Uncensored answer as an individually responsible act

Abstract

The problem of the spread of slander is relevant today. Social institutions (church, science, education, justice) oppose obscene language, but swear words actively function in society, and individual expressions can become offensive. The obscene response of the defender of Zmiiny Island became widely used. This fact has not acquired a scientific explanation. The purpose of the study is to find out the reasons for the positive perception and large-scale spread of obscene (swearing) speech by society. The methods used in the work are: dialectical, interdisciplinary, inductive, comparative, analysis and synthesis, processing of reference literature. The following properties of obscene language are known in science: an attribute for people who want to look special; weapons for verbal impression; a tool against psychological overstrain; an indicator of a person’s experience of stress; evidence of human linguistic carelessness. In science, abusive language was not considered as relevant for expressing the speaker’s civic position and personal courage, as a fact of his responsible act. M. Bakhtin explained the act as the activity of a unique individual consciousness, and called the role of intonation important for the realization of the act. The profanity-laced response of the Ukrainian defender is a verbal resistance to the enemy, and the refusal to be captured in the conditions of a threat to life proved an act that fascinated the society and caused admiration. The intonation of the answer (disrespectful attitude, reduced style of speech) demonstrated the lack of fear of the Ukrainian defenders and disregard for the enemy’s strength. The profanity of the Ukrainian defender became a kind of truth of life, a fact of overestimating the power of the enemy to a worthless, pitiful, derisive force. We believe that tracing the peculiarities of mass consciousness in the perception of information can be promising for the study of the problem of the spread of slander. The study of the verbal reactions of society is useful for the consolidation of forces in overcoming the enemy