Author’s name:
Maria N. Trishina – Smolensk State University, Smolensk, Russia
Abstract:
The study, carried out within the linguoecological framework, explores functional features of the “double bind” phenomenon in corporate communication, communication of partners within the framework of interpersonal (love) relationships, as well as discourse involving an adult and a child. The functioning of this phenomenon in speech is characterized by the simultaneous transmission by the addresser of two different levels of messages, one of which paradoxically denies the other. As a result, it seems difficult or impossible for the addressee to decode the received message and to perform a meaningful communicative action in accordance with the message. The recipient of the message, finding themselves in this “double trap,” is actually given a “choice without a choice,” since each of the possible choices ultimately leads to a negative result. The addressee has no way out of this situation, due to being in a dependent, subordinate relationship with the sender of the message. The “double bind” phenomenon is thus identified as a linguotoxic process that destroys human activity (including language) and endows reality with destabilizing meanings. The study focuses on typical features of paradigmally complex, multi-level contradictions in situations in which there is incongruence between verbal and non-verbal messages, using real dialogues as examples. It identifies a number of linguistic and paralinguistic means involved in such statements, which fundamentally contradict both principles of cooperation and ethical rules of communication. It is emphasized that the double bind pattern, in addition to disturbing the ecological balance within the framework of interpersonal communication, provokes the emergence of other negative consequences, including those associated with physical and mental illness of communication participants. Since such tactics violate not only the “health” of the language in various discursive practices, but also threaten the health of communicants, further study of this type of paradoxical communication seems imperative, with the goal of finding ways to improve constructive communication skills among native speakers.
| Section | LANGUAGE AND CULTURE |
| DOI: | 10.47388/2072-3490/lunn2023-62-2-144-158 |
| Downloads | 251 |
| Key words | linguoecology; linguotoxins; toxic communication; double bind; ecological balance |