Linguistic and cultural specifics of the sports media narrative (based on the example of sports commentaries in Canada and Russia)

Pak Leonid Evgen'evich ORCID: 0000-0003-2181-0259 PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Intercultural Communications and Translation Studies; Vladivostok State University 690002, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Krasnoe Znamya ave., 51, sq. 230 leonid.pak@vvsu.ru

This study is devoted to a comparative study of the specifics of the sports media narrative.

Classical narratology was formed in the works of such famous researchers as M. M. Bakhtin, V. Schmid, Ts. Todorov, J. Genette, V. Ya. Propp, R. Barth and others. According to M. M. Bakhtin, the narrative should equally combine both the event of the narration itself and the event that unfolds in the work of fiction ^[1]. At the same time, these aspects of the narrative can be studied separately, since narratology is divided into two branches: plotology (the generation of a story and the change of this story during the movement of the plot from the beginning to the climax and denouement) and perspectivology (the study of narrative instances and focalization) ^[2].

V. Ya.'s structuralist works played an important role in the formation of narratology as a science. Propa on the morphology of a fairy tale ^[3] and the literary works of R. Barth ^[4]. According to J. Genette and C. Todorov, a narrative is a special type of text containing the following mandatory elements: an event, a plot and the position from which the narrated world is presented ^{[5, 6]}.

Based on the works of classical narratology, a fairly new direction has been formed – narrative linguistics or linguonarratology. Within the framework of this young branch of knowledge, linguistic-pragmatic and linguistic-stylistic features of narrative models in Internet communication are studied ^[7], as well as the reflection of media narratives in online youth communities, which, according to the authors, are aimed at fostering traditional values ^[8].

The articles of modern researchers actively study the journalistic media narrative, for example, world modeling in the journalistic narrative of the United States ^[9], tactics of speech influence at the basic content levels of the journalistic narrative ^[10], types of narratives in political discourse ^[11], chrono-diachronic study of narrative folklore as a type of information weapon ^[12].

In addition, we can definitely talk about the emergence of a news media narrative. The narratological view of the news discourse was formed under the influence of the works of T. A. van Dyck, who considered a significant feature of this type of narrative to be the desire to begin a message about an event by expressing the main main theme in the title, extending it to the introduction (lead) ^[13], while in most narrative texts the relevant topic is brought to the end. Following T. A. According to van Dyke, domestic researchers such as V. I. Tyupa (the narratological problem of news discourse) ^[14] and A. E. Agratin (structural features of the event in "threatening" messages) devoted their works to the study of the features of the news narrative ^[15].

So far, a rather small number of works have been devoted to identifying the linguistic and cultural specifics of media narratives. For example, O. V. Nikolaeva's article on the media narrative "The Asian Century". The study establishes the role of national narratives in the formation of plots in the East and West (based on the material of English-language media texts from Asian countries, the USA and European countries) ^[16]. In addition, there is a work devoted to the Brazilian media narrative about Russia ^[17]. This study continues the aspect study of the linguistic and cultural features of media narratives. In this study, we will define the sports media narrative as a set of thematically related media texts that describe events in the sports field in the light of the author's perception of cause-and-effect relationships.

The relevance of this article is due to several reasons. Firstly, events in the field of sports reflect the problems of globalization and forecasting the future, which determines the importance of both a comprehensive and aspect-based study of communication in this field and, in particular, the sports media narrative. Secondly, comparative studies that identify the linguistic and cultural features of the modern media text, its expressive capabilities as a means of organizing narration, correspond to the methodology of modern language science. Thirdly, despite the presence of some works in the highlighted problem field, insufficient attention has been paid to the study of the sports media narrative through the prism of linguistic and cultural specificity.

The novelty of this work is due to the fact that for the first time a comparative analysis of the sports media narrative in English and Russian (based on the material of sports commentaries) is carried out. The features of the narrative sequence and the nature of the narrative strategy are described; the specifics of the created story and the presentation of the facts of the unfolding event are compared; similarities and differences of speech types in describing the event are revealed.

The aim of the study is to compare the sports media narrative in the linguistic and cultural paradigm (based on the material of sports commentaries from Canada and Russia).

The material for the study is the sports commentary of the hockey World Championship in Russian and English. Russian reports were selected from the MATCH TV channel broadcasts (8 broadcasts with a total duration of 24 hours, commentators: Vladimir Guchek, Leonid Vasin, Artyom Batrak, Andrey Yurtaev, Kirill Kornilov). Canada's comments in English were selected from TSN (The Sport Network) broadcasts (8 broadcasts lasting 24 hours, commentators: Gord Miller and Mike Johnson).

The object of the study is the sports media narrative in the Canadian and Russian linguistic cultures.

The subject of the study is the linguistic and cultural aspect of the sports media narrative of Russia and Canada.

The main methods used in this work are comparative discourse analysis and the linguistic narrative method. In addition, quantitative data processing methods were used.

The work involved the sequential execution of several stages. We have studied how the basic features of the media text are manifested within the framework of sports commentary: anthropocentricity (reflection of the author's (commentator's) worldview, peculiarities of interpretation of phenomena and events) and dialogicality. At the same time, significant properties of oral media speech were identified and described: polycode, the nature of the narrative strategy, compliance with the narrative sequence, the specifics of speech types when describing an event and showing facts/events. Next, a comparative analysis of the sports media narrative was carried out based on the highlighted features and properties of the media text and media language in Russian and English, similarities and differences were described.

The results of the study. The general features of the text of the sports media narrative (based on the material of sports commentary) include such a characteristic as polycode, i.e. simultaneous illustration of the event both verbally (oral speech of the commentator) and in a video sequence. A sporting event is depicted in the process of development, which makes it more attractive to the addressee viewer.

Next, let's turn to such a parameter of the sports media narrative as the nature of the narrative strategy. The varieties of narrative strategy are: extra-aesthetic and intradiegetic ^[18]. As part of the extra-aesthetic strategy, the author, when presenting an event, assumes the role of an "omniscient, supramundane being" who does not participate in what is happening. At the same time, if the author is directly involved in the unfolding event and tells about it from the point of view of the actor, then an intradiegetic strategy is used. In the analyzed material, one can find the dominance of the extra-aesthetic narrative strategy in both linguistic cultures:

"So we reached the final, it is the host team Czechia against Switzerland in this bubbling cauldron here in Prague, not a seat to be had, it's a country of 10 half million people, an estimated 2.5 million watched their semi-final win over Sweden yesterday" (Translation: "So We have reached the final, the Czech national team on home ice against Switzerland in this boiling pot in Prague, there is not a single empty seat. A country with a population of ten million, and at the same time two and a half million watched the semi-final with Sweden yesterday") ^[19].

"Canada and Latvia will start their match very soon. All attention to the court, the starting throw-in. Samuel Montenbo is in the goal for Canada, Artur Shilov is defending the Latvian goal, who played an incomparable quarterfinal match against Sweden, well, there was no other way, you had to jump out of your pants to achieve this success, a historic success" ^[20].

In the examples given, sports commentators present the event from the outside.

At the same time, in order to overcome the mediation of communication with the addressee viewer, sports commentators can partially apply an intradiegetic narrative strategy, leaving the role of just a narrator, seeking to take an indirect part in what is happening. Both Russian and Canadian commentators appeal to the viewers of the broadcast and to the participants of the sports event:

"I don't know how you're expecting to see anything or find the puck through that massive people" (Translation: "I do not know how you expect to see something here or find the puck among these huge people") ^[19].

"It's hard to describe to you guys, how this tournament has taken over this country, endless squares, sports bars, you name it, it is everywhere" (Translation: "It's hard to describe it to you guys, the importance of this tournament in this country, filled squares, sports bars, then everywhere, he is everywhere") ^[19].

"Deleting already, what are you talking about? Well, yes, it's a good footboard, or rather it's bad that the violation behind the front line is so obvious in the opponent's zone" ^[20].

"Do you think something will change? But so far it's the middle of the game and they look equal, and at the same time Latvia is 1-0. Most of them, there are just no moments! Canada is in the majority against Latvia! And there are no moments!" ^[20].

Thus, within the framework of this narrative strategy, the commentator strives to become an actor and narrate the event from the participant's position, building a polycode narrative, which performs the function of enhancing the attractiveness of what is happening to the viewer.

Narrative consistency is an important feature of oral media speech in sports narrative. A typical scheme of this phenomenon is as follows: 1) description of the initial situation; 2) the beginning (complication); 3) the climax; 4) the denouement (code); 5) the final situation ^[21]. The commentary of each match of the hockey World Cup is a narrative about the events taking place, this narrative consists of narratives of a smaller volume (micronarratives). Within each of these micronarratives, the described sequence is presented in canonical form.

Consider the comment of the semifinal mast of the 2023 World Cup between Germany and the USA: 1) description of the initial situation "In the first match, Latvia almost made a sensation, but naturally, quite expectedly, lost to the Canadian team with a score of 4:2. Canada is in the final. Here we also have a team that turned out to be quite unexpected in the semifinals..."; 2) the tie (complication): "The German national team flew into someone else's zone"; 3) climax: "Interception, look, exit 1 on 1, goal!! It's 2-0 and this is Grimaldi, a 20-year-old one of the most experienced and this is his 11th point at the World Cup, even 12, 11 he has already scored. Look: I got it, accelerated, ran and just without hesitation to the near one, until no one managed to get closer to him"; 4) the denouement (code): "the USA is consolidating leadership, an active beginning"; 5) the final situation: "As if this semi-final suddenly did not become a formality, well, just too much The Americans have made a great start! Four and a half minutes, 3 moments, and the German national team has no moments at all" ^[20].

For the English-language sports narrative, this specificity is also applicable, let's turn to the semifinal match between the Czech Republic and Sweden at the 2024 World Cup: 1) description of the initial situation "There are thousands of people there, the fan zone here is packed and of course the arena is standing" (Translation: There are thousands of people here, the fan zone is packed to the point of failure, and, of course, the whole arena is on its feet"); 2) the tie (complication): Mike Johnson: Czech just has to go back to work, this game hasn't yet felt like it's started with the early penalties and the gold... it hasn't really found its flow yet. Gord Miller: Kampf kicks and pokes at that but it's moved back to Palat..." (Translation: Mike Johnson: "The Czechs need to get to work again, it feels like the game hasn't started yet: early elimination and gold medals... the game hasn't got into a rut yet" Gord Miller: "Kampf leads the puck and passes it to Polat..."); 3) climax: "Kubalik, scores!" (Translation: "Kubalik, scores!"); 4) denouement (of the code): "And it's 2:2, the Swedes have not allowed a first period goal coming in, now they're allowed two in the first 10 minutes in the semi-final" (Translation: "And the score is 2:2, the Swedes allowed to score in own goal in the first period, and now allowed twice in ten minutes of the semi-final"); 5) final situation: "another response goal coming back, to tie it, not letting Sweden play from in front like they have all tournament" (Translation: "Another return goal to equalize, not they allow the Swedes to play from the front, as they did the whole tournament") ^[19].

Thus, the narrative sequence of sports commentary does not reveal linguistic and cultural differences (it represents a classical sequence), each micronarrative is included in the narrative of the entire match as a whole, while the comments of each individual match can become elements of a narrative sequence within the framework of the macronarrative, which represents the narrative of the entire World Cup as a whole.

In the course of a comparative study of the linguistic and cultural features of the sports media narrative, some differences were also revealed based on the material of sports commentary. When describing the "image of the event", commentators used all the main types of speech peculiar to Russian and English: narration, description and reasoning, however, the ratio and, consequently, the significance of these types varies in sports narratives in different languages. Thus, the Russian sports media narrative is more characterized by an informative narrative:

Andrey Yurtaev: "And that's a goal! That's how John Peterka opens the scoring and Germany takes the lead!" Kirill Kornilov: "And this is not the first attack by the German national team." Andrey Yurtaev: "There will be a request" ... Kirill Kornilov: "No, well, this is a normal entrance to the zone. There's also Peterka's left skate on the blue line, at the moment when the puck is on his hook." Andrey Yurtaev: "Well, at some point his left skate is already in the zone, and the puck is on the blue line, this moment, this fraction of a second, when the skates are already in the zone, but the puck is not there yet, so apparently this raises questions from the coaching staff of the Canadian national team." Kirill Kornilov: "Well, it's just millimeters and according to the current rules of the IFC, it's a goal." Andrey Yurtaev: "Well, the decision has been made. The goal of the defender is the removal of the Canadian national team. I started talking already, just out of curiosity, look, recently statistics on coaching requests in the KHL this season were published on the KHL website. And you may be surprised, but there are few requests, very few. A team like AK Bars took a coaching request only once a season..." ^[20].

In the above fragment, the commentators not only talk about what is happening at the rink, but also try to explain to the audience all the nuances of the hockey rules ("Peterka's left skate is on the blue line, at the moment when the puck is on his hook", "this is the fraction of a second when the skates are already in the zone, and the puck is not there yet, so apparently this raises questions from the coaching staff of the Canadian national team"), they cite statistics ("A team like AK Bars took a coaching request only once a season"), which makes the narrative clear and logical, activates the attention of the audience.

The English-language sports media narrative is more characterized by a pictorial narrative:

"Lead pass to Colton Parayko, leading the rush for Canada, Colton Parayko drops it back for Bunting beads it back and Genoni... Here's Parayko back at the point for Power who holds the line in for Parayko and Cozens slammed there by Kevin Fiala, had that knocked away picked up by In unting – Bunting got spun around, it's loose in front for Cozens, couldn't quite reach it, and Jonas Siegenthaler has it back for the Swiss, he got pumped there by Genoni as he bounces it down to Binnington, finds Dawson Mercer, in comes, Mercer winds it and shoots that goes just wide off the other side, Tavares couldn't reach it he was tied up by Glauser..." (Translation: "Passes to Colton Paraiko, who leads the Canadians forward, Colton Paraiko gives back to Bunting, another pass back, Jenny… And here Parajko is again – giving Power, who holds the line for Parajko and Kozens, a power play from Kevin Fiala, knocked down and the puck from Bunting – Bunting, leads in a circle, the puck passes freely in front of Kozens, could not reach it, Jonas Siegenthaler takes it back for the Swiss, he meets Genoni, passes to Binnington, finds Dawson Mercer, in the zone, Mercer rushes and throws – the puck passes by on the other side, Tavares could not reach, as he was restrained by the Glazer...") ^[19].

This fragment illustrates the thesis put forward earlier, commentators, building a narrative, shift the focus to changing events, show actions in relation to time and place.

In addition, the Russian sports narrative is dominated by such a type of speech as reasoning:

"Here again is a wake-up call for Germany, Canada is a national team that knows how to play in different ways and can improve during the match. I think it can increase in speed, it can increase in pressure. And this Canadian national team stands out for its size. There are a lot of tall guys, a lot of powerful guys, and, therefore, the Germans should not lose concentration for a second. They got out of the pressure very easily. In such a situation, the most important thing is not to earn relegation, because if the Canadians feel control of the puck and can seize the initiative, then it will be very difficult for the Germans to return it back" ^[20].

The commentator expresses his opinion about what is happening ("I think he can add", "In such a situation, the most important thing is not to earn money") develops and confirms his idea using the subordinate clause ("if the Canadians feel control ..., then it will be very difficult for the Germans") and introductory words ("therefore"). Thus, describing the image of the event, the Russian commentator aims to indirectly influence the viewer, convince, prove his point of view, invite to co-reflection.

At the same time, in Canadian sports commentary, this niche is occupied by such a type of speech as description:

"It's a wild and woolly event here in Prague, there are a lot of upsets, a lot of unusual events", "It's been a tremendous tournament, it has been spectacular, the people of Prague have been extraordinary, this has just been a joy for the players who played here, it has really been a first class event" (Translation: "It was a crazy event in Prague, there were many disappointments, many unexpected events" "It was an incredible tournament, it was unforgettable, the people of Prague were extraordinary, it was a real pleasure for all the players who played here, it was a first-class event")^[19].

In the given example, the object of the description is both the tournament itself and its venue, the text is static, nouns and adjectives with emotional and evaluative connotation predominate ("a lot of upsets", "unusual events", "extraordinary"), figurative means take place, in this case an adjectival phraseology ("wild and woolly").

Thus, when describing an event, sports commentators use the same types of speech (narration, reasoning, and description) to create a narrated world (another reality). The different ratio of speech types is due to the different author's position, axiological and axiomatic attitudes and postulates that differ in Russian and Canadian linguistic cultures.

Quantitative data on the proportion of different types of speech within the framework of the Russian and Canadian sports media narrative are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. The percentage ratio of speech types within the Russian and Canadian sports media narrative.

Conclusion. In the course of this study, a comparative analysis of the sports media narrative in the linguistic and cultural paradigm was carried out. The material was sports commentary from Canada and Russia in Russian and English.

It should be noted that the oral texts produced within the framework of both discourses are characterized by internal dynamics, polycode (the commentator's speech is accompanied by a video sequence) and are arranged in accordance with the canonical narrative sequence. When describing the image of an event, commentators, speakers of different linguistic cultures, use an extra-egitic strategy (an omniscient observer-narrator), sometimes using an introdiegetic strategy (the desire to indirectly become a participant in the narrated events).

Linguistic and cultural differences are most clearly seen at the level of speech types. Russian commentators are characterized by the use of informative narration (the desire to explain the nuances of the event, the motives of the participants in the sports action), while Canadian commentators use descriptive narration (shifting the focus to changing events, showing the action in relation to time and place). The second most significant type of speech in the Russian media discourse is reasoning: the search for cause-and-effect relationships, expressing one's opinion and concluding theses, inviting viewers to co-think. For Canadian commentators, a description is more typical: a static image of what is happening, the study of the features and properties of the phenomenon or object of interest.

Thus, the Russian sports media narrative follows a dramatic (plot) way of showing events, while the Canadian one follows a chronotopic one, i.e. it is determined by reference to time and place.

The revealed differences may indicate that when narrating an event, commentators create a "second reality" based on their axiological attitudes due to cultural differences between the two countries.

The conducted research indicates the prospect of further work on the problems of comparative analysis of the sports media narrative implemented in different languages. First, it is necessary to involve new empirical material. Secondly, to explore other types of media narratives in terms of their gender and linguistic and cultural specificity.