Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 2016, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 139–149
UDC: 
81’42, 82-3

The cultural potential of dictionaries and search for the genre in contemporary literature

Chernyak V. D. 1 (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation), Chernyak M. A. 1 (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation)
1 Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia
Abstract: 

The article investigates the properties of dictionaries and other reference books that are relevant for everyday awareness and sought-after by contemporary literature. Dictionaries and their genre variations (encyclopedias, handbooks, thesauri) become the focal point of and give an impetus to human creativity. Alphabetical order as the crucial characteristic of the dictionary form is utilized by modern authors to develop new genre forms. Written works exploiting the dictionary form may be described in terms of deliberate hypertextuality that is pertinent to the mindset of a contemporary person and meets readers’ expectations. Dictionaries can be seen as a genre matrix whose properties include strict order, dynamic nature and stability, or as a structure allowing room for creative developments.
The article deals with the examples of Russian contemporary literature (a novel, a collection of essays, a novelized encyclopedia) that employ the dictionary form. Most commonly, such example include non-fiction, contain elements of mixing genres, gamification, different forms of linguistic reflection, deliberately mimic the academic style, and are often targeted at children.

Keywords: 

contemporary literature, dictionary, dictionary form, alphabetical order, hypertextuality, genre, non-fiction

https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85017615597&origin=...

The cultural potential of dictionaries and search for the genre in contemporary literature

For citation:
Chernyak V. D., Chernyak M. A. The cultural potential of dictionaries and search for the genre in contemporary literature. Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 2016, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 139–149. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/2226-3365.1606.11
References: 
  1. Bayard P. How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read. Moscow, Text Publ., 2014, 190 p. (In Russian).
  2. Griswold B., McDonnell T, Wright N. Reading and the reading class in the 21st century. Modern Literary Review. 2012, no. 102, pp. 271–267 (In Russian).
  3. Zaykovskaya I. A. “Playing dictionary”: A specific phenomenon of modern journalism. Russian Philology. The Almanac of Young Philologists’ Works, 21. Tartu,: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus Publ., 2010, pp. 187–192 (In Russian).
  4. Zaykovskaya I. A. Specificities of textual categories in paper and electronic dictionaries. Izvestiya of the Herzen State Pedagogical University. 2011, no. 130, pp. 151–155 (In Russian).
  5. Karaulov Yu. N. Dictionary and Human. The Theory of Language and Dictionaries. Chisinau, Publ., 1988, pp. 5–9. (In Russian)
  6. Krongauz M. Lexicographic Neurosis or Dictionary as Means of Conversation. Krongauz M. Russian Language on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Moscow, Znak Publ., Languages of Slavic Cultures Publ., 2007, pp. 163–177 (In Russian)
  7. Leiderman N. L. Genre theory. Research and analysis. Yekaterinburg, Slovesnik Publ., 2010, 904 p. (In Russian)
  8. Lipovetskij M. Paralogies: Transformations of the (post)modern discourse in the Russian culture in 1920–2000. Moscow, New Literary Observer Publ., 2008, p. 848  (In Russian)
  9. 9.     Macluan M. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. Moscow, Academic Project Publ., 2005, 496 p. (In Russian)
  10. Markova T. N. Genre labeling in Russian prose in 2000s. Ed. Markova T. N. Genre transformations in literature and folklore.  Chelyabinsk, Encyclopedia Publ., 2012, pp. 238–249 (In Russian)
  11. Chernyak V. D. Romanticizing Language: at the Genre Crossroads. Speech Genres: Almanac of Scientific Articles dedic. K. F. Sedov.   2012, issue 8,  pp. 282–288 (In Russian)
  12. Reading, XXI century. A collective monograph. Moscow, Intraregional center of library cooperation Publ., 2015, 472 p. (In Russian)
  13. Epstein M. Postmodernism in Russia: Literature and Theory. Moscow, Lia R. Elinna Publ., 2000, 368 p. (In Russian)
  14. Bredehoft T. A. The visible text: textual production and reproduction from “Beowulf” to “Maus”. Oxford, Oxford University Press Publ., 2014, 182 p.
  15. Carr M. Internet dictionaries and lexicography. International Journal of Lexicography. 1997, no. 10 (3), pp. 209–221.
  16. Conclin J. Hypertext: an introduction and survey. IEEE Computer. 1987, no. 21 (9), pp. 17–41
  17. Griswold W., Wright N. Wired and well read. Society Online: The Internet in Context. Еd. P. N. Howard, S. Jones. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publ., 2004, pp. 203–222.
  18. Hayles N. K. Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary. Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press Publ., 2008, 226 p.
  19. Schryver G.-M de. Lexicographer’s dreams in the electronic-dictionary age. International Journal of Lexicography. 2003, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 143–199.
Date of the publication 26.12.2016