Genre of Speech: A Closed System of Features, an Open Text or Cognitive Category?

Abstract

The article revolves around the title question, starting with a brief overview of the major accounts of what the speech genre can possibly be in structurally, functionally-, and, finally, cognitively-oriented accounts. The latter are identified specifically with Ronald Langacker’s understanding of the prototype, and are here related/compared to the conceptions in selected Polish genre studies. The material basis and the source of exemplification are found in two modern versions of the Cinderella story. The main bulk of argumentation has to do with the research question of why, how, and to what extent these two modern versions can still be considered a Cinderella tale in the light of the respective accounts, and what new perspectives Langacker’s conception of the prototype can bring if applied to speech genre studies.

Keywords

• speech genre
• magic fairy-tale
• structural pattern