“On measures for rapprochement with Mongolia”: Rhetorical decoding of an analytical note

The results of a study of the dispositive organization of the analytical note of the Russian statesman A.I. Despot-Zenovich (1828–1894) “On measures for rapprochement with Mongolia” (1862) devoted to the analysis of Russian-Mongolian relations are presented. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is the concept of decoding rhetoric, aimed at reconstructing the mechanisms of text formation in the light of the category of effectiveness. Decoding rhetoric recognizes the principle of multicompositionality. The basic aspects of the compositional structure of the analytical note are considered which make it possible to identify the idiostyle originality of the text. The formal-pragmatic aspect describes the specifics of the macrostructure of the text which demonstrates the breadth of the problems of the text and sets the strategic text-forming directions – narrative and reflexive-evidential. The argumentative aspect reveals the mechanisms for creating a text by analyzing argumentation complexes representing reasoning. The implementation of the triad “thesis — arguments — conclusion” is traced both in the argumentation of the narrative type and the reflexive-evidential one. The verification of the effectiveness of the text under study is carried out by referring to the text-reaction — the report of the Russian consul in Urga K.N. Boborykin.