Information on the thesis

The  thesis  studies  the  speech  genre  of  apology  in  modern  German,  its
structural and semantic, as well as communicative and pragmatic parameters.
A  new  approach  towards  the  analysis  of  apology  in  modern  German
linguoculture  through  the  prism  of  pragmalinguistics  and  linguistic  genology  is
introduced in the research; the role of apology in the system of speech acts is defined;
its classification criteria, convergent and divergent features of apology and cognate
speech acts are identified; communicative and pragmatic preconditions for apology
are  studied;  the  addressee  dimension  of  apology  is  analyzed;  a  linguopragmatic
model of the speech genre of apology is elaborated and its three subtypes (emphatic,
etiquette,  and  official)  are  distinguished;  the  conditions  of  successful  apology  are
identified  and  described;  communication  strategies  characteristic  of  apology  in
modern  German  are  distinguished;  the  typology  of  communication  tactics  of  the
speech genre of apology is performed; characteristic lingual and extra-lingual means
of the realization of the speech genre of apology in modern German linguoculture
and their specific functions are studied.
Within  the  frame  of  communicative  linguistics,  apology  is  defined  on  two
levels:  as  a  speech  act  and  a  speech  genre,  with  the  help  of  which  the  speaker
acknowledges  the  fact  of  a  negative  action,  realizes  his/her  fault  and  regrets  the
wrong deed. Apology is primarily an expressive speech act realized by the addresser
in order to express his/her feelings. The communicative preconditions of this speech   20
act include: 1) misbehaviour of the speaker which can cause harm to the addressee;
2) the violation of the rules of cooperative communication.
Apology  as  a  speech  genre  is  characterized  by  such  parameters:  1)  the
possibility of expressing apology by different speech act classes, which allows for the
creation  of  the  vertical  structure  of  the  speech  genre  of  apology;  2)  linear  de-
velopment  of  the  speech  genre  with  the  help  of  the  speech  act  complex  (the
horizontal structure of the speech genre); 3) the communicative past which plays an
important role in the analysis of apology, however, is not considered by the theory of
speech acts; 4) the communicative future which lacks sufficient attention on the part
of speech act studies; 5)  main characteristics of the speech  genre (recognizability,
reproducibility, dialogism).
The communicative purpose of the speech genre of apology is: 1) to avoid
conflict with the addressee; 2) to free oneself from the feeling of guilt; 3) to represent
oneself as a polite person. In order to achieve a particular purpose, the addresser of the
apology chooses a respective communication strategy: a) argumentative; b) obligative;
c) stimulating; d) etiquette. The strategies are realized by the addresser with the help of
communicative  tactics  which  are  formed  by  the  sequence  of  such  speech  acts:
apology, excuse, notification, explanation, request, question, promise, and offer.
According  to  the  reason  for  the  expression,  three  subtypes  of  the  studied
speech  genre  are  defined:  emphatic,  etiquette,  and  official  apology.  Emphatic
apology  is  characterized  by:  1)  the  presence  of  a  serious  harm  in  relation  to  the
addressee; 2) psychological discomfort which the speaker feels as a result of having
done a negative deed and perceives it as a negative one; 3) the willingness of the
speaker  to  restore  the  balance  in  the  relation  with  the  interlocutor  disturbed  by
him/her. Etiquette apology is expressed in the case of violation of the norms of social
interaction in a particular linguoculture. Official apology is realized with adherence
to the established order and under official conditions; the speaker is not always the
one who causes the negative situation that has taken place, but the one who extends
the apology performing a certain social or professional role.
Apology  in  modern  German  is  realized  in  the  form  of  direct  (explicit  and
implicit) and indirect speech acts. The analysis of empirical material made it possible
to  trace  low  frequency  of  the  usage  of  indirect  apology,  which  is  caused  by  the
necessity  of clear expression of regret  for  a committed  malfactive action. Indirect
means of the realization of apology do not allow for the unequivocal expression of
the  speaker’s  intention,  therefore,  such  apology  often  leads  to  a  communicative
failure, since the addressee may perceive it as an attempt to avoid responsibility or as
insincere treatment.
The speaker often uses nonverbal means of expressing regret: paralinguistic,
kinesthetic,  proxemic,  haptic.  These  extra-lingual  means  of  communication  can
complement or completely substitute verbal expressions of interlocutors.
Key  words:  pragmalinguistics,  linguistic  genology,  speech  act  of  apology,
speech  genre  of  apology,  linguopragmatic  model,  communication  strategies  and
tactics of apology.