The Communicative Strategy of Self-Presentation in Female Dialect Discourse (Based on Autobiographical Stories)

The article examines the communicative strategy of self-presentation in female dialect discourse. Female dialect discourse is understood as a gender-marked type of dialect discourse. On the one hand, it incorporates all the features of dialect discourse; on the other, it has a number of features due to the gender of the subject. The sources of the study were oral autobiographical stories recorded during dialectological expeditions organized by the staff of Tomsk State University from 1946 to the present time in the areas where Russian old-timer dialects of the Middle Ob region are in use. The description of self-presentation strategy tactics in the female dialect discourse includes the following stages: identification and typification of the main tactics; analysis of their content; description of their linguistic expression. Based on the nature of the data provided (presence or absence of a subjective evaluative component), the authors identified the key tactics implementing the strategy of self-presentation: transferring objective information and transferring subjective information. The tactic of transferring objective information about oneself involves the transfer of factual information of a logical nature, which is based on facts: age, marital status, presence/absence of children, profession, place of residence, etc. The tactic of transferring subjective information contains the respondent’s evaluation of their appearance, character traits, intellectual level, life experience, description of the emotional state, interests, demonstration of attitudes. A positive impression of oneself in female dialect discourse is verbalized through the creation of a worthy image that corresponds to social and moral norms. Women demonstrate the following character traits and life principles: diligence, honesty, decency, calm temper, cleanliness, hospitality, negative attitude to alcohol, etc. Life values and principles are expressed through a positive description of close relatives, contrast with other people, negative evaluation or condemnation of actions and moral qualities of other people. The transmission of negative information about oneself is associated with evaluations of one’s intelligence, memory, speech abilities, appearance, age-related changes, as well as the informants’ belonging to rural culture, low educational level, lack of qualifications and profession. The communicative self-presentation strategy tactics in female dialect discourse are verbalized using multilevel linguistic means: evaluative vocabulary, metaphors, comparisons, numerals, adverbs, and various types of statements.

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