Someone else’s speech in the communicative and textual aspect: A case study of D. Dragunsky’s ‘Prose Factory’

Abstract

Introduction. This article examines the representation of ‘someone else’s speech’ in contemporary Russian prose. The study aims to analyze the specific features of its modern textual realization and to identify the factors governing the selection and hybridization of its representational forms.
Materials and Methods. The analysis centers on Dmitry Dragunsky’s literary work ‘The Prose Factory’— the author’s reflection on the concept of ‘someone else’s speech’. Employing a communicative-textual framework, the investigation moves beyond content evaluation to examine compositional and discursive autonomies. The methodological approach is informed by S. G. Ilyenko’s theoretical proposition that ‘someone else’s speech’ constitutes a systematic phenomenon requiring holistic analysis of speech behavior. The application of functional-compositional and comparative analytical methods substantiates the hypothesis regarding its genre-communicative and semantic determination.
Results. The study identifies mono-dialogical fragments as primary sites for analyzing communicative situations involving the interaction of authorial and reader personae. Dragunsky’s textual practice demonstrates a predominance of confrontational discourse between these constructed identities, manifesting as either explicit or implicit polemical dialogue. Within this framework, direct speech constructions function as substantiating arguments, while expressions of popular opinion undergo systematic authorial critique. The evolution of indirect speech representation reflects the analytical trend in Russian syntax, elaboration of uncertainty markers and free discourse.
Conclusions. Dragunsky’s literary practice provides significant insights into the ongoing transformation of ‘someone else’s speech’ and the textual hybridization of its representational modes. These findings contribute to philological research on contemporary Russian prose and syntactic evolution, with additional applications in pedagogical contexts for teaching literary text analysis and advanced stylistics.