Cognitive-pragmatic description of jealousy and its objectification in Leo Tolstoy’s letters to his wife
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2025-4-7-15
The article gives a cognitive-pragmatic description of jealousy. The material of the study are Leo Tolstoy's letters to his wife. The research is carried out by the method of discourse, pragmatic, and component analysis. On the basis of the semantic analysis, combinability of the key word of this emotional concept it is revealed that it has a script character. The paper proposes a cognitive scenario of jealousy. The author found that in a calm psychological state Tolstoy interpreted jealousy as something bad, as a misfortune, as a manifestation of selfishness. The article determines that the feeling of jealousy is a complex communicative strategy, including tactics heterogeneous in semiotic aspect. The author reveals that Tolstoy is clearly aware of the purpose of his communicative-pragmatic behavior when feeling jealousy: he wants Sophia Andreyevna to stop her relationship with Sergey I. Taneyev, which indicates his dominant role in the relationship. The work explicates several speech tactics used by Lev Nikolayevich: formation of guilt in the addressee, stimulation of sympathy and self-pity on his part; simulation of misunderstanding; reproach; evaluation of the third person acting as the cause of jealousy; comparison, prediction of consequences with exaggeration. The tactics he uses are predominantly destructive, reflecting a focus on himself. In order to manipulate Tolstoy uses a variety of means of empathy. The paper concludes that Tolstoy uses predominantly explicit tactics, openly and directly influencing the addressee. The main means of verbal objectification of jealousy are various intensifiers. Tolstoy is opinionated. His letters expressing this feeling are characterized by being illogical and inconsistent. Tolstoy explains his psychological state as follows: his wife disturbed the usual course of life, caused him anxiety, the reason for which was only in the behavior of Sophia Andreyevna, who is able to normalize the situation. Tolstoy makes demands to his wife and sets conditions for her. The study of the written manifestations of this feeling in personal discourse reconstructs a complete picture of the nature and verbalization of jealousy.
Keywords: everyday discourse, emotional concept, jealousy, communicative strategy, communicative tactics, Leo Tolstoy
References:
1. Barsukova I.V. Sistematizatsiya lingvisticheskich kontseptov emotsional’nykh sostoyaniy [Systematization of linguistic concepts of emotional states]. Vestnik Samarskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2008, no. 4 (63), pp. 13–18 (in Russian).
2. Bitokova S.Kh. Natsional’no-kul’turnaya spetsifika emotsional’nykh kontseptov [National and cultural specifics of emotional concepts]. Vestnik Adygeyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, Seriya 2: Filologiya i iskusstvovedeniye, 2009, no. 3, pp. 98–104 (in Russian).
3. Kasatkina A.V. Psikhologiya revnosti: analiz zarubezhnoy i otechestvennoy literatury [Psychology of jealousy: an analysis of foreign and domestic literature]. Psikhologiya i pedagogika v Krymu: puti razvitiya, 2022, no. 4 (in Russian). URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=50014235 (accessed 30 January 2025).
4. Novitskaya T.A. Frazeologicheskiye sredstva verbalizatsii emotsional’nogo kontsepta «Strakh» v yazke [Phraseological means of verbalization of the emotional concept of “Fear” in language]. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2007, no. 22, pp. 107–111 (in Russian).
5. Malachova S.A. Lichnostno-emotsional’nye kontsepty «Gordost’» i «Styd» v russkoy i angliyskoy lingvokul’turakh [Personalemotional concepts of “Pride” and “Shame” in Russian and English linguistic cultures]. Armavir, AGPA Publ., 2011. 207 p. (in Russian)
6. Solodilova I.A. Problemy modelirovaniya emotsional’nykh kontseptov [Problems of modeling emotional concepts]. Vestnik Bashkirskogo universiteta, 2010, vol. 15, no. 1. pp. 71–74 (in Russian).
7. Zemicheva C.C. Emotsional’nye kontsepty «Plach» i «Smekh» v diskurse nositelya narodno-rechevoy kul’tury [Emotional concepts of “Crying” and “Laughing” in the discourse of a native speaker of folk speech culture]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2: Yazykoznaniye, 2019, vol. 18, no. 3. pp. 116–129. doi: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2019.3.9 (in Russian).
8. Tsitszkieva R.Yu. Problemy modelirovaniya emotsional’nykh kontseptov [Problems of modeling emotional concepts]. Lingua-Universum, 2017, no. 4, pp. 36–40 (in Russian).
9. Kuprieva I.A., Matytsina M.S. Problemy pragmalingvisticheskogo analiza emotsiy zavisti i revnosti v sovremennom angliyskom yazyke [Problems of pragmalinguistic analysis of emotions of envy and jealousy in modern English]. Tribun EU, 2016. 93 p. (in Russian).
10. Slovar’ russkogo yazyka: v 4 tomakh [Dictionary of the Russian language]. Ed. A.P. Evgen’eva. Moscow, Russkiy yazyk Publ., 1981 (in Russian).
11. Shakhovskiy V.I. Emotsii. Dolingvistika. Lingvistika. Lingvokul’turologiya [Emotions. Linguistics. Linguistics. Cultural linguistics]. Moscow, URSS Publ., 2010. 128 p. (in Russian).
12. Vezhbiczkaya A. Yazyk. Poznaniye. Kul’tura [Language. Cognition. Culture]. Moscow, Russkiye slovari Publ., 1997. 416 p. (in Russian).
13. Vezhbiczkaya A. Semanticheskiye universalii i opisaniye yazykov [Semantic universals and language descriptions]. Moscow, Yazyki russkoy kul’tury Publ., 1999. 780 p. (in Russian).
14. Bochkaryov A.E. Sposoby i sredstva vyrazheniya otchayaniya [Ways and means of expressing despair]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Yazykoznaniye, 2016, vol. 15, no. 3. pp. 103–110. doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2016.3.11 (in Russian).
15. Tolstaya S.A. Dnevniki 1862–1910 [Diaries of 1862-1910]. Moscow, Zakharov Publ., 2022. 704 p. (in Russian).
16. Tolstoy L.N. Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy. Pis’ma k S.A. Tolstoy [The complete works. Letters to S.A. Tolstoy]. Moscow, RGB Publ., 2006. 651 p. (in Russian).
17. Slovo Tolstogo: v 90 tomakh. Tom 84 [Tolstoy’s Word. In 90 volumes. Vol. 84] (in Russian). URL: https://slovotolstogo.ru/ (accessed25 January 2025).
18. Matytsina M.S. Tipy rechevykh aktov vyrazheniya revnosti i zavisti [Types of speech acts expressing jealousy and envy]. Nauchnye vedomosti. Seriya: Gumanitarnye nauki, 2013, no. 13 (156), vol. 18, pp. 113–116 (in Russian).
19. Volkova A.N. Opyt issledovaniya supruzheskoy nevernosti [Experience of marital infidelity research]. Voprosy psikhologii, 1989, no. 2, pp. 98–102 (in Russian).
20. Tokarev G.V. Geniy protiv pravil: otvet L’va Tolstogo na kul’turnye ustanovki ego vremeni [Genius against the Rules: Leo Tolstoy’s Reaction to the Cultural Attitudes of his Time]. Tula, Tul’skiy poligrafist 1 Publ., 2024. 76 p. (in Russian).
( 391.61 kB ) 
( 384.11 kB )
Issue: 4, 2025
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: THEORETICAL AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Pages: 7 — 15
Downloads: 333