Nekrolog jako makroakt mowy

Authors:

• Ewa Kaptur

Abstract

Today’s press obituaries are a subject to many considerations: sociological, cultural and lingusitic. It is worth to take a closer look at this genre from the point of view of pragmalinguistics and answer the questions: what functions an obituary performs, whether it registers into research trend on speech macroacts. The article is only a contribution to more extensive study. The analysis of texts from „Gazeta Wyborcza” leads to the conclusion that an obituary is a multipurpose and diverse text and its meaning and functions are dependent on the author’s aim. Moreover, in the context of speech acts theory, an obituary should be treated as a macroact that unites a number of indirect and direct microacts. The act of ascertainment is dominant, leaving on the background such microacts as: empathy, greatfulness, farewell, request, identifi cation and characteristics of a dead person, addressees and senders of obituaries, assurance of the eternal memory and honorifi c acts. It is also worth emphasising that major microacts correspond to the names of obituary types, e.g. an obituary – greatfulness (the act of gratefulness), an obituary farewell (the act of farewell), an obituary of condolence (the act of emapthy).