Spanish memorial speeches in the aspect of pragmalinguistics

Saprykina Ol'ga Aleksandrovna Doctor of Philology Professor at the Department of Iberian Romance Linguistics, Faculty of Philology, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, p. 51 olgasaprykina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Khripunova Arina Gennadevna Postgraduate student; Department of Foreign Languages; Lomonosov Moscow State University 108802, Russia, Moscow, Kommunarka district, Novomoskovsky district, Maloe Ponizovye str., house 3, sq.319 khripunova.ag@gmail.com

Introduction

Memorial discourse is a type of discourse characterized by the connection of institutional goals with functional and pragmatic personal means of expression. The memorial discourse combines verbal texts of various genres - speeches by speakers delivered on the occasion of the death of prominent citizens (oral public speech), memorial inscriptions for the purpose of epigraphically perpetuating the memory of participants in important events (on tombstones and memorial plaques), epitaphs – a poetic genre known since antiquity to praise the deeds and virtues of a deceased person, legal documents as monuments of business writing (death certificates or various notarial documents relating to the inheritance of a deceased person), the memorial toponymic landscape as a set of names of cultural space, and obituaries are a special genre of modern periodicals that combine information about an event and its assessment.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the features of the oratorical speeches of the Spanish King Philip VI, related to the field of memorial discourse in modern Spain.

Research objectives:

1. To identify the discursive and genre affiliation of the speeches of the Spanish monarch, which are dedicated to historical figures.

2. To characterize the pragmalinguistic aspect of the speeches of the Spanish king, to determine the repertoire of visual and expressive means of speech used by him, ways to create the effects of pathos and ethos.

3. To characterize memorial speeches that are designed to incite or disgust, accuse or justify, praise or condemn ^{[1, pp. 15-17]}, as a special genre of memorial discourse.

The object of the work is the speeches delivered by the Spanish King Philip VI on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes and the 500th anniversary of the death of Antonio de Nebrija, the great Spanish scientist and humanitarian. The speeches were delivered in so-called "acts of remembrance" and were subsequently recorded.

The subject of the study was the pragmalinguistic characteristics of the king's speeches, their features in connection with the memorial character of what was said to perpetuate the memory of prominent figures of the past.

The material for the analysis was the speeches delivered by King Philip VI of Spain from the beginning of his reign (October 19, 2014) ^[2] to October 2022 ^[3], dedicated to historical figures and dedicated to the anniversary of their birth or death.

The relevance of this research is related to the development of cultural memory problems, one of the realizations of which is related to language. The sphere of cultural memory embodiments is memorial discourse as a speech activity, the subject of which is the memory of the past. Memorial discourse allows us to solve the threefold task of addressing the past, as well as to reveal cultural and political identity (collective structure), that is, to identify the cultural code, the linguistic matrix inherent in a particular people, and to define cultural continuity (tradition) through language ^{[4, pp.36-38]}.

The novelty of the topic and its development is due to a new aspect of the study of public speaking – from the standpoint of functional pragmalinguistics, which makes it possible to determine the methods and goals in the spoken memorial speech.

The research methodology is related to the identification of a conscious, motivated, purposeful choice of linguistic means aimed at creating an image of a historical figure. The choice of means is dictated by the open functional and pragmatic activity of the author of the speech. Meanwhile, hidden speech units that characterize the speech behavior of the author of the utterances are also revealed in the speeches.

The concept of discourse in modern linguistic science is widely used, but, despite this, it is not completely unambiguous. There are several interpretations of the term "discourse", however, in this work it was customary to use the definition proposed in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary, where discourse is understood as "a coherent text combined with extralinguistic — pragmatic, socio-cultural, psychological and other factors" ^{[5, pp.136-137],[6]}.

In this paper, we will analyze the texts that can be attributed to the memorial type of discourse. Based on the main purpose of the speeches of the Spanish monarch, analyzed in the work, we will consider this type of discourse intended to perpetuate the memory of a historical figure.

Despite the complexity and ambiguity of the existing classifications of discourse, this work highlights a generalizing type of discourse - memorial, based primarily on the criteria of the scope of use and selected topics. The speeches of Philip VI, delivered orally and published in writing in the Spanish media, can be considered as texts of political and journalistic discourse, respectively. However, in connection with the main topic of this study ("perpetuation of memory") and the functional and pragmatic characteristics of speeches ^[7],[8] we will consider them as examples of memorial discourse.

The properties of speech aimed at persuasion have been of interest to researchers since Antiquity. Rhetoric as a humanitarian discipline studying the relation of prose speech to thought was shaped by the influence of the sophists (Gorgias), Plato, and Aristotle. Great attention was paid to oratory in Ancient Rome, in particular, Cicero and Quintilian. ^{[9],[10],[11]}.

Public speaking is an important area of rhetoric that has been developed for centuries. The ancient rhetorical canon distinguished five stages of construction and utterance of speech: 1) invention – comprehension of the topic of speech; 2) disposition – arrangement of ideas in the necessary order; 3) elocution – expression of thought, selection of words and phrases; 4) memorization – memorization of speech and preparation for its utterance; 5) accio hypocrisis – the actual utterance of speech ^[9].

The rhetorical logos is closely related to the concept of argumentation. From the point of view of describing the subject, there are such types of argumentation as: proof, persuasion and impact. They are accompanied by modes of speech - epideic ("establishing principles and values on the basis of which problems are discussed"), judicial (determining and evaluating facts) and advisory (discussing proposals for decision-making).

Memorial speeches are an important genre of memorial discourse ^[13],[14] consistently combining content (logos) with modes of judgment (accusation or justification, praise or blame) and advice (goal setting, determining perspective, horizon of knowledge, conclusion or conclusion on a problem).

Speeches by Philip VI dedicated to historical figures

Speeches dedicated to the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' death

On January 30, 2017, King Philip VI of Spain delivered a speech at the closing ceremony of a complex of events dedicated to the four hundredth anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes. The speech was delivered at the Royal Palace in Madrid as part of the event "Cervantes vive: clausura de conmemoración del IV centenario de la muerte de Miguel de Cervantes" ("Cervantes is alive: completion of the act of commemoration of the IV century since the death of Miguel de Cervantes") ^[2].

The King bases his speech on an idea he calls "una doble paradoja" ("double paradox"). So, first of all, Philippe VI notes that in fact, on the anniversary of Cervantes' death, the life of his cultural heritage is celebrated: "Porque, en primer lugar, considero que lo que de verdad celebramos -en la acepción más feliz de la palabra 'celebración'— no es el fallecimiento sino precisamente, como ha señalado Concha Velasco, todo lo contrario: es la vida de Miguel de Cervantes" ("Because, first of all, I believe that what we are really celebrating – in the most positive sense of the word – is not death, but, as Concha Velasco pointed out, just the opposite: the life of Miguel de Cervantes"). The paradox is based on the expressive contrast (antithesis) of the antonyms fallecimiento – vida. If fallecimiento is associated with the departure of a human, an animate creature, then vida concerns being itself. The hidden strategy of the king's speech is that the speaker does not use the word muerte, which is pragmatically incompatible with the verb celebrar.

In Philip VI's speech, Cervantes is portrayed as a figure uniting Spain, an important component of national identity, and a symbol of the country's unity: "Cervantes ha definido, como nadie, la esencia de lo que significa ser español" ("Cervantes defined, like no other, the essence of what it means to be Spanish"). The pluralistic character of the Spanish identity is emphasized in the use of homogeneous members of the sentence – the enumeration of the lands, peoples, and languages that make up Spain. "Andariego como su creador, don Quijote memorrió muchos caminos de España — tierras castellanas, manchegas, andaluzas, aragonesas, catalanas –vertebrando su historia con dos ideas-madre: la libertad y el dialogo de las lenguas" ("The wanderer, like his creator, Don Quixote traveled many roads of Spain – Castilian La Mancha, Andalusian, Aragonese, Catalan lands — shaping their history with two main ideas: freedom and dialogue between languages"). In the ethos of the king, the commitment to the unity and integrity of the country is linguopragmatically (implicitly, implicitly) indicated.

Speeches dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Antonio de Nebrija's death

The speech of King Philip VI, which will be discussed in this section, was delivered on February 21, 2021 at the Royal Theater in Madrid. It is dedicated to the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Antonio de Nebrija (1444 – July 2, 1522), a Spanish philologist and humanist.

Just like the speech dedicated to Cervantes, this speech begins and ends with gratitude to the audience.

The main part of the speech is based on the enumeration and commentary of Antonio de Nebrija's achievements: "Su logro más conocido, la primera Gramatica Castellana, de 1492, no ha de esconder, sin embargo, el trabajo que realizó en muchos otros ámbitos" ("His most famous work, the first grammar of the Spanish language, written in 1492, should not conceal, however, the work he has done in others directions") ^[3].

Among other works by Antonio de Nebrija, the king draws attention to the "Apology", which he calls an example of the relevance of the thinker's ideas: "la libertad de pensamiento y de expresion, recogida en su libro Apología, que todavía resuena con fuerza hoy, en una sociedad que ha hecho de la democracia y del reconocimiento y la defensa de las libertades su razón de ser" ("freedom of thought and expression reflected in his book Apologia, which still finds a powerful response in a society that has made democracy, recognition and protection of freedoms the basis of its existence"). Using a hidden device of pragmalinguistics, the type of speech behavior of the king himself is revealed, recognizing freedom of thought and expression as the main values ^[15].

Examples of intertextuality in this speech are related to the quotation of the thinker himself: "La educación intellectual y moral debe anticiparse al uso de la razón, dejó escrito" ("Intellectual and moral education should anticipate the use of reason," he wrote). It is interesting to note that Philip VI uses Nebrija's words to emphasize his importance for the development of pedagogy, without mentioning one of the most famous quotes of the thinker, according to the Bibliographic Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy of History: "Siempre fue la lengua compañera del imperio" ("Language has always been a companion of empire").

The following statement of the king can serve as a continuation of the use of hidden forms of speech behavior of the author, pursuing the socio-political goals of the unity of the country: "Nuestra lengua, un patrimonio compartido por millones de hispanohablantes en todo el mundo, ha de ser ante todo un lugar de encuentro, integración, dialogo y acogida" ("Our language, the heritage of millions for Spanish-speaking people all over the world, it should be primarily a place of meeting, integration, dialogue and warm welcome").

Memorial discourse is characterized by a variety of genres - from speeches at monument openings or acts of remembrance, wills and death certificates to the memorial landscape of cities (names of streets, squares, cultural institutions, administrative centers) ^[16],[17].

Conclusion

The genre of memorial speech is an oral presentation in memory of an outstanding cultural figure with an address to those present, a consistent positive assessment of his deeds and an expression of emotions. The verbal and cultural practice of memorial speeches in Spain is centered around the idea of memory. In the functional linguistic and pragmatic aspect, the main actors are highlighted, solemnly referred to as outstanding figures of history and culture, and a positive assessment is given of their ideology and deeds, which become models for the happy future of the Spanish people.

The speeches of King Philip VI dedicated to Cervantes and Nebrija belong to the memorial type of discourse. They were uttered in order to perpetuate the memory of the best representatives of Spanish culture.

Speeches are characterized by "internal" and "external" argumentation based on logical, rational evidence, expressive persuasion and emotional impact. For example, in a speech dedicated to Antonio de Nebrija, a list of his achievements and works was used to confirm the importance of the grammarian. Epithets serve the purpose of influencing listeners, persuasion is carried out through antitheses and repetitions. Proof, persuasion, and influence constitute the epideictic, judgmental, and deliberative modes of content.

The choice of expressive means is used for the implicit pragmalinguistic characterization of the logos, pathos and ethos of the Spanish king, the author of speech.