DISCOURSE INTERPRETATION AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS IN LINGUISTIC THOUGHT

Abstract

Objective. The objective of the article is to investigate the origin of the phenomenon of “discourse” in linguistics, to analyze the various approaches of domestic and foreign scholars in order to define this definition, to identify its main specific characteristics and to present author’s own interpretation of this complex communicative phenomenon. Methods. The main scientific results are obtained using a set of general scientific and special research methods, such as: analysis, systematization and generalization of scientific literature, induction, deduction (to identify approaches to understand the essence of discourse and its characteristics). Results. The definition of “discourse” presents significant difficulties due to the fact that this phenomenon is at the intersection of a number of scientific disciplines, such as linguistics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, socio- and psycholinguistics and so on. However, due to the efforts of modern scientists in various fields of science, the theory of discourse is formed as an independent disciplinary field. The article considers the problem of complexity and versatility of the concept of “discourse” through the prism of various approaches to identify the features of each of them. The main trends in the use of the phenomenon of “discourse” in terms of systemic, formal and functional approaches are considered. The study assumes that in modern humanities research discourse is considered, on the one hand, as a coherent sequence of language units created by the speaker for the listener at a certain time, in a certain place, with a certain purpose, and on the other hand, as a complex communicative phenomenon, an oral speech action, taking into account the social context, which informs about the participants of communication and characterizes them, as well as the processes of production and perception of the message. Different approaches to understanding discourse are presented: communicative, structural-syntactic, social-pragmatic and structural-stylistic. The definition of “discourse” is studied in connection with such concepts as “speech” and “text”, their differences and similarities are stated. Different classifications of discourse types are analyzed. The author attempts to interpret such a terminological unit as “discourse” in the narrow and broad sense.