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To the Question of Genre Features of Preambles to Constitutions

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The article presents the results of a study of the genre parameters of the preamble to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and preambles to the constitutions of the republics that are part of the Russian Federation. The following aspects are considered as genre parameters (genre­forming factors): (a) rele­vance to the text of a law of a certain sub-­genre type; (b) subject matter; (c) communicative func­tions; (d) subject composition (images of the author, addressor and addressee); (e) spatio­-temporal and other circumstantial characteristics; (f) verbal and non-­verbal means of transmitting information (speech form, speech tone, type of the text, typical layout of the text and its specific filling/unification/). The article shows that with the help of constitutional pream­bles, prototypical communicative meanings, universal principles and categories (social, moral, ethical, po­litical, legal), as well as values (personal, collective, public) are broadcast. The main functions of the con­stitutional preambles are the expression of the will, program­-target, value-­oriented and persuasive ones. It is noted that the functional side determines the typical structure and content of the preamble, including the productivity of the inverse method of constructing the preamble (the subject of the will – argumentation – the subject of speech). Special attention is paid to speech formulas (templates), with the help of which one gets an idea about the addressees of constitutional preambles, as well as about basic and optional insti­tutional «actions» of addressees. There is an analysis of the interrelation of circumstantial and definitive turns-­combinations formed on the basis of political­-diplomatic, journalistic and legal cliches contextual synonymy; and of the importance and frequency of general cultural concepts. The methodology is based on a comprehensive approach to the system of Russian laws as a hypertext space that makes it possible to explore this space in the unity and integrity of its components and apply the principles of discourse, genre-­stylistic, lexico-­grammatical, semantic, compar­ative, statistical and other types of analysis.

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