Introduction. The work examines the main vector of development of contemporary literary and hermeneutics studies. The main aim is to show how the view of the text has changed and what are the important tools in the process of its interpretation.

Methodology and sources. Firstly, various philosophical and literary approaches to texts are considered. One of the main ideas behind the research method is the comparison of the modernist, post-modernist and meta-modernist paradigm in the process of text interpretation. Another important aspect is the consideration of symptomatic and surface reading, as an important tool in the discussion of whether the text bears any meaning apart from the directly deducable and what is the most contemporary if not the best way of interpreting it. Most texts analyzed are literary examples, mainly taken from Anglophone literature.

Results and discussion. The results of the research state a number of tendencies in the view of contemporary hermeneutics. Among the general conclusion of the shift from modernist to post-modern and meta-modern patterns in the narrative. Regarding the process of text interpretation what is stated is a general tendency to see the surface l evel of the text as bearing all the necessary and important meanings. The older and more conservative approach of bringing meaning into the text is also at work, depending on the traditions. Elimination of text interpretation (or denying it its original im portance) is also an important point of view, as it states that a literary text explains more than any supporting attempt of its explanation. Another important feature is a tendency of a modern literary text to adopt characteristics of poetry. The psychoanalytic view is competing with post-modernist or meta-modernist view.

Conclusion. Metamodernist tendency, surface reading and attention to the literary text itself, and not its further explanation seems to be the core of a contemporary view of literary texts, their interpretation and, hense, meaning.

Introduction. The aim of the article is to show the socio-philosophical basis of humanitarian expertises and to demonstrate an important role of these technologies in the life of society and the world for solving of current socio-cultural dilemmas. We set ourselves the following tasks: to conduct a socio-philosophical justification of the theoretical foundations of moral expert science, to define three types of humanitarian expertises, to identify the range of their application, to show the significance of their application for society and for professional organizations.

Methodology and sources. This work methodologically is based on a socio-philosophical analysis of the works of well-known sociologists and philosophers of the ХХ–XXI centuries who created the foundation for humanitarian expertises as well as on a comparative analysis of the three expertises with the identification of their deferential characteristics.

Results and discussion. Thanks to the developed methods and methodologies in sociology, cultural studies, etc., various new approaches were created for the scientific study of the society problems and the consequences of the influence of scientific and technological progress on it. These methods and methodologies which are the basis of humanitarian technologies, allowed us to step over the individual subjectivity and to consider objectively socio-cultural phenomena, based on facts and on the justification of social action. Suggested by Emile Durkheim’s practical sociological method of investigating facts made it possible to combine the forces of specialists in different fields to identify the causes of the appearance of normal and pathological factors and to analyze them. Whereas, M. Weber outlined the methodological foundations of social action with the help of them it is possible to objectively identify the main actions developed by this society. The methods and techniques formed the basis of the humanitarian technologies of three examinations: socio-humanitarian, humanitarian and ethical. There is still no term under which they can be combined so the author’s this article proposed the term – humanitarian. The humanitarian is from the word humanity (humanity), that is, what is inherent in all people including society and its actions. Functional analysis of social and cultural products by Robert Merton and show of ethics micro and macro order by George Ritzer had formed the foundation for modern humanitarian expertises: social humanitarian, humanitarian and ethical.

Conclusion. When the role of science in the life of society becomes dominant, it is necessary to have such methodologies with which it will be possible to control the illegal use of scientific achievements, to identify unethical behavior of scientists. The main focus of these expertise is to control the illegal activities of professionals, to protect the interests and health of people.

Introduction. Shaping modernity in the first third of the twentieth century is tied to the private worldview of the person of this era in which the main metaphor of the individual perception of “their time” is melancholy. The crisis of this historical period forms the prism of melancholic worldview. The goal of this article is to substantiate the reasons for the perception of melancholy as a phenomenon caused in part by the problem of individual experience of time. The relationship between melancholy and modernity has already been noted in the literature, but this text raises a new question – what is the temporal nature of this mutual influence?

Methodology and sources. A key role in the understanding of melancholy is played by the texts of authors of the early 20th century: Walter Benjamin, devoted to Charles Baudelaire and the work of Sigmund Freud “Mourning and Melancholy”. The issue of temporality in the work is interpreted through the reference to the phenomenological tradition, namely in reference to the modern phenomenological analysis of depressive disorder in the work of Domonkos Sik.

Results and discussion. The author comes to the conclusion that the feeling of the interrelation of melancholy and the epoch is extremely specific for a person of the first third of the 20th century, evidence of which could be found in the philosophical and cultural reflection of this period. Crisis worldview is reflected in literature, painting, cinema, philosophy, social theory, etc. Thus, it is possible to represent melancholy as a phenomenon, partly caused by the problem of individual experience of time. Melancholy occurs when a crisis worldview is supplemented by an experience of circular temporality, the disappearance of the future, preoccupation with the past, passivity, or isolation.

Conclusion. If these elements come together, a total worldview is formed in which real world events intensify melancholy. In this sense, phenomenologically speaking, melancholy is not so much a state as a dynamic process.

Introduction. The sociodynamics of students’ digital capital in the context of an epidemiological crisis has acquired special characteristics. The speed, focus and technologies for the formation of digital capital have changed significantly and are expressed in new content features and characteristi cs of sociodynamics.

Methodology and sources. An integrative approach to the study and analysis of the digital capital sociodynamics is used, which consists a set of theoretical and methodological positions in the study of digital capital proposed by resea rchers earlier. An approach to the sociological interpretation of the concept of digital capital, which is characterized by systemic and integrative characteristics, is presented. The formed theoretical and methodological platform served as the basis for c onstructing an empirical research methodology.

Results and discussion. Methodological approaches to the digital capital definition as an object of research are generalized. The contradictions and fragmentation in the interpretation of digital capital in private research and the relevance of sociological understanding of the essence of digital capital are shown. The tendencies and trends of the sociodynamics of digital capital during the pandemic have been empirically confirmed.

Conclusion. The article presents some trends in the sociodynamics of students’ digital capital in a pandemic: first, the stimulating role of the pandemic in the development of digital competencies; secondly, changes in the direction of mastering digital competencies; third, analysis of the activity and intensity of changes in digital competencies; fourth, the intensification of the development of digital technologies related to the social aspects of interaction in the context of a lockdown.

Introduction. The article examines the image of artificial intelligence in the media and its reflection in 2010s. Coverage of the fast development of technology in the mass media requires careful analysis and systematic monitoring due to not fully determined socio-ethical ideas about the place and role of artificial intelligence in human life. The paper attempts to study what media had about artificial intelligence in the second decade of the 21st century.

Methodology and sources. Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative studies of the texts of Russian and foreign media, semantic changes in the representation of artificial intelligence are analyzed. To collect empirical informa tion, we used the analysis of documents (reports and preparatory notes of UNESCO for the development of an ethical code of artificial intelligence), public opinion polls, content analysis of Russian and foreign media.

Results and discussion. According to the results of the study, correlation between intensity of references to artificial intelligence on political and economic phenomena was noted. In particular, there is a connection with the growth of economic activity of investors in advanced technologies, the launch of innovative technologies in the sphere of consumption by large companies and the strategic programs of states.

Conclusion. At the moment, artificial intelligence is seen as positive technology. Implementation of AI into social and professional spheres is irreversible. The negative consequences of the development of AI are considering as an unobvious hypothetical future. By the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, the media discourse around AI expanded to such a state of uncertainty that it took action to establish an ethical framework for the development of technology.

Introduction. Today, China and its foreign policy priorities largely determine global international politics. The PRC is one of the main partners of Russia. The need to understand the meanings that the Chinese leadership lays in its main political concepts determines the relevance of this study. The intensification of foreign policy demanded from the Chinese leadership an appropriate discourse, formalized in foreign policy concepts of a global scale. One of these concepts is the “Chinese Dream”. Its semantic content, at a first approximation, is opposed to the “American Dream”. If in the “American Dream” the interests of the individual and his/her well-being are at the forefront, then in the case of the “Chinese Dream” , on the contrary, at the top of the pyramid of values are the interests of the state, then society, and only then the individual.

Methodology and sources. The methodological basis is sociological discourse analysis, combined with reflexive sociology, through which the author aims to expand the interpretation of the “Chinese dream” and reveal its additional, not obvious meanings. The empirical base was a sample of direct speeches by the leaders of China (Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping) and their speeches at the CPC congresses. The works of Alvin Gouldner, Zygmunt Bauman, Michel Foucault were used as a theoretical basis. The author also analyzed some theoretical works of one of the main authors of the concept of the “Chinese dream” Li Junzhu, and in the context of the method of reflective sociology were studied and presented his biographical data.

Results and discussion. From the standpoint of sociological discourse analysis and reflexive sociology, the article examines the context of the concept of the “Chinese dream” based on the publications of one of its authors Li Junzhu and the speeches of the PRC Presidents at the congresses of the Communist Party of China who used this formulation in their speeches. In the study, based on biographical facts, Li Junzhu shows socio -political reflection, as a result of which the concept under consideration was formulated. The academic background and experience of working with Chinese living abroad contributed to the theoretical development of the concept, which, as a first approximation, bears the load of an attractive national idea of the “American Dream” type.

Conclusion. Discourse analysis also reveals a broader semantic content of the concept, which extends to China’s foreign policy and its vision of the system of international relations. When building a dialogue with China, it is useful to take into account this semantic construct, which is contained in the consedered concept.

Introduction. Interest in the problem of false (fake) news has increased significantly in the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, when the flow of false information considered as an obstacle to the implementation of measures to combat the pandemic itself and its consequences. The authors aim to study the existing works devoted to the analysis of the construction and recognition of false news about COVID-19, paying special attention to the procedures of fact-checking-process of verifying the accuracy of the information contained in the message. The novelty of the author’s approach lies in the use of a content analysis of the fact-checking resource to identify communication technologies for constructing fake news about the coronavirus.

Methodology and sources. As a theoretical framework, authors used the information model of communication by Claude Shannon, structuring communication as a process of information transmission and fixing the possibility of noise (distortion) in various parts of this process. The empirical basis of the study was a fact-checking resource that specializes in identifying fakes about the coronavirus (47 units of analysis were considered for the period from March to May 2020).

Results and discussion. In the result of the research, specific communication technologies of purposeful construction of false news were identified – distortions in the communication channel, distortions in the message code (content), distortions in the message source. We also identified the types of distortions associated with the content of communication – based on the creation of false content, recoding information (giving it a new interpretation), editing the original. Different frequency of application of these technologies for a given volume of analysis units were been recorded, as well a s the predominance of the technology of distortion of the communication channel.

Conclusion. The authors draw a conclusion about the importance and relevance of the topic of constructing fake news in the situation of the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic, demonstrate the productivity of using fact-checking resources to identify various communicative technologies for constructing false messages, which creates new prospects for recognizing and countering them.

Introduction. The present paper aims at describing the results of researching the axiological aspect of the category “intelligent travel” functioning in the English language travel discourse. The relevance of the research is defined, firstly, by continuously developing tourist industry and the emergence of new tourist concepts which are embodied in numerous travel editions and, secondly, by insufficient knowledge of axiological aspect of certain travel-genres. The research is completed within the anthropooriented paradigm of linguistic studies and thus contributes to the development of this approach. The novelty of the study lies in revealing specific values represented in intelligent travel-texts and forming a special value line.

Methodology and sources. The research is based on the English language texts about travelling. National Geographic was used as the main source of material. For the selection of travel texts, the continuously sampling method was used. The general methodology of studying the “intelligent/slow travel” concept also includes the method of semantic analysis, the method of semantic-stylistic analysis, elements of communicative-pragmatic analysis.

Results and discussion. The results of the study include the description of the content of the intelligent travel category, the review of existing types of values, and the description of basic meanings forming the value picture of the world in travel-texts of this genre – sensory values, aesthetic values, morally-ethical and rationalistic value meanings. Within this research it is important to consider “anti-value” which is represented predominantly in texts about wildlife conservation and which enhances the pragmatic impact of the text on the reader. The result of the study is the conclusion about certain language specific of the category of intelligent travelling which is actualized through special value prism.

Conclusion. The study reveals the specificity of the value paradigm of slow/intelligent travel texts. The semantic space of texts about intelligent travelling is filled with certain value markers in total constructing the value picture of the world through the prism o f which the travelling and experiencing author expresses not only his own vision of things, but the moral side of life aspects. The chosen methodology can be applied for further research and similar studies of other genres of travel-discourse.

Introduction. This article is a fragment of a study on migration discourse. The migration discourse uses a persuasive strategy implemented by means of evaluation information strategy. Evaluation information strategy is carried out mainly through persuasive tactics, which are introduced into the text thanks to the cognitive metaphor. Metaphor allows to compare economic and political concepts with simple and visible images. The construction of conceptual integration schemes makes it possible to track the process of forming a particular image and, consequently, implementing a persuasive strategy in a media text. In modern research, the mechanism of intertextuality can be analyzed in terms of conceptual integration, since intertextual references make a connection with background knowledge.

Methodology and sources. The material for the study was articles in English published in American periodicals: https://www.nytimes.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com, as well as on the website https://edition.cnn.com. At the first stage of the study, articles were considered at the text level with the identification of lexical, syntactic and stylistic aspects of the functioning of the discourse. At the second stage (discourse as a discursive practice), examples of intertextuality were investigated, including the depth layer of intertext – cognitive one. The essence of the third stage of work with media texts was the search for interconnection and mutual influence of discourse and social practice. At this stage of the study, the focus of attention was shifted from the media text itself to the socio-political situation in the context of which this text was generated. At each level, an attempt was made to determine which of the means contribute to the realization of the persuasive strategy in the media text and how it is carried out.

Results and discussion. The phenomenon of migration is examined in media texts as objectively as possible, both the pros and cons of the migration process are given. The evaluation strategy and related tactics are mainly aimed at describing the actions of politicians. Discrediting tactics directed against Trump are adjacent to Biden’s positive representation tactics and, thus, we-they polarization (we-Biden, they-Trump) through linguistic means, as well as cognitive metaphor is performed. In the articles reviewed, lexemes from the migration and militaristic discourse are often found, and vocabulary describing the events of the coronavirus pandemic period and the accompanying economic crisis are widespread. From the viewpoint of intertextual references, a high percentage of numerals and proper names, which give the impression of the authority of the material, might be of particular interest. The cognitive layer of intertext is widely represented by a conceptual metaphor. Some metaphors discussed in the article participate in the representation of migration and the migration crisis, other metaphors contribute to understanding political and economical processes and phenomena directly or indirectly related to migration. Metaphor-disease, metaphor-natural phenomenon and commoditymaterial metaphor were the most common in the studied body of texts.

Conclusion. The migration discourse studied is explicitly related to politics, to issues of power and influence. The persuasive strategy contributes to the construction of images of politicians: Trump is introduced through the mistakes that he made as president of the United States, as well as his inadequate and sometimes cruel actions against migrants, Biden is represented through social problems that he needs to solve performing the role of the president elect. Obviously, the migration issue is a key factor, a test task, which Biden will have to work on immediately after coming to power.

Introduction. The present paper deals with the interdiscursivity in postmodern literary biographic narration (biofiction) in which interdiscursivity is viewed as the author’s strategy of text formation. The relevance of the study is conditioned by the interest of modern linguistics in interaction of different discourse types in literary texts. It is also relevant to study different techniques that the English author uses to represent an external linguocultural context, namely, to create the image of a Russian city in the English-language narration. The novelty of the research is implied by the choice of material under examination, as the constitutive elements of biofictional narration have not been fully defined yet.

Methodology and sources. The study is drawn on M. Bradbury’s English-language postmodern biofictional novel To the Hermitage. This biofiction depicts D. Diderot’s trip to St. Petersburg, where he was invited by Catherine the Great. It also recounts the adventures of a modern expedition, which came to the same destination to study the French philosopher’s heritage. The research of discourse interaction is based on a methodology, developed by V. Chernyavskaya. It combines traditional methods of stylistic analysis with discourse analysis.

Results and discussion. While analysing the literary space of the biofiction, the following “central” discourses have been identified: Russian-culture-oriented discourse of English as well as historical, political, and autobiographical discourses. The narration is also rich in traits of “periphery” discourses, to name just a few: economical, literary, colloquial French, etc. M. Bradbury uses the strategy of simulated interdiscursivity to make a persuasive impact on a reader’s mind, at the same time involving the reader in fact-fiction semantic game.

Conclusion. The analysis highlighted here proved the fact that interdiscursivity is one of the dominant mechanisms an author uses to construct biofictional narration. This strategy reflects some key features of postmodern texts, such as blending of literary genres, a playful montage of different discourse types and ironic mode of narration.

Introduction. The urgency of the paper is due to the increased interest of linguists in the harmony of interaction and polite interpersonal communication maintenance and restoration. By means of discursive parameters of the communicative situation of apology modelling the research aims to identify the linguistic and strategic peculiarities of their realization in the form of direct and indirect apologies, and to describe the discursive and pragmatic specificity of indirect apology scenario, which prevails in the English-language interaction.

Methodology and sources. The research is carried out on the material of modern British writers’ original texts (R. Joyce, J. Rowling, R. Golman) and scripts of feature films in English (Bridget Jones’ Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire, Emma – Directed by Douglas McGrath, etc.) selected by means of a continuous selection method, 172 text excerpts verbalize direct or indirect apologies. The speech act of apology, being a unit of the analysis, is aimed at demonstrating awareness of interpersonal relations and polite communication conventions violation. Linguistic-and-pragmatic analysis of direct and indirect apologies application stipulated the use of parametric modelling method, which involves building a model of communicative situation with the identification of constants, or parameters that vary and adapt to the circumstances of their use. The study of the strategic and tactical peculiarities of communicative behavior in situations with explication of indirect apology was performed by using content analysis method. It was accompanied by application of interpretive analysis of motives, reasons and conditions. In the course of the study, content analysis was applied to state out the subject matter of apologizing and forgiveness statements within the framework of a categorical communicative situation and the subsequent description of their lexical, grammatical, and syntactic peculiarities.

Results and discussion. In order to restore harmony broken by accidental or deliberate violation of norms and conventions the communicants use direct or indirect apologies in situations of interpersonal interaction. The parametric modelling method application has enabled the identification of scenario realization variability and proved its conformity with direct and indirect apology strategies. The scenario realization mostly depends on the assessment of severity of the damage caused. The pragmatic-and-linguistic peculiarities of direct and indirect apology scenarios development in English speech practice have been considered and described. The immediate apology intention, which is verbalized in t he speech act of forgiveness request, constitutes the basis for direct apology scenario and is intensified by algorithmized sequence of speech-behavioral actions, such as admitting the guilt, giving excuses, shifting blame, communicating feelings, calling for empathy. In situations of indirect apology, as compared with the direct apology scenario, the replacement of a request for forgiveness by means of one or several speech actions is observed, which confirms the hypothesis of their compensating function in English-speaking interpersonal communication. The paper presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative calculation, which has enabled the researchers to draw a conclusion about the strategic preferences of English-speaking communicants, their gender-stipulated choice, frequency and effectiveness of speech actions application whilst the identified variants of apology scenarios implementation.

Conclusion. The discursive strategies of indirect apology, which are expressed by means of speech acts of fault intensification and minimizing, uttered in case of offence or damage of various degree caused to a person, are viewed as value -oriented means of interpersonal relations regulation in the English-speaking community. They reveal the specificity of communicative self-distancing and personal space preservation.