The emblematization of the discursive markers of the new ethics

Zibrov Dmitrii Anatol'evich PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of 'Foreign Language'; Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering 664007, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Chernyshevsky str., 15, room D-713 matou45@yandex.ru Sludneva Lyudmila Valentinovna PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of 'Foreign Language'; Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering 664074, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Chernyshevsky str., 15, room D-711 matou45@yandex.ru Skopintseva Tat'yana Anatol'evna PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of 'Foreign Language'; Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering 664074, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Chernyshevsky str., 15, room D-711 matou45@yandex.ru

Kim En Ok PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of 'Foreign Language'; Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering 664074, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Chernyshevsky str., 15, office D-711 matou45@yandex.ru

The turbulent social and political environment, technological determinism, and the network morphology of social life – these features of society have largely prepared the basis for the formation of the modern language space. Many scientists have already identified specific trajectories of the communicative space, which became especially noticeable at the beginning of the 21st century. ^{[11; 12; 13; 19]}. The point is that a significant part of society has become extremely scrupulous and sensitive to the ethics of communication, and the words themselves have become triggers for uniting groups and communities. In this regard, the term "new ethics" has appeared in journalism. It is a concept that covers changes in public discourse and communication related to modern social and cultural movements.

The purpose of the article is to present an emblematic understanding of the linguistic markers of the new ethics. The goal required setting two tasks: to identify the reality defined by the concept of "new ethics" and to consider the criteria for identifying the language of new ethics. Anticipating further research, we will formulate the hypothesis that the new ethics has a certain linguistic expression and has discursive markers or emblems that serve as indicators of the specifics of discourse and perform certain functions. Consequently, the language of the new ethics is an actual linguistic object.

Let us outline the main aspects of the new ethics, which can be summarized as follows:
• The new ethics focuses on combating various forms of discrimination — racism, feminism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, etc. This includes both changes in public consciousness and legal initiatives.
• Within the framework of the new ethics, the phenomenon of cancellation culture is actively discussed, when society refuses to support or interact with individuals or organizations whose actions or statements are considered immoral. It is noteworthy that, for example, such a well-known form of social ostracism as boycott is expressed as a destructive form of criticism.
• In the context of the growing influence of social media, new ethics include norms of behavior in the digital space, which implies respect for the personal boundaries and feelings of others. Digital etiquette is becoming a necessary practice.
• An important part of the new ethic is the desire for inclusivity in culture and art, which is reflected in the representation of diverse groups of the population.

The term "new ethics" has not yet entered scientific usage, it can still be described as a neologism. The aggregator of scientific articles, upon request, "new ethics", issues several publications within the framework of the linguistic field (see, for example, ^{[5; 6]}). Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the authors regularly refer to similar phenomena that are studied in the problematic field of linguistics. Thus, it follows from the publication of N. S. Barebina that the concept of new ethics "localizes the problem of interdisciplinary systemic methodology in the study of the area of new social practice in the form of a trend of sincerity and frankness in linguistic interaction" ^{[1, p. 5]}.

One of the lines of research of phenomena within the framework of the new ethics is the opposition of the relevant linguistic practice in relation to rational discourse. Thus, phenomena of a similar nature are recorded by the authors in the form of discursive innovations of "cancellation culture" and "woke culture". Scientists reveal the discursive mechanism of innovations in the form of a deviant mode of reasoning ^[4], which differs from the rational mode. Indeed, if we rely on the generally accepted understanding of rational communicative action, which forms a cooperative type of communication, which can be seen, for example, in argumentative discourse ^[8], then various kinds of aberrations of the ideal of rationality become obvious. This can be considered in the scientific optics of logical-semantic analysis of reasoning, which assumes the analysis of the pragmatics of reasoning in the form of acceptable schemes, representing the rhetorical antipode of logical-rational schemes ^[3]. This is confirmed by the conclusions of ^[2], which shows that the terms "cancellation culture" and "woke culture" are markers of changes taking place in the communicative environment, namely, "markers of social activism, criticism and division."

Let us turn to the criteria for identifying the language of the new ethics. Note that these should reflect the typical properties of the object, be verifiable and objective. The research material was the headlines and excerpts from articles on the news resources of the electronic versions of print media. Comments on articles were also included in the analysis. The method of linguistic stylistic text analysis was used. The research building has 250 labeled units that semantically belong to the field of ethics and shaping in the form of expressions of public condemnation.

Inclusivity is the use of terms and formulations that do not exclude or disparage certain groups of people. The principle of organizing social life is assumed when there is no inequality between people. The idea of inclusivity is that language itself can serve as a form of discrimination. In every language, there really are derogatory words directed against women, representatives of different nationalities and other groups. According to the concept of the new ethics, it is proposed to completely eliminate such words from use and punish their use. For example, Agatha Christie's work "Ten Little Niggers" has now been renamed in new English-language editions to "And Then There Were None". An example of gender-neutral vocabulary: "parent No. 1" and "parent No. 2" instead of "mom" and "dad".

Related to this is another characteristic of the language of the new ethics in the form of sensitivity to context. Awareness of how words can affect people and the desire to avoid language that may be perceived as offensive or derogatory is essential ^{[17; 18; 20]}. An author who violates this criterion risks paying a lot. For example, the words of A. Chekhov in an interview about cosmetic surgery: "I began to look like Buryat women, and I hated my reflection in the mirror"^[10] provoked a flurry of criticism from Buryat women (the author's spelling was preserved in the examples).

"Disgusting program, we are waiting for an apology for racist statements against Buryat women!" the viewer wrote.

Residents of Buryatia express their indignation:

"Anfisa, look on the Internet at what Buryat women are like. You'll understand that you shouldn't have been so upset! Shantanova, Pantaeva, Mogzolova… These women are famous in Hollywood, what are you talking about? And many other Buryat beauties. Come to Irkutsk, Ulan Ude, and see real Buryat women. Develop your horizons",

"Comparing your face, inflated with hyaluronic acid, with the face of a Buryat woman is at least impolite and uncivilized. Wait for the consequences"

"Why are any puffy faces compared to Buryat? Are we the most puffy-faced nation"

"Apologize for your interview! About the Buryat face! And don't mention the Buryats from now on!"

Another characteristic of the language of the new ethics is the virality of the content. Unethical statements are disseminated extremely widely and without the efforts of the author of the statement, in addition, his possible explanations do not affect this process.

"She insulted an entire nation of millions and sits there as if nothing had happened. Unite, Kazakhs, Kirghizs, Yakuts, Kalmyks, Buryats, etc. In order for her account to be blocked, she must be fully responsible for this. The channels of the program's presenters should also be punished!" the former follower urged.

The scandal led to the dismissal of both the media personality and those who interviewed her from the TV channel.

This characteristic provides a lot for understanding the emerging picture of the world and is relevant from the point of view of imperatives formation. The presence of components in the semantic structure of the utterance that relate to historical, cultural, moral and other values or refer to them, in the context of new ethics, have the potential to trigger. It is possible to identify triggers of patriotism, where such units as runners, runaway stars, and runaway artists act as a discursive emblem. Many statements are triggered, as well as symbols. For example

The problem of discursive emblems has repeatedly attracted the attention of linguists ^{[14; 15; 16]}. V. I. Karasik suggests interpreting the emblem "as a sign recognized by the interpreter that an object belongs to some culturally significant class (uniform, accent in speech, violations of etiquette, etc.) <...> the same object can receive an emblematic, allegorical or symbolic meaning, or it will not be interpreted as a sign at all" ^{[7, p. 1127]}. Based on the author's work, it can be concluded that discursive emblems are a concept that can be used to designate visual or textual means of communication that contribute to the formation of certain discourses and meanings in society. Emblems can include symbols, signs, images, and language constructs that carry powerful meanings and help shape public opinion or cultural norms.

In conclusion, we can summarize some of the results.

First, the linguistic expression of the new ethics contains a number of markers that have the status of discursive emblems. They serve as a kind of codes that convey certain ideas or values. For example, the use of certain stylistic means or vocabulary in the following markers indicates belonging to a certain group or movement: harassment, abuse, kanselling, ageism, gaslighting, #Yankee, #Me Too, the Movement of the Former.

Secondly, according to the classification of emblems, the markers proposed in the article belong to an open type of emblems, which, in the words of V. I. Karasik, should be "read, not solved" ^{[7, p. 1128]}.

Thirdly, discursive emblems represent a certain cultural and historical impression. For example, the new Russian cliche is a broad concept that is easily recognizable by potential communication participants belonging only to a certain age and social group.

Emblems can perform various functions, such as indicating consistency, adding information, expressing the speaker's attitude to what has been said, etc. Emblems of the new ethics perform the functions of polarization, mobilization of society, indication and unification of groups, therefore both negative and positive interpretation of meanings is possible.

The study of discursive markers from the point of view of emblematization allows for a deeper understanding of how text elements influence the formation of social relations.