For citation:
Prozorov V. V. A silent scene in view of the speech genre theory. Speech Genres, 2025, vol. 20, iss. 1 (45), pp. 69-77. DOI: 10.18500/2311-0740-2025-20-1-45-69-77, EDN: VDNAXV
A silent scene in view of the speech genre theory
The article offers the analysis of the communicative potential of the silent scene as a universal phenomenon in view of the speech genre theory. A silent scene is understood as a widely spread speech genre event, during which there appears a speechless psychological effect of perceiving puzzling unexpectedness. The author analyzes structural and functional properties of a silent scene, its semantic horizons and forms of its implementation in speech and fiction. It is established that structural components of the silent scene composition include, firstly, customarily interacting addressees of the coming news, secondly, the unexpected communicative event itself, thirdly, the emotionally colored reaction full of noticeable surprise on the part of the participants of this event, fourthly, a speech pause which is spontaneously originated by the circumstances as an oncoming cognitive feedback to the deviation from something unexperienced and habitual, fifthly, the way out of the dramatic situation, hardly marked out by the interior energy of the pause. In this five-act chain of speech genre properties of a silent scene the factor of unwilling meaningful silence originated by the situation dominates. Conspicuous silence is caused by the affective state as a spontaneous reaction to what has happened. A silent scene is a variety of communicative behavior which is able to manifest itself within different genres of personal discourse: in informative sphere, in phatic communication, in intent monologic brainwork. A silent scene is a time-tested communicative form of discovering hidden before now news which causes a great variety of feedback – from fear and terror to joy and elation.
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