Lecture 10. The pragmatic approach to the text d. U. Ashurova, M. R. Galieva Copyright Only for Personal Use

THE NOTION OF PRAGMATIC INTENTION. TYPES OF PRAGMATIC 
INTENTION 
The pragmatic study of literary discourse is also concerned with the problems 
of impact and perception as the two sides of communication. Only taken together do 
they ensure an integral process of communication. Impact and perception are closely 
interrelated and interdependent as “two sides of the coin”. A crucial role in analyzing 
the effectiveness of impact and perception belongs to the notion of pragmatic 
intention. Pragmatic intention is understood as verbalized in the text the addresser’s 
deliberate intention to exert influence on the addressee with the aim to cause some 
reconstruction in his world picture (Наер, 1984:16). 
The general pragmatic intention of literary discourse is an aesthetic influence 
on the reader. However, in concrete situations the types of pragmatic intentions vary, 
and so does their impact. The pragmatic intention is an organizing principle of the 
text. It predetermines the choice of language means, structural and semantic 
peculiarities of the text. Therefore pragmatic analysis aims to find language units 

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which explicitly or implicitly make pragmatic intentions recognizable. According to 
the type of pragmatic intentions the forms of its language utilization vary. The 
effectiveness of impact and perception also depends on the type of pragmatic 
intentions. In this respect differentiation of pragmatic intentions, hierarchical 
classification of their types seem to be of paramount importance.
Accepting the assumption that pragmatic intentions are materialized in the 
language units, we define the type of pragmatic intention proceeding from: a) the 
analysis of all the parameters of a verbal sign, the ways of its introduction, 
organization and reorganization in the discourse; b) verbalized in the discourse direct 
or indirect indication to a pragmatic intention; c) indication of the addressee’s verbal 
and non-verbal reaction. The analysis of the language material makes it possible to 
define the main types of pragmatic intentions in the literary discourse. They are as 
follows:

the pragmatic intention “to attract attention” (attention-compelling intention); 

the pragmatic intention “to interest the reader”; 

the pragmatic intention “to exert an emotional impact”; 

the pragmatic intention “to activize knowledge structures” relevant to the 
conceptual information; 

the pragmatic intention “to stimulate the addressee’s creativity”; 

the pragmatic intention “to represent the conceptual world picture”. 
(Ашурова, 1991) 
The differentiation of these intentions is relative to some extent. Actually, 
language usage is characterized by a much more complicated, polyfunctional 
character, and it is conditioned not only by one, but by many interconnected 
pragmatic intentions. Practically not a single pragmatic intention is used separately. 
The above mentioned pragmatic intentions are enumerated in accordance with an 
increasing degree of their complexity and aesthetic value. That means that every 
pragmatic intention includes the subsequent ones in different combinations. The 
pragmatic intention aimed to represent the conceptual world picture is ranked as the 
most global one. It embraces all other types of pragmatic intentions and to some 

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extent coincides with the function of literary discourse to produce an aesthetic 
influence on the reader.
Emphasizing the fact of close relationships of these pragmatic intentions, we, 
nevertheless, adhere to the opinion that they should be discussed separately. There 
are some reasons for it. Firstly, the scientific approach to the problem requires a 
detailed and differential description of the discussed phenomenon. Secondly, there 
is a possibility to outline a dominant type of a pragmatic intention in a concrete 
communicative situation. Thirdly, it is explained by some psychological 
peculiarities of perception. According to some linguistic investigations, perception 
is an extensive process characterized by the hierarchy of different levels. 
Physiologically, it is explained by the fact that perception as a process goes through 
various sections of nervous system, and manifests itself in the gradual transition 
from a low sensory level to a high semantic level (Лурия, 1969:24). As regards text 
perception, the principle of hierarchy displays the gradual transition from the 
perception of the form, that is the language organization of the text, to the 
understanding of the semantic content and aesthetic value. Such complex and 
consecutive character of perception complies with a general line of cognition: from 
the simple to the complex, from the superficial to the deep.
It would be reasonable now to consider each of the above-mentioned 
pragmatic intentions and discuss those verbal signals which play a dominant role in 
their realization. 

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Document Outline

• lecture 10. The pragmatic approach to the text
• The factor of the addresser and addressee
• The notion of pragmatic intention. Types of pragmatic intention