LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE (A CASE STUDY OF LIFE STORIES OF CHLDREN'S CHARITY BENEFICIARIES)

Abstract

This article considers life stories told by beneficiaries of children's charities; the stories are published on the Internet sites of these organizations. Framing our research in terms of narrative, we aim to bring to light formal and meaningful aspects of the stories under consideration, differentiating several layers of their meaning. Besides, we target to establish the specificity of the narratively constructed identities of those involved in the processes of narration and interpretation. Since the definition of narrative itself is in dispute, the article starts with introducing the key elements of traditional (structural) and newly emergent (social-constructivist) approaches to linguistic analysis of narratives. It is shown that the stories under consideration are not about events, but significant changes in the life of individuals, which are brought about by a charity. The narrative structure of the stories under consideration is explored by drawing on the principles of the traditional narratological approach, while the study of their sematic and pragmatic characteristics is underpinned with social-constructivist assumptions. Since sites of charity organizations are specially designed to project a favourable image, stories of the beneficiaries of charity are actively influenced on, or, in Plummer's parlance, "coached", but not independently "produced". This can be seen both in the standardized structure of the stories published on the site of a particular organization and in specific linguistic choices prompted by the pragmatic intention (in the broad sense) of all charities to stimulate people to donate, thus bringing to life a beneficiary in the giver. The paper ends with outlining prospects for further research.

Keywords

• благодійність
• дискурсивна особистість
• життєва історія про особистий досвід
• наратив
• соціальний конструкціонізм