The notion of pragmatic intention and

LECTURE 12

THE NOTION OF PRAGMATIC INTENTION AND ITS TYPES


The aim of the lesson: to introduce the types of pragmatic intentions and their peculiarities and means of representation

Lesson objectives:

• 
  to introduce the notion of pragmatic intention;
  
• 
  to familiarize students with types of pragmatic intentions;
  
• 
  to explain the linguistic representation of pragmatic intentions
  

Lesson outcomes:

By the end of the lesson students will:

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  be aware of the notion of pragmatic intention;
  
• 
  know types of pragmatic intentions
  
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  know linguistic means representing different types of pragmatic intentions
  

Plan:

1. 
   Pragmatic intention of literary discourse
   
2. 
   Types of pragmatic intentions
   

Teaching methods: brainstorming, clustering, blitz-poll, question-answer, discussion, slide presentation
Key words: pragmatic intention, communication, linguopragmatics, pragmatic analysis, aesthetic influence.

THE MAIN PART

TEXT OF THE LECTURE 11
The pragmatic study of literary discourse is also concerned with the problems of impact and perception as the two sides of communication. Only taken together do they ensure an integral process of communication. Impact and perception are closely interrelated and interdependent as “two sides of the coin”. A crucial role in analyzing the effectiveness of impact and perception belongs to the notion of pragmatic intention. Pragmatic intention is understood as verbalized in the text the addresser’s deliberate intention to exert influence on the addressee with the aim to cause some reconstruction in his world picture (Наер, 1984:16).
The general pragmatic intention of literary discourse is an aesthetic influence on the reader. However, in concrete situations the types of pragmatic intentions vary, and so does their impact. The pragmatic intention is an organizing principle of the text. It predetermines the choice of language means, structural and semantic peculiarities of the text. Therefore, pragmatic analysis aims to find language units which explicitly or implicitly make pragmatic intentions recognizable. According to the type of pragmatic intentions the forms of its language utilization vary. The effectiveness of impact and perception also depends on the type of pragmatic

intentions. In this respect differentiation of pragmatic intentions, hierarchical classification of their types seem to be of paramount importance.
Accepting the assumption that pragmatic intentions are materialized in the language units, we define the type of pragmatic intention proceeding from: a) the analysis of all the parameters of a verbal sign, the ways of its introduction, organization and reorganization in the discourse; b) verbalized in the discourse direct or indirect indication to a pragmatic intention; c) indication of the addressee’s verbal and non-verbal reaction. The analysis of the language material makes it possible to define the main types of pragmatic intentions in the literary discourse. They are as follows:

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  the pragmatic intention “to attract attention” (attention-compelling intention);
  
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  the pragmatic intention “to interest the reader”;
  
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  the pragmatic intention “to exert an emotional impact”;
  
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  the pragmatic intention “to activize knowledge structures” relevant to the conceptual information;
  
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  the pragmatic intention “to stimulate the addressee’s creativity”;
  
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  the pragmatic intention “to represent the conceptual world picture”.
  

(Ашурова, 1991) The differentiation of these intentions is relative to some extent. Actually,
language usage is characterized by a much more complicated, polyfunctional character, and it is conditioned not only by one, but by many interconnected pragmatic intentions. Practically not a single pragmatic intention is used separately. The abovementioned pragmatic intentions are enumerated in accordance with an increasing degree of their complexity and aesthetic value. That means that every pragmatic intention includes the subsequent ones in different combinations. The pragmatic intention aimed to represent the conceptual world picture is ranked as the most global one. It embraces all other types of pragmatic intentions and to some extent coincides with the function of literary discourse to produce an aesthetic influence on the reader.