Modern confession as a speech genre

Abstract

In this article, the author analyses modern confession, which is one of the representative genres of sacred communica-tion. The special attention to confession as a speech genre is of undoubted scientific interest, because it is important in studying religious discourse, which determines the relevance of this issue, the novelty of the research work. The purpose of the study is to characterize the functional, structural and substantive features of the genre of modern confession. The materials for the analysis are the following samples for writing penitential texts offered by the Church: The Con-fession of the novice, the Confession compiled in the Optina Monastery, the Model confession for the churched, etc. The study shows that genre-forming factors of confession are the subject of representation – the committed sins and the target setting – repentance, renunciation of sin and spiritual recovery. The genre under consideration is part of the complex speech situation «intimate conversation» which uses monologue as a form of speech. The uniqueness of confession is determined by the presence of communicants, one of whom belongs to the spiritual world. Confession as a genre is characterized by such features as intimacy, voluntary revealing of one's inner sinful nature before God, spiritu-ality, self-judgment, sincerity, openness, humility, reverence, fear of God, etc.