Stylisation of business language in the literary texts by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (to the 200th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the stylisation of business language in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s works. It is noted that images of officials figured prominently in the satirist’s poetic stylistic system. What is more, they were sati­ rically reinterpreted by the writer and acquired grotesque qualities, which found expression in his unusual metaphorical language. The study indicates that M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was a master at creating "command aphorisms". Moreover, he was highly skilled in Aesopian language, the writing technique which enabled him to protect poignant images of tsarist Russia social life from censors. The article discusses the satirist’s unique use of pseudonyms, speech formulas and paraphrases that symbolise and parody the administrative and bureaucratic apparatus (Departament gosudarstvennykh umopomrachenii / English the Department of State Temporary Insanities, Departament otkazov i udovletvorenii / English the Department of Rejections and Approvals, and others). Examples of allegories used in the literary text to protect it against censorship (for instance, sobor / English cathedral as a ‘constitution’, kolokolnya / English bell tower as a ‘pillar, the basis of the sceptre’) are cited and commented on. The research emphasises that the writer employs the technique of ‘decoding’ to satirically interpret characters and events. The stylisation of business language in "Provincial Sketches" is analysed in more detail. The satirist Shchedrin parodies contemporary society by copying words and expressions from bureaucratic culture. The article examines various distinctive features of business language, such as names of institutions and positions, commonly used legal vocabulary, common expressions of everyday business culture and syntax. The command style expressiveness is highlighted. The research employs the descriptive method, contextual analysis, cultural-historical method and linguistic commentary, as well as semantic-stylistic analysis. It is concluded that the business language in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s writings is artistically stylised text that combines techniques of realism with interpreting words as occasionalisms. In his works, the writer acts as a belletrist, a publicist and a linguistic innovator who created his own stylistic range through which one can decipher the meaning of a word and understand its true significance in the flow of official business rhetoric.