Verbalization of values in fantasy discourse through idioms (based on English videogames of the 2000–2020’s)
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-75-81
Abstract
The article investigates an axiological aspect of fantasy discourse in such computer videogames as WarCraft III (2002-2003), Disco Elysium (2019) and Hades (2020) as well as its verbalization through idiomatic expressions. Values and ideals, expressed by idioms, play an important role in creating sense representations of alternative worlds, despite functional and structural differences between videogames and traditional literary works. Videogames, featuring interactivity and organized in a form of a hypertext, create a unique discursive space where the players can choose their own ways of interacting with a fantasy world. Systematization of idiomatic expressions allows assessing the axiological content dynamics in the periods under consideration. The objective of the research is to conduct a diachronic analysis of idioms from the 2000’s until 2020’s. The article offers methodology, based on the analysis of idiomatic expressions within a hybrid axiological hierarchy, established on the systems by L. K. Bairamova and Sh. H. Schwartz, comprised of seven values. As a result, we detected significant similarities in value hierarchies for the period under consideration. The place of the values in the hierarchy is determined both by external (i.e. culture and political state of affairs in the country of a game’s development) and in-game factors (plot and game mechanics).
About the Author
M. D. Krasotskaya
People’s Friendship University of Russia named after P. Lumumba
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Krasotskaya Milana Denisovna, graduate student, supplementary education teacher,
6 Miklukho-Maklaya Str., Moscow, 117198
References
1. Galperin, I. R. (2019). Tekst kak ob’ekt lingvisticheskogo issledovaniya [Text as an Object of Linguistic Research]. 144 p. Moscow, Lenand. (In Russian)
2. Lutovinova, O. V. (2009). Gipertekst: ponyatie, osnovnye kharakteristiki, vozmozhnye podkhody k lingvisticheskomu analizu [Hypertext: Its Concept, General Characteristics and Possible Approaches to Linguistic Analysis]. Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. No. 5, pp. 4–7. (In Russian)
3. Skrebtsova, T. G. (2020). Lingvistika diskursa: struktura, semantika, pragmatika [Discourse Linguistics: Structure, Semantiocs, Pragmatics]. 313 p. Moscow, YaSK Publishing house. (In Russian)
4. Lushnikova, G. I., Medvedeva, Ye. V. (2013). Diskursivnoe prostranstvo fentezi (na materiale proizvedenii A. Norton) [Discursive Space of Fantasy (based on A. Norton’s works)]. Sovremennye problemy nauki i obrazovaniya. URL: https://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=11573&ysclid=m2rg5bpjij448237901 (accessed: 27.10.2024). (In Russian) 5. Karasik, V. I. (2002). Yazykovoi krug: lichnost', kontsepty, diskurs [Language Circle: Individuality, Concepts, Discourse]. 331 p. Volgograd, Peremena. (In Russian)
5. Medvedeva, Ye. V. (2015). Intertekstual'nost' kak diskursoobrazuyushchaya kategoriya prostranstva zhanra fentezi [Intertextuality as a Discourse Forming Category of Fantasy Genre Space]. Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. No. 4 (64), pp. 133–137. (In Russian)
6. Pavlukhina, O. V. (2013). Literatura fentezi v kontekste sovremennoi kul'tury: predposylki, osobennosti zhanra, chitatel'skaya auditoriya [Fantasy Literature in the Shadow of Contemporary Culture: Background, Specific Nature of the Genre, Readership]. Vestnik Volzhskogo universiteta im. V. N. Tatishcheva. No. 4 (14), pp. 49–57. (In Russian)
7. Agapitova, Ye. K. (2016). Sozdanie fantasticheskogo mira kak vnutrennyaya tsel' pisatelyafantasta [Creation of Fiction World as a Goal of Fiction Writer]. Filologicheskie issledovaniya. URL: https://academy.petrsu.ru/journal/article.php?id=3004 (accessed: 27.10.2024). (In Russian)
8. Revzina, O. G. (2020). Yazyk i tekst [Language and Text]. 561 p. Moscow, MAKS Press. (In Russian)
9. Babayants, V. V. (2013). Tsennosti kak ob’ekt lingvokul'turologicheskoi refleksii [Values as Object of Linguo-Culturological Reflection]. Gramota. No. 6 (24), pp. 32–35. (In Russian)
10. Vinogradov, V. V. (1977). Izbrannye trudy. Leksikologiya i leksikografiya [Selected Works. Lexicology and Lexicography]. 312 p. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian)
11. Chinenova, L. A. (2009). Angliiskaya frazeologiya v yazyke i rechi [English Phraseology in Language and Speech]. 101 p. Moscow, Librokom. (In Russian)
12. Alefirenko, N. F. (2008). Frazeologiya v svete sovremennykh lingvisticheskikh paradigm [Phraseology in the Light of Contemporary Linguistic Paradigms]. 269 p. Moscow, ELPIS. (In Russian)
13. Alefirenko, N. F. (2010). Lingvokul'turologiya. Tsennostno-smyslovoe prostranstvo yazyka [Linguoculturology. Value-sense Language Space]. 224 p. Moscow, Flinta, Nauka. (In Russian)
14. Ali N. (2019). Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Everyday Idioms in Fantasy Worlds. URL: https://bookriot.com/everyday-idioms-in-fantasy-worlds/ (accessed: 31.10.2024). (In English)
15. IMDb: Ratings, Reviews, and Where to Watch the Best Movies and TV Shows (2024). URL: https://www.imdb.com/?ref_=nv_home (accessed: 31.10.2024). (In English)
16. Bairamova, L. K. (2013). “Aksiologicheskii frazeologicheskii slovar' angliiskogo yazyka” kak odno iz novykh sredstv v yazykovoi podgotovke spetsialistovmezhdunarodnikov [“The Axiological Dictionary of Phraseological Units of the English Language” as One of the New Means of Language Training of Specialists in Foreign Affairs]. Magiya INNO: novye tekhnologii v yazykovoi podgotovke spetsialistov-mezhdunarodnikov. Vol. 2, pp. 120–127. (In Russian)
17. Schwartz, Sh. (2008). Kul'turnye tsennostnye orientatsii: priroda i sledstviya natsional'nykh razlichii [Cultural Value Orientations: Nature and Consequences of National Differences]. Psikhologiya. Zhurnal Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki. No. 2, pp. 37–67. (In Russian)
18. Schwartz, Sh. H. (2017). The Refined Theory of Basic Values. Values and Behavior: Taking a CrossCultural Perspective. Pp. 51–85. Springer. (In English)
19. Kornienko, Ye. V. (2019). Idiolekt i idiostil': k voprosu o sootnesenii ponyatii [Idiolect and Idiostyle: On the Correlation of Notions]. Filologiya: nauchnye issledovaniya. No. 1, pp. 265–271. (In Russian)
20. Etymonline – Online Etymology Dictionary (2024). URL: https://www.etymonline.com/ (accessed: 03.11.2024). (In English)
Review
For citations:
Krasotskaya M.D. Verbalization of values in fantasy discourse through idioms (based on English videogames of the 2000–2020’s). Philology and Culture. 2025;(1):75-81. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-75-81
Views:
103
Email this article 