Colloquialism as a phenomenon in modern women’s prose (based on V. Tokareva’s novella “Nichevo osobennovo” (“Nothing Special”))

Abstract

We associate the relevance of addressing the problem of the colloquial speech usage within the framework of a literary text and, in general, the consideration of individual techniques for creating colloquiality in the text with the need to determine the range of colloquial vocabulary use by masters of the word. Colloquiality is one of the most striking features of everyday speech related to spontaneity in communication. In everyday speech behavior of native speakers, colloquial speech clearly demonstrates both a function of communication and an expressive function. Colloquial speech is traditionally widely used by writers in a literary text to create a characters’ speech portrait and increase the impact of the author’s speech in works of fiction. The representatives of modern women’s Russian prose are no exception. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of creating colloquiality in a literary text in the works of outstanding authors of modern women’s prose. The study is based on V. Tokareva’s novella “Nothing Special”. This article uses descriptive and structural methods, as well as the method of linguistic and stylistic analysis in the study of the literary text. Particular attention is paid to individual techniques used for creating colloquialities in the text. We have come to the conclusion that V. Tokareva strives to bring the narrative closer to real life, to increase the expression of the narrative; therefore, she actively uses the elements of colloquial speech.