On the Genre System of English Mass Media Nutritional Discourse

The article is devoted to the analysis of the genre system of the mass media nutritional discourse with a special emphasis on texts dealing with the problem of healthy nutrition. The relevance of this study is due, on the one hand, to the significant growth and development of information technology and the significant role of modern media that influence all areas of society life, and on the other hand, the popularity of ideas and principles of proper nutrition. The purpose of this article is to consider the specifics of the genre space of the English mass media nutritional discourse, as well as to analyze the linguistic features of texts on healthy nutrition. The research material is texts on healthy nutrition published in English journals and posted on the Internet. Based on the results of the analysis of 1,500 mass media texts, and taking into account the subject of discussion, the pragmatics of messages, as well as the way information is represented, the author speaks about the existence of analytical and imperative genres within the mass media nutritional discourse. Analytical genres, which include reviews (food and dishes, cooking methods, etc.) and reports (results of scientific research, experiments, etc.) make up 43.5% of the sample material, they contain an analysis of a phenomenon, its justification and commentary. In turn, imperative genres represented by instructions, primarily culinary recipes, which account for 56.5% of the sample material, are characterized by a special nature and contain a clear algorithm of certain actions necessary for implementation. According to the results obtained, complex sentences, nominal forms and specialized vocabulary (terms, professionalisms, etc.) are common in analytical genres of mass media nutritional discourse, in turn, imperative genres are characterized by the frequency of use of verbal forms, emotional-evaluative vocabulary and expressive language means.