POSITIVE EVALUATIVE TACTICS MANIFESTING THE STRATEGY OF RAISING THE ADDRESSEE’S STATUS (ON THE SAMPLES FROM MODERN ENGLISHLANGUAGE FICTIONAL DISCOURSE)

Abstract

The article analyzes the use of positive evaluative utterances as the tactics manifesting the strategy of raising the addressee’s status. The investigation is presupposed by the thesis that language is recognized as one of the tools for confirming and regulating the social status of communicants. The status-role situation of communication determines the nature of speech behavior and language means. The object of the study is English-language fictional character speech, the scope of the study is communicative tactics manifesting the strategy of raising the addressee's status, observed in the personage communication of English-language ficitonal discourse. The choice of fictional discourse as the study data enabled to study the communicative strategies and tactics of communicants judging from the analysis of direct and inner personage speech, the author's commentary, which serve as markers of the strategic plan of the discourse. It has been established that the repertoire of strategies for raising the interlocutor's status is formed by the tactics of developing the topic of the interlocutor, expressing interest in the opinion of the interlocutor, expressing empathy and respect for the interlocutor, praise, compliments and flattery addressed at the interlocutor. The study has proved that flattery is the most active strategy for raising the addressee's position. Flattery is always characterized by exaggeration, insincerity, hidden calculation and is aimed at the “glorifying” of the addressee. The strategy of raising the addressee's status is also implemented through the use of praise and compliment speech acts. Speech means used in these acts are positive evaluative lexemes, including phraseological units; the use of evaluative adjectives in superlative degree of comparison of, words of generalizing semantics. The outlined positive-evaluative speech acts ensure the situational advantage of the interlocutor and strengthen his authority, calling forth the principle of negative politeness.