the context of the time. A specific structural feature of a prosecution statement is the inclusion of characteristics of participants in the trial, which is mandatory for this genre. In speeches of Vyshinsky, characteristics of a defendant correlate with the prosecution strategy and pathos. From the point of view of selection of linguistic means for speech portraiture, these characteristics are close to the formation of images of characters in works of art, therefore, they can and should, in the opinion of the author of the article, be studied with the use of linguapoetics methods. The author comes to the conclusion that the main factor in the formation of the style and linguistic features of Vyshinsky’s prosecution statements is the historical and political context of his speeches.