Chapter VII

7.4. THE PRAGMATIC INTENTION “TO ATTRACT THE READER’S ATTENTION”(ATTENTION – COMPELLING INTENTION)
This pragmatic intention is associated with the phenomenon of actualization, which has been discussed by many scholars (Б. А. Ларин,
Р. Якобсон, И. В. Арнольд и др.). The most detailed analysis was done by the Prague linguistic school. Actualization is understood as the usage of language means which is perceived as unusual, deautomatic, and therefore it attracts attention of the reader (Гавранек, 1967:355). There are some arguable points in the conception of the Prague linguists. In particular, the assertion that actualization is an end in itself seems to be very doubtful because it depreciates a priority role of a communicative aim. However, on the whole, the idea of “deautomatization”, the notions of foregrounding, convergence of stylistic means, parallelisms as basic signals of conceptual information remain actual and signifi cant for the present-day researches, especially in considering the problem of impact and perception.
The means of “deautomatization” are mainly found on the surface layer of the text and characterized by various kinds of structural transformations, which serve to realize the pragmatic intention “to attract the readers’ attention”. To these means we can refer various occasional transformations of words (simple, derivative and compound
words), phraseological units and syntactical structures. So, the main device to realize this pragmatic intention is an occasionalism built on deviations from the norms of the literary language. The problem of the norm has received much attention among linguists. There are a lot of disputes, differences of opinions, controversies. In stylistics it concerns the problem of stylistic devices. Some scholars regard stylistic devices as deviation from the literary norm (Риффатер, 1979), others consider that stylistic devices are based on the norm, intensify its typical structural and semantic properties, and promote them to a generalized level (Гальперин, 1981).
The idea of the norm deviation is shared by the majority of linguists. It can be accepted here with some amendments. Firstly, in every concrete case deviations are characterized by different degrees of expli citness. Secondly, deviations are subjected to some regulations. They, as I.V.Arnold stated, have certain restrictions (1976:61).
Any deliberate deviation from the norms attracts the addressee’s attention, and gives rise to some stylistic effects, thus infl uencing the
process of perception. The following may serve as an example:
I wanted death after that but death don’t come when you want it, it
comes when you don’t want! I wanted death then, but I took the next
best thing. You sold yourself. I sold my self (Williams, 1972:257).
The statement excerpted from T.William’s play “Orpheus descending” is characterized by a high degree of emotiveness created by the
convergence of stylistic devices – repetitions, parallelisms, metaphor,
irony. But the fi rst thing to attract attention is an abnormal use of the
compound pronoun (myself – my self). Decomposition of the compound
word leads to the change of its accentual and intonational pattern.
Each component of the decomposed word gets the status of an independent word. Consequently, these words become conspicuous, notable and attract the reader’s attention.
It is necessary to note, in passing, that occasional transformations are
mostly observed in word-formation. It can be explained by the fact that derivative and compound words, being constitutive and divisional by nature, are predisposed to various transformations: decomposition and rearrangement of the components, blending and clipping, the use of a morpheme as an independent word, violations in the morphemic word structure, repetitions of morphemes, etc. All these transformations lead the language units out of the scope of generally accepted, traditional forms, and that puts them in the forefront of the reader’s attention.

The pragmatic intention “to attract attention” is considered to be

very important in the detective genre (Азнаурова, 1988). It is interesting
to note that realization of this intention is observed at the level of factual information. In our opinion it can be explained by the fact that a detective text requires much attention to the minor and insignificant at first sight details of the plot. The basic signals of this intention are various kinds of descriptive details, specifi cations, characteristics verbalized in the text, but not directly related to the plot of the story.
The analyzed type of pragmatic intention is most relevant for advertising
texts since the main strategic aim of this type of the text is to attract a consumer’s attention. The following examples can serve as an illustration:
Go by air. It’s plane common sense.
To be or NATO be.
You can tell they’re tops by their bottoms.
Tender chicken for tough times.
Sea for yourself.