Addressee factor in Text of the Official Document (Decrees of Governor of Tula Region, Issued in Connection with the Spread of Covid-2019)

Abstract

The issue of taking into account the addressee factor in the text of an official document is considered. The controversial nature of this issue and the topicality of the material determined the relevance of the study. It is proved that the originality of the texts of decrees is defined by two oppositely directed tendencies. On the one hand, it is stated that the addressee factor is taken into account due to the performative nature of the legislator’s speech. It is noted that his speech activity is based primarily on prohibitions and restrictions; permissions are exceptions to the prohibition; the requirements are reduced to the obligations of the addressee and the instructions to him. It was revealed that the implicit meanings of the text become clear taking into account the pragmatic presupposition “what is appropriate is good”. It was established that the implicit assessment is formed under the influence of the addressee factor: the preambles of decrees are estimated, the temporal characteristics of the statements are detailed. It is shown that when constructing texts, the focus on the addressee becomes obvious due to the structural-rubric allocation and grouping of information. It is emphasized that the genre canons are being blurred due to the desire of the legislator for convincing reasoning of decisions. On the other hand, the analysis of texts in dynamics revealed that the historically established system of changing documents is not focused on the addressee. It is concluded that the complexity of the presentation of information or its vagueness testifies to the stereotypes of the legislator’s speech behavior.

Keywords

• text of an official document
• decree
• addressee
• modality