Emotiogenicity of Text: Psychological and Linguistic Aspects

Abstract

The study validates feasibility of interdisciplinary research into the problem of emotions and the language. The term text emotiogenicity is contrasted with the terms emotivity and emotionality. The emotional impact of the text upon the addressee is investigated experimentally. In accordance with V.P. Belyanin's classification, the two emotive literary texts, chosen as research material, represent "bright" and "sorrowful" types. The experiment involved the students of Saint Petersburg State Theater Arts Academy and the students of Herzen University. The auditive analysis of the readers' intonation was carried out to interpret the emotiogenicity of these texts. The high degree of text emotiogenicity actualizes when the addressee experiences the same emotions as the literary text character. In this case the emotions are expressed in reader's intonation. The prosodic correlates of admiration and tenderness when a person reads the "bright" text and the correlates of fatality and depression while reading the "sorrowful" text are described. The emotiogenicity of the same text is apt to vary depending on the personality of the recipient. The author identifies the main reasons for variable prosodic correlates of contrary emotions when reading emotive literary texts.