On the issue of the gender specificity of the sports news narrative

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 Other publications by this author

The present study is devoted to the study of the gender specificity of the sports news narrative.

It is logical to begin the review of theoretical works on the research topic by defining narratology as a science. Narratology as a well-founded scientific discipline was first formed in the works of Ts. Todorov, who put forward the term "narratology" (the science of narration) ^[1]. The interdisciplinary science, which was new at that time, became the basis for various studies at all levels.

In the works of the classic of Soviet linguistics and literary criticism M. M. Bakhtin, the narrative appears from a socio-philosophical point of view as a metaphor reflecting the dialogical nature of man ^[2].

Within the framework of cognitive linguistics, which studies ways to reflect the peculiarities of perception and cognition of the surrounding world in language, the specificity of narrative as a cognitive style is highlighted in a new way, allowing structuring and rethinking accumulated life experience ^[3].

The structural-system paradigm considers a narrative as a special type of text that combines a focalization (point of view) and an event ^[4].

In the light of the communicative point of view on the study of narrative, it implies a structure with a narrator (narrator) who decodes the content of the story in accordance with his subjective perception for the viewer-reader, who also understands the plot form of the story in his own way. The communicative paradigm is reflected in works on the typology of narratives ^[5].

Modern narratology continues its development in the works of V. I. Tyupa, in which the influence of the research of famous linguists on the emergence of problems and the formation of the scientific apparatus of "postclassical narratology" is reconstructed ^{[6, 7]}.

Thus, modern language science understands by narrative various types of texts that are based on the movement of the plot from the beginning, through the climax to the denouement, based on the author's point of view ^[8].

The linguistics of narrative is characterized by the need to classify numerous types and types of narrative texts. There are studies devoted to the definition of the concept of multimedia journalistic media narrative ^[9], the features and characteristic features of the ironic narrative ^[10], the linguistic and cultural specifics of national narratives within the framework of the "West-East" dichotomy ^[11].

In addition to the types of narratives listed above, the news narrative was also allocated to a separate category. A narratological view of the news discourse was formed by T. A. By Van Dyck. The message of a new event is therefore a narrative act ^[12]. In modern linguistics, news discourse is given very close attention. Corpus studies of the problem of semantic shifts in modern Russian are conducted on the basis of the news media discourse ^[13]. Meta-narratives in Internet communication are studied using the example of the Vkontakte social network ^[14], as well as the network polytext narrative through the prism of the functioning of hypertext transitions ^[15].

The gender features of the narrative are revealed in the article by A. A. Ryabukhina on the gestural behavior of men and women within the framework of spontaneous oral narrative ^[16].

The sports narrative has not become the object of special study in the works of Russian linguists, among the theoretical works that approach the described problem, one can note the study of metaphorical models in modern sports discourse ^[17] and the study of sports vocabulary in pre-election discourse in English ^[18].

The relevance of this work is due to several reasons. Firstly, the research topic corresponds to the methodology of modern language science, since the scientific tools of narratology allow us to apply the categories of narrative intrigue, worldview and events with a high degree of effectiveness, to identify their correlation. Secondly, in the era of globalization and the participation of a significant number of people in sports events, the broadcast of sports news releases from the event site and the publication of news articles on the Internet, the study of the specifics of communication in the field of sports seems very timely. Thirdly, in relation to gender analysis, the sports news narrative makes it possible to identify the feminine and masculine specifics of verbal behavior in different cultures. It should be noted that the gender aspect of a narrative of any type has practically not been studied in either domestic or foreign scientific works.

The novelty of this work lies in the fact that for the first time a comparative gender analysis of the features of the sports news narrative is carried out, a two-stage methodology for identifying the gender characteristics of the texts of the sports news narrative has been developed.

The aim of the work is to identify the gender specificity of the sports news narrative.

News reports in English (Daily Mail, Le Monde, Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, Aljazeera) and Russian (Sport Express, Match TV, DW, Euro News, Championship, Forbes Sport) of electronic periodicals and sports news sites were selected as material for the study. Articles by male journalists Adam Shergold, Fernando Callass, Sam Jones, Artyom Nikulin, Sergei Romashenko, Kirill Zakatchenko were selected, and texts by female journalists were also studied: Isabel Pique, Vicky Wong, Gemma Soler, Ksenia Ermakova, Nadezhda Dryamina, Carmen Erdnieva. A total of 48 news articles were analyzed, 24 articles for each gender group (4 articles per resource/publication).

The object of the study is a sports news narrative.

The subject of the study is the gender aspect of the sports news narrative.

The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary combination of linguistic narrative, discursive and gender approaches. The main methods of this work are discourse analysis, linguistic narrative analysis and descriptive-comparative method. A quantitative method and statistical data are also used to confirm the objectivity of the results.

To achieve this goal, a two-stage methodology was developed to identify the gender characteristics of sports news narrative texts. At the first stage, the general indicators inherent in the texts of news messages were analyzed: the configuration of the news material: creolization/polycode (a combination of several semiotic systems – textual, visual, auditory); the degree of involvement of recipients (the effectiveness of the information provided: the number of comments and likes); dynamism or static (factography) of the title and introduction (lida). At the second stage, the analysis of the gender characteristics of news texts was carried out in terms of narrative strategy, narrative sequence and narrative orientation.

The results of the study.

The configuration of texts within the sports news narrative can be characterized as creolized or polycode. Creolized materials are presented on the pages of such websites and electronic online publications as the Daily Mail, Sport Express, DW, Championship, Le Monde, BBC. News notes and messages from these resources are texts whose texture consists of heterogeneous elements, verbal (the text itself) and non-verbal (illustrations, cartoons, poster inserts). Polycode news reports were posted on the pages of such online media as Reuters, The Guardian, Aljazeera, Match TV, Euro News, Forbes Sport. The materials of the previously listed publications are characterized by a combination of several semiotic systems – textual, visual, and auditory. News reports contain video or audio fragments that the reader can watch or listen to. It should be noted that the materials of all listed sources contain clickable links that refer to additional information related to the topic of the narrated event.

Thus, one of the main features of the modern sports news narrative is the building of an interactive discourse that combines various sign systems, which makes the material attractive in the eyes of the addressee.

In the course of further research, the headlines and introductions (if any) of news articles were analyzed from the point of view of presenting the material: dynamic or static (factual).

Headlines or headline complexes (headline + introduction) 8 out of 12 publications (Sport Express, DW, Championship, Le Monde, BBC, Aljazeera, Match TV, Euro News) are characterized by a dynamic presentation of the material:

"Headline: The aftermath of the Rubiales scandal. He left due to pressure from UEFA, the players refuse to come to the national team" ^[19].

"Introduction: Hermoso was questioned by a judge in Madrid on January 2. The magistrate, who is investigating the behavior of the former president of the Spanish Football Association after the World Cup final on August 20, is nearing the end of his investigations [Translation: Hermoso was questioned by a judge in Madrid on January 2nd.The magistrate who investigated the case of the former president of the Spanish Football Association after the World Cup final on August 20th is close to completing his work." [20]

"Introduction: Spanish prosecutors want the ex-head of the country's football federation to be jailed for two-and-a-half years, after he kissed a female footballer against her will at Spain's World Cup victory [Translation: The Spanish prosecutor's office demands that the former head of the country's football federation be imprisoned for two and a half years for kissing a football player against her will after Spain won the World Cup]" ^[21].

These materials are characterized by dynamism, the text is presented in development ("football players refuse to come to the national team", ("Spanish prosecutors want the ex-head of the country's football federation to be jailed for two-and-a-half years), contains intrigue and promises continuation in subsequent news reports ("The magistrate <…> is nearing the end of his investigations»).

In 4 online media (Daily Mail, Reuters, The Guardian, Forbes Sport), the presentation of the material is static, let's look at some examples:

"Headline: Shamed former Spanish football president Luis Rubiales banned by FIFA for three years [Translation: FIFA has disqualified former Spanish football president Luis Rubiales for three years]" ^[22].

"Headline: Luis Rubiales quits in wake of World Cup kiss scandal [Luis Rubiales resigns over World Cup kiss scandal]" ^[23].

"Headline: FIFA suspended Rubiales from football for three years after the kiss scandal at the World Cup" ^[24].

The information given in the headlines is presented factographically, the news is simply stated, the facts presented in the text are not organized as events ("Luis Rubiales banned by FIFA", "FIFA suspended Rubiales from football").

Audience engagement is one of the significant characteristics of a sports news report. The engagement rate demonstrates the level of reader activity on a certain media page. The formula represents the ratio of user reactions (like/dislike marks; comments; the number of users who shared this news on social networks) to the number of subscribers of the resource.

ER = (user reactions)/(number of subscribers)*100.

The calculation was performed for each specific publication (4 news reports from the source) on each electronic media, then the arithmetic mean was output. The quantitative data of the calculations performed are shown in Table 1.

As a result of the analysis of audience engagement, we can conclude about the activity of users on the pages of the media selected as sources of material. The placement of high-quality content helps to increase communication efficiency, stimulates the steady interest of the addressee, encourages the consumption of information posted on a specific resource.

Table 1. Quantitative data of the analysis of the main indicators of texts within the framework of the sports news narrative

We will begin the analysis of the gender characteristics of the texts of the sports news narrative with the nature of the narrative strategy. News about a sporting event can be presented using two types of strategies: extra-aesthetic (the author appears to be an "omniscient" narrator, but does not participate in the events taking place), or intra-aesthetic (the author is a participant in the events, tells from the position of a participant).

The text of the messages analyzed in the course of the study is characterized by the presence of the main "diegetic" text and additional (secondary-tertiary) texts. It was noted that the news is presented through an extra-aesthetic strategy both within the framework of a feminine sports narrative and within the framework of a masculine one:

«Spanish football boss forcibly kissed Jenni Hermoso after the final and had previously refused to step down [Translation: The Spanish football boss forcibly kissed Jenny Hermoso after the final and previously refused to resign]" – Sam Jones ^[23].

"The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation has stated that he cannot continue to work in his post. Earlier, Rubiales apologized for kissing the Spanish football player Hermoso on the lips at the award ceremony" – Sergey Romashenko ^[25].

"A few days after the incident in Sydney, the federation had issued a statement according to which Hermoso had spoken of a "mutual and spontaneous gesture" and claimed that she maintained an "excellent relationship" with Rubiales [Translation: A few days after the incident in Sydney, the federation issued a statement according to which Hermoso said about a "mutual and spontaneous gesture" and claimed to have a "wonderful relationship" with Rubiales]" – Isabelle Pique ^[20].

"The Disciplinary Committee of the International Football Federation (FIFA) has suspended the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales from football activities for three years" – Carmen Erdnieva ^[24].

Thus, the narrative strategy of the sports news narrative does not reveal gender differences, both male and female authors describe the image of the event from the perspective of an outside observer. The text material is always accompanied by photographs or audio-video interviews, which enhances the imagery of the narrative.

Next, let's look at the gender features of the narrative sequence. The canonical scheme of the narrative sequence, according to U. Labov, obeys the following hierarchy: 1) description of the initial situation; 2) complication; 3) climax; 4) denouement; 5) description of the final situation ^[26]. It should be noted that in the analyzed corpus of sports narrative news articles, no material reveals a complete sequence of all elements, the movement of the plot is ensured by a truncated narrative sequence.

At the same time, we noted that the narrative within the framework of the masculine sports narrative is characterized by retardation – a delay in the development of the plot by lyrical digressions. Talking about the events related to the high-profile scandal in the football sphere (president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales kissed a football player without her consent), the author makes a digression from the described subject to the situation with the mother and colleagues of the hero of the article:

«After the initial outcry his mother went on hunger strike in his name. Ángeles Béjar had locked herself in a church in her home town of Motril, southern Spain, for several days to protest against the treatment of her son [Translation: After the initial protest, his mother went on a hunger strike in defense of her son. Angeles Behar locked herself in a church in her hometown of Motril in southern Spain for several days to protest the way her son was being treated]" – Sam Jones ^[23].

«It [FIFA] also sacked the Spanish coach, Jorge Vilda, who was one of many officials who had applauded a defiant speech Rubiales made… [Translation: She [FIFA] also fired Spanish coach Jorge Vilda, who was one of the many officials who applauded Rubiales' defiant speech..."]" – Sam Jones ^[23].

At the same time, female authors tend to build up the text of the narrative by increasing tension (menopause technique):

"A court in Madrid is investigating the case of the ex-head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, for forcing a kiss."

"Spanish national football player Jennifer Hermoso testified in court e in Madrid."

"The accused was forced to resign as head of the federation. FIFA suspended him from football for three years."

"She [Jennifer Hermoso] also stated that Rubiales and his assistants tried to put pressure on her and her family" – Nadezhda Dryamina ^[27].

It should be noted that in the feminine sports news narrative, the female authors arrange the elements of the statement so that the subsequent part becomes more expressive, richer and more impressive than the previous one. Male authors include extra-fictional elements in the text that delay the development of the image of the event, stimulating the curiosity of readers. Thus, representatives of different gender groups use different techniques in order to achieve the same goals, namely, to create a vivid, convincing story about an important event in the field of sports.

In addition, the gender specificity of the sports narrative can be traced in its orientation. In the course of the analysis, we found that the feminist sports news narrative is characterized by an accusatory and emotive orientation:

"The scandal overshadowed a historic moment for Spain's women's team, which at the time was celebrating its first ever World Cup win [Translation: The scandal overshadowed a historic moment for the Spanish women's national team, which was celebrating its first World Cup victory at the time]" – Vicky Wong ^[21].

«The incident set off a wave of globalanger at sexism at thehighestlevels of women's sport and led to boycottsof the national team by Spain's players as they called for changes to be made to women's football in the country [Translation: The incident caused a wave of global discontent with sexism at the highest level of women's sports and led to a boycott of the national team by Spanish players who called for changes in women's football in the country]" – Vicky Wong ^[21].

«Spain won a historic victory at the Women’s World Cup, the first time the women’s team brought home the trophy. But in the weeks since, there’s been nothing but controversy[Translation: Spain has won a historic victory at the women's World Cup, the first time the women's national team has brought home a trophy. But in the weeks that followed, nothing happened but arguments]" – Gemma Soler ^[28].

«Now, with all eyes on Spanish football, how much further can Spain’s female football players get to scoring proper treatment? [Translation: Now that all the attention is focused on Spanish football, how far will Spanish football players be able to move towards proper treatment?]" – Gemma Soler ^[28].

"This action [the kiss] was considered a harrasement. The main argument is that the official held the girl during the whole process. It turned out to be far from an autumn kiss after a hot summer" – Ksenia Ermakova ^[29].

Female authors strive to establish and maintain contact with an indirect addressee, try to attract him to reflection, make him empathize. These intentions are implemented using lexical means: emotional and evaluative vocabulary ("global anger", "the highest levels", "historic victory"), ideological and modal vocabulary ("harrasment", "sexism", "boycotts", "scoring proper treatment"); figurative means ("all eyes on Spanish football"). In addition, there is an intertextual inclusion ("far from an autumn kiss after a hot summer"), which implements a phatic (contact-setting) function. Intertextual inclusions ensure the dialogic nature of the texts of the sports news narrative, as well as the increment of meaning set by the author.

According to the conducted comparative study, it was revealed that the masculine sports news narrative has a provocative and emotive orientation:

"Last week, the Spanish men's national football team also dissociated itself from Luis Rubiales <...> It seems that Rubiales' days as president of the federation are numbered after all <...> Espanyol and Barcelona have issued statements condemning Rubiales' behavior" – Sergey Romashenko ^[25].

"The head of Spanish football got into another scandal <...> The official clearly overdid his emotions after the Women's World Cup final. He was happy as a child, hugging every football player <...> In addition, Rubiales was registered in the guest of honor box: He held himself by the groin, being next to the Queen of Spain and her daughter. In general, I put together a combo" – Kirill Zakatchenko ^[30].

"The Spanish ladies-officials were not shy in their assessments of the episode <...> The chairman of the Spanish government did not pass by the scandalous episode either" – Artyom Nikulin ^[19].

«He grabbed and kissed the midfielder Jenni Hermoso during the celebrations of the country’s victory in the Women’s World Cup, sparkingfury, incredulity and a national and internationaldebateonsexism[Translation: He grabbed and kissed midfielder Jenny Hermoso during the celebration of the country's victory in the women's World Cup, sparking fury, disbelief and national and international debate about sexism]" – Sam Jones ^[23].

«The fightis however not over [Translation: However, the battle is not over yet]" – Fernadno Kallass ^[31].

The general provocative and ironic tonality of the texts is expressed by the ratio of various means: lexical (emotional and evaluative words "scandalous episode", "sparking fury"; jargonisms "dissociated", "rolled out", "stuck", "marked", "overdone"; slang expressions "put together a combo"; feminitives "ladies-officials"), syntactic comparative constructions ("rejoiced like a child"), figurative ("the fight is not over", "the days are numbered"). The images of battle ("fight") and death ("days are numbered"), which are updated in the above contexts, are easily read by the addressees. The use of these images characterizes the masculine sports news narrative through the prism of the authors' axiological and cognitive postulates: the perception of a scandal in the sports field using the values of rivalry or the elimination of competitors.

Conclusion.

In the course of this study, the gender specificity of the sports news narrative was revealed. The research material was notes and news reports from various online media.

One of the significant results of the research is the development of a two-stage methodology for analyzing the gender characteristics of sports news narrative texts. Common indicators that are characteristic of news texts are the way the news is configured (creolization/polycode), the dynamism or static nature of the presentation of the material and the degree of audience engagement.

The common features of the feminine and masculine sports news narrative are a diegetic narrative strategy and a truncated narrative sequence.

At the same time, in the feminine sports news narrative, the female authors arrange the elements of the statement so that the subsequent part becomes more expressive, richer and more impressive than the previous one (menopause). Male authors include extra-fictional elements in the text that delay the development of the image of the event, stimulating the curiosity of readers (retardation).

The differences are also revealed at the level of narrative orientation, which is characterized by complex specifics, which is reflected in the linguistic features of speech. Female authors implement an accusatory and emotive orientation. Realizing their communicative attitudes, they strive to assess the events taking place, declare their feelings and emotions, and strive to attract the addressee to empathy. The masculine sports narrative has a provocative and ironic orientation, male authors strive to establish and maintain contact with addressees, speech is characterized by a diverse set of vivid lexical and figurative means that can also have a paradoxical connotation, there is a desire to create an interesting and creative image to activate the attention of readers.

The prospect of the conducted research is seen in conducting a comprehensive study of the characteristics of narratives of various subjects, using an interdisciplinary combination of gender, linguistic, cultural and discursive approaches.