Values and functions capacity of religious discourse
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2025-3-7-15
The article deals with the problem of religious values expressed in the festive Christian (Orthodox) and Muslim sermons and their functional features. The research is carried out on the Easter Epistles in 2009 and 2014 and the Uraza Bairam sermons in 2009 and 2024. The purpose of the article is to define the functions of the two confessions sermons, to compare and contrast the values expressed in the epistles/sermons. Having analyzed the results of scientific research aimed at religious discourse and the genre of a sermon we define the functions of the sermons as the following: introduction to religion, reinforcement of faith, information for an addressee, edification, value instilling, appeal to self-improvement, uniting into a single community, evaluation of the current situation, emotional appeal. Emotional appeal is an important element in building the value picture of the world. Emotional reaction of the addressee includes empathy which is created during religious communication process. We define the necessary conditions for empathy as belonging to "we-group" and sharing values of an addresser and an addressee. We came to the conclusion that the values expressed in the epistles/sermons are common for both confessions. They are God, faith, eternal life, sticking to the commandments, rituals, positive emotions (love, joy, hope), help and empathy, strength and patience. The difference between the values lies in the fact that Easter is dedicated to Jesus Christ’s feat and believers feel the gratitude for it, Uraza Bairam is the end of the Lent, which presents a certain difficulty for believers and believers have to pay mandatory alms, which is declared in the sermons as a value of self-control and brotherhood with co-religionists. The analyzed epistles/sermons enable us to make conclusions about the functional similarity of the two confessions sermons. Value capability is similar in their core component, which is expressed by different language units. Peripherical values of Christianity and Islam are different due to peculiarities of theology and rituals.
Keywords: religious discourse, sermon, values, empathy, emotional appeal
References:
1. Armstrong K. A history of God: the 4000-year quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York, Gramercy Books, 1993.
2. Salakhova А.G.-B. Konfessional’naya yazykovaya lichnost’: k postanovke problemy [Confessional language personality: problem outline]. Filologicheskiye nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki – Philology. Theory & Practice, 2013, no. 3 (21): in 2 parts, part I. Pp. 157–161 (in Russian).
3. Kh’yarvard S. Tri formy mediatizirovannoy religii: izmeneniye religii v publichnom prostranstve [Three forms of media-based religion: religion image change in the public society]. Gosudarstvo, religiya, tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom, 2020, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 41–75 (in Russian).
4. Karasik V.I. Yazykovoy krug: lichnost’, kontsept, diskurs [Language circle: personality, concept, discourse]. Volgograd, Peremena Publ., 2002. 447 p. (in Russian).
5. Chumakova К. Religioznyy diskurs v massmedia [Religious discourse in mass media]. Sovremennyy diskurs-analiz, 2012, no. 1 (6), pp. 82–90 (in Russian).
6. Crystal D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2019. 580 p. doi: 10.1017/978110852893
7. Pihlaja S. Analysing Religious Discourse: Introduction. 2021. P. 111. doi: 10.1017/9781108863957.001
8. Alsaawi A. The use of language and religion from a sociolinguistic perspective. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 2022, no. 32, pp. 238–255. doi: 10.1075/japc.00039.als
9. Paskhal’noye poslaniye Svyateyshego Patriarkha Moskovskogo i vseya Rusi Kirilla ot 19 aprelya 2009 goda [Easter Epistle of Moscow and all the Russia’s His Holiness the Patriarch Kirill on April 19, 2009] (in Russian). URL: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/611790.html (accessed 26 June 2024).
10. Paskhal’noye poslaniye Svyateyshego Patriarkha Moskovskogo i vseya Rusi Kirilla ot 5 maya 2024 goda [Easter Epistle of Moscow and all the Russia’s His Holiness the Patriarch Kirill on May 5, 2024]. URL: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/6123602.html (accessed 26 June 2024).
11. Paskhal’noye Poslaniye Vysokopreosvyashchenneyshego Antoniya, Arkhiyepiskopa Krasnoyarskogo i Yeniseyskogo ot 19 aprelya 2009 goda [Easter Epistle of His Eminence Antony, Krasnoyarsk and Yeniseisk’s Archbishop on April, 19 2009] (in Russian). URL: https://kerpc.ru/media/arhipastyr/obrashheniya/47088 (accessed 12 August 2024).
12. Paskhal’naya propoved’ mitropolita Krasnoyarskogo i Achinskogo Panteleymona ot 5 maya 2024 goda [Easter Epistle of Krasnoyarsk and Achinsk’s Metropolitan Panteleimon on May 5, 2024] (in Russian). URL: https://kerpc.ru/media/arhipastyr/propovedi/150310 (accessed 6 May 2024).
13. Propoved’ Predsedatelya Soveta muftiyev Rossii muftiya sheykha Ravilya Gaynutdina v Uraza-bayram ot 20 sentyabrya 2009 goda [The sermon of Russian Muftis’ Council Chairman sheikh Ravil Gainutdin on Uraza Bairam on September 20, 2009] (in Russian). URL: https://muslim.ru/articles/297/13088/ (accessed 3 May 2024).
14. Propoved’ Predsedatelya Soveta muftiev Rossii muftiya sheykha Ravilya Gaynutdina v Uraza-bayram ot 10 aprelya 2024 goda [The sermon of Russian Muftis’ Council Chairman sheikh Ravil Gainutdin on Uraza Bairam on April 10, 2024] (in Russian). URL: https://muslim.ru/articles/298/39971/ (accessed 12 April 24).
15. Prazdnichnaya propoved’ muftiya Krasnoyarskogo kraya Gayaza-khazrata Fatkullina v Uraza-bayram ot 16 sentyabrya 2009 goda [Festive sermon of Krasnoyarski krai’s mufti Gayaz-khazrat Fatkullin on September 16, 2009] (in Russian). URL: http://islamsib.ru/islam/propovedi/29-prazdnik-id-al-fitr (accessed 1 June 2024).
16. Prazdnichnaya propoved’ muftiya Krasnoyarskogo kraya Gayaza-khazrata Fatkullina v Uraza-bayram ot 10 aprelya 2024 goda [Festive sermon of Krasnoyarski krai’s mufti Gayaz-khazrat Fatkullin on April 10, 2024] (in Russian). URL: http://islamsib.ru/news/1512-id-al-fitr-eto-prazdnik-terpelivykh-tekh-kto-rabotal-nad-soboj-ves-mesyats (accessed 12 April 2024).
17. Prokhvatilova О.А. Ekstralingvisticheskiye parametry i yazykovyye kharakterisriki religioznogo stilya [Extralinguistic parameters and language charactristics of religious style]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznaniye – Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics, 2006, vol. 5, pp. 19–26 (in Russian).
18. Zhuravskiy А. Predstavleniya o cheloveke v Korane i Novom Zavete [The image of a person in Quran and New Testament]. Stranitsy, 1996, no. 3, pp. 139–148 (in Russian).
19. Bobyreva Е.V. Teoriya diskursa: religioznyy diskurs [Theory of discourse: religious discourse]. Krasnoyarsk, Nauchno-innovatsionnyy tsentr Publ., 2023. 226 p. (in Russian).
20. Shchukina I.N. Ratsional’nost’ emotsional’nogo v religioznykh programmakh rossiyskogo televideniya (na materiale propovedey mitropolita Smolenskogo i Kaliningradskogo Kirilla) [Rationality of emotions in religious programmes of Russian TV (based on sermons of Smolensk and Kaliningrad’s mitropolit Kirill)]. Stereotipnost’ i tvorchestvo v tekste. Mezhvuzovskiy sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Stereotypes and creativity in text: interuniversity collection of scientific papers]. Ed. M.P. Kotyurova. Perm, Perm State University Publ, 2010. Iss. 14. Pp. 85–92 (in Russian).
21. Zarayskiy A.A. Kul’turnoye znaniye kak kontseptual’noye osnovaniye rechevogo zhanra religioznogo nastavleniya (na materiale mediadiskursa) [Cultural knowledge as a conceptual basis of an instruction as a religious genre (based on mdediadiscourse)]. Zhanry rechi – Speech Genres, 2023, vol. 18, no. 3 (39), pp. 294–299 (in Russian). doi: 10.18500/2311-0740-2023-18-3-39-294-299
22. Kozlova Е.А., Gremitskaya М.V. Kontsept VERA i religioznyiy diskurs: vliyaniye media [Concept BELIEF and religious discourse: media influence]. Filologicheskiye nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki – Philology. Theory & Practice, 2003, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 285–290 (in Russian).
23. Shakhovskiy V.I. Lingvisticheskaya teoriya emotsiy [Linguistic theory of emotions]. Moscow, Gnosis Publ, 2008. 416 p. (in Russian).
24. Kozhemyakin Е.А. Religioznyy diskurs: metodologiya issledovaniya [Religious discourse: research methodology]. Nauchnyye vedomosti Belgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Series: Filosofia. Sotsiologiya. Pravo, 2011, no. 2 (97), pp. 32–47 (in Russian).
25. Parfenova О.А., Seliverstova К.А. Lingvostilisticheskiye osobennosti angloyazychnoy propovedi [Lingvostylistic features of the sermon in the English language]. Interaktivnaya nauka – Interactive Science, 2016, no. 9, pp. 63–66 (in Russian).
26. Omel’chenko О.V. Modal’nost’ religioznykh predpisaniy i zapretov (na materiale pravoslavnogo veroucheniya). Avtoref. dis. kand. filol. nauk [Modality of religious regulations and prohibitions. Abstract of thesis cand. of philol. sci.]. Volgograd, 2023. 26 p. (in Russian).
( 401.63 kB ) 
( 396.88 kB )
Issue: 3, 2025
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: THEORETICAL LINGUISTICS
Pages: 7 — 15
Downloads: 517