Emotive units in the cinematic discourse from the position of linguistic creativity (the case study of films in English, Russian and Chinese)

Abstract

The article aims at developing the approach to the study of the interlanguage specifics of the realization of the creative potential of emotive vocabulary in multimodal (cinematic) discourse. The starting point is the identification of a range of key issues in the modern study of various means and ways of conceptualizing emotions in language and discourse. The principles of selection of film material, which are films in English, Russian and Chinese, are described in detail. Special attention is paid to the description of the method of parametrization of linguistic creativity in discourse and the justification for the allocation of such a linguocreative parameter as “emotive and expressive units”. The frequency of activation of the parameter under study is determined. Word-formation (or structural), grammatical and semantic characteristics of units representing emotions and feelings of film characters are consistently analyzed. The use of the developed complex methodology has resulted in establishing the role of units denoting emotions and feelings in the construction of the verbal system of films in English, Russian and Chinese. Based on the comparison an interlanguage emotive profile is formed. The profile reflects the methods, aspects and criteria for evaluating the manifestation of the creative potential of emotive vocabulary relevant to films in languages of different systems. The dependence of the manifestation of the creative potential of emotive units on their structural, grammatical and semantic properties due to the specifics of the language system that is used to create a specific film production is established.