Inebriety of the soul: Aphoristica of passion (semantics, pragmatics, genre properties)

Based on the material of a corpus of short-format statements, the semantics and axiology of passion, as well as the discursive properties of aphorism, are studied. It is established that an aphorism does not have a clear definition based on a single feature and we can only talk about “family resemblance” as the proximity of some small-format text in terms of a set of features to the ideal of an aphoristic statement. The corpus of aphorisms about passion is dominated by an axiological feature – every third statement about passion contains its assessment: most often passion is considered as a sin and vice, somewhat less often it receives a positive assessment – it is considered as spiritual wealth and a source of fruitful activity, even less often a compromise view of assessment is observed: passion is recognized beneficial, when its intensity does not go beyond the limits set by reason and will, and harmful – when it goes beyond the limits and takes possession of a person. The praxeology of passion in aphorism comes down to recommendations to subordinate passions to your will and learn to control them. Among the distinctive semantic features of passion in aphorism, one can note its omnipotence and insubordination to the will, as well as the innateness and ineradicability of passions. Among the actual distinctive features of aphorism in statements about passion, imagery clearly predominates – metaphor is present in almost every fourth aphorism, and the dominant type of metaphorical transfer here is pyro/thermometaphor: combustion and temperature fluctuations are reflected in every third metaphor of passion. Another distinctive feature of aphorism – antithesis is present in every sixth statement about passion, where passion is most often contrasted with reason. One more distinctive feature of aphorism is that paradox in statements about passion appears relatively rarely.

aphorism, speech genre, passion, semantic feature, evaluation, metaphor, antithesis, paradoxicality