DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF UKRAINIAN PREFACES OF THE LATE XVI–XVII CENTURIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-6397.2025.2.09Keywords:
discourse analysis, paratext, prefaces, Ukrainian old printed books, Ukrainian language of the late XVI–XVII centuriesAbstract
Background. With the beginning of book printing, prefaces became an obligatory paratextual element of the book, in which the author interprets obscure words and phrases, gives his own comments on the main text, reveals a subjective worldview, and helps to highlight the characteristic features of the era. Although prefaces to manuscripts and old printed editions have been studied by various researchers in the fields of book studies, textual studies, cultural studies, and linguistics, they have not yet been considered from the point of view of discourse analysis.
The purpose of the article is to characterize the main principles of discourse analysis of Ukrainian prefaces of the late 16th and 17th centuries.
Methods. Among the special methods, the contextual-interpretive method, discursive method, historical and anthropological method, and linguistic and cultural analysis were used.
Results. The features of the discursive analysis of Ukrainian prefaces of the late XVI–XVII centuries are characterized, scientific approaches and studies of various paratextual elements (heraldic poems, prefaces, dedications, glosses, epigraphs, etc.) are described. The historical, socio-cultural, and linguistic aspects of the functioning of prefaces to old printed books, their genre specificity, linguistic differentiation, and territorial variation are analyzed. The discursive parameters of the prefaces, in particular, evaluative, addressing, dialogic, intertextuality, which determine the functional role of paratextual elements, are studied. The work emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive analysis of prefaces, taking into account all the above aspects.
Conclusions. As a separate genre, prefaces are expressions of various discursive parameters that play a significant role in the perception of texts and highlight the peculiarities of both the author's worldview and the "spirit of the times". The study of the discursive parameters of Ukrainian prefaces of the late XVI–XVII centuries is a relevant object of linguistic research, since there is still a lack of scientific works that comprehensively analyze prefaces written in different languages, different in genre and territorial affiliation.
References
Boianivska, M. B. (2001). Book writing. History of Ukrainian culture in five volumes: Vol. 2. Ukrainian culture of the XIII – first half of the XVII centuries (pp. 591–608). Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian]. http://litopys.org.ua/istkult2/ikult240.htm
Chepiha, I. P. (1988). Prefaces and afterwords to Ukrainian old printed books as a source for studying the history of the Ukrainian literary language. Linguistics, (5), 16–25 [in Ukrainian].
Genette, G. (1992). The Architext : аn Introduction. University of California Press.
Genette, G. (1997). Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Cambridge University Press. (Literature, Culture, Theory 20).
Hrytsyna, S. V. (2014). Baroque innovations in the Old Ukrainian literary language of the 17 century. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Krekoten, V. I. (1992). Ukrainian book poetry of the middle of the XVII century. Ukrainian poetry. The middle of the XVII century (pp. 5–23). Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian]. http://litopys.org.ua/ukrpoetry/anto46.htm
Kurhanova, O. Y. (2023). From image to artistic structure: Baroque style in the Ukrainian liturgical book of the XVII–XVIII centuries [in Ukrainian]. http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/everlib/item/er-0004691
Naienko, G. M. (2014). Structural, Semantic and Functional Parameters of the Old Ukrainian Scientific Text of the XVI–XVIII сenturies [Doctoral dissertation in philology]. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv [in Ukrainian]. https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Naienko_Halyna/Strukturno-semantychni_ta_funktsionalni_parametry_staroukrainskoho_naukovoho_tekstu_XVI-XVIII_st.pdf
Nika, O. (2009). Modus in the Old Ukrainian literary language of the second half of the XVI – first half of the XVII Century [in Ukrainian].
Nika, O. I. (2009). Glosses in Old Ukrainian polemics of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries through the prism of discourse analysis. Studia Linguistica, (2), 269–275 [in Ukrainian]. https://studia-linguistica.knu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2009-2-269-275-Ніка-О.І..pdf
Nimchuk, V. V. (1980). Old Ukrainian lexicography in its relations with Russian and Belarusian. Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].
Nowak, A. (2020). Parateksty drukowanych ksiąg cerkiewnych w metropolii kijowskiej jako media pamięci (druga połowa XVI–XVII wiek). Slavica Wratislaviensia, 173, 171–181. https://doi.org/10.19195/0137-1150.173.14
Oleshko, Yu. (2017). Honorativity in the prefaces to the preaching collections of A. Radyvylovsky. Language: classical – modern – postmodern: a collection of scientific papers, (3), 94–104 [in Ukrainian]. https://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/items/e075c231-c88d-4d62-8c62-8132d982bde9
Oleshko, Yu. (2018). Discursive Features of the Preface to the Book on the Priesthood by John Chrysostom (Lviv, 1614). Scientific notes of NaUKMA. Linguistics, 1, 46–49 [in Ukrainian]. https://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/server/api/core/bitstreams/a71c5d81-79e7-4801-a70f-ec42fbb5fb51/content
Peshchak, M. (1994). Development of the Old Ukrainian and Old Ukrainian Scientific Text. Ukrainian Studies [in Ukrainian].
Pysarenko, N. D. (2023). Paratext as a marker for decoding H. Skovoroda's texts. Scientific Bulletin of the International Humanitarian University, 2(60), 40–43 [in Ukrainian]. http://vestnik-philology.mgu.od.ua/archive/v60/part_2/9.pdf
Rusanivskyi, V. M. (1985). Sources of development of East Slavic literary languages. Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].
Selivanova, O. (2008). Modern linguistics: directions and problems. Environment-K [in Ukrainian].
Sokol, M. (2009). Communicative functions of the preface as a paratext. Issues of literary studies: Scientific collection, (78), 312–322 [in Ukrainian]. http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/18499/35-Sokol.pdf?sequence=1
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Linguistic and Conceptual Worldviews
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
