“The main drawback of the book originates from its main advantage”: the evaluation strategy of polarity compensation in the reviews of German and Russian linguists

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze clusters of statements embedded in the evaluative strategy of polarity compensation in German and Russian academic reviews in Linguistics. Moreover, the article is aimed at identifying linguistic and cultural differences determining the usage of this evaluative strategy. The most typical feature established for the strategy under consideration roots in the balancing positive and negative assessments. For the first time, the analysis takes into account the variability of the polarity compensation strategy depending on specific patterns of the interaction between positively and negatively polarized assessments in clusters. The study carried out shows that the polarity compensation in evaluative acts accomplished in academic linguistic reviews can function as a macro-strategy of expert evaluation. Single assessments embedded in polarity compensation strategy can be implied as a recommendation, (dis)agreement with the author, proof by contradiction. The article describes the results of a comprehensive socio-communicative and discursive study of expert evaluation acts. Qualitative and quantitative analysis leads to description of the polarity compensation mechanism as well as to elicitation of lexical and grammatical means typical of this strategy. Interpretation of the statistical data processing allows us to draw conclusions about culturally specific trends in the use of the polar compensation strategy by German and Russian reviewers.