Rhetorical reconstruction as a methodological tool in ecology of the text

Abstract

The article deals with methodological possibilities for rhetorical reconstruction to address challenges in linguo-ecology, ecology of the text in particular. Rhetorical reconstruction is an analytical procedure that identifies the mechanisms of text formation by describing ways and devices to realize inventive, dispositional and elocutionary strategies. Rhetorical reconstruction serves as a tool for diagnosing the effectiveness of the rhetorical type of the text and an indicator of its environmental friendliness – the ability to create a favorable information and communication environment for the addressee. The opposite effect of the rhetorical reconstruction lies in its ability to identify zones of environmental risk of the text arising from violations of rhetorical text-forming requirements. The material of the research is the text of the President of Russia addressing to the nation regarding a pension reform. The reconstruction of the inventive strategy of text formation has identified such zones of environmental risk in the text under study as the implicitness of the practical purpose of the speaker and non-verbalization of the thesis. The reconstruction of the dispositional strategy signals the risks in the area of argumentation. The reconstruction of the elocutionary strategy reveals the risk zone arising from the ambiguous reference of the pronoun «we» as a device of establishing interpersonal relations. The results of the study indicate that implementation of each rhetorical strategy of text formation poses its own zones of environmental risk, and identification and correction of those can enhance the environmental friendliness and thus the effectiveness of the text.