Linguistic and axiological interpretation of the family in the system of ethnocultural and general cultural values

Introduction. The article offers linguo-axiological interpretation of family in the context of the cultural values paradigm. The study aims to characterize the family axiosphere through the prism of ethno- and general cultural values and to clarify the specifics of semiotic encoding of family values in the modern media space. A set of research tasks are solved: (1) clarifying the concept of value as such; (2) the relationship between value and the related concepts of linguocognition; (3) determining the system and specifics of interaction between ethno- and general cultural values; (4) identifying the value potential of the family in correlation with ethno- and general cultural values; (5) clarifying the features of semiotic encoding of family values in the media space.

Materials and Methods. The theoretical sources on ethnocultural and general cultural values and their linguo-semiotic representation served the material for the study. The empirical material comprised 120 Russianlanguage polycode texts containing references to family and family values in verbal and / or visual semiotic codes. The research methodology relies on general scientific theoretical and specific scientific methods, including content analysis and axiological interpretation of the text corpus. Semio-linguistic analysis was used to interpret the interaction of semiotic codes in the process of encoding cultural values.

Analysis. The category of values has ontological status and is directly linked to the category of evaluation as the process and result of reinforcing subjective perception and evaluative attitudes toward the subject of discourse. Family is a social value and is interconnected with other categories: vital, moral, religious, and other values. In contemporary media discourse, the image of family and family values has been studied primarily through verbal material; however, the trend toward increased visualization of culture actualizes reflection on the semiotically convergent encoding of family values. In polycode texts, reference to family values is presented in visual and verbal codes. These texts can be divided into three categories: (1) explicit or implicit social advertising posted on the websites of government agencies and organizations whose activities are related to family issues; (2) journalistic materials; (3) everyday discursive reflection (comments, memes, etc.). In the category of social advertising, the visual component contains photographic images conveying images of a happy family: parents and children posing for the camera or presented in various life situations. The verbal code reveals the peculiarities of interaction between family members and the pragmatics of the message. Media materials and user-generated content are characterized by a broader axiological palette of interpretation of family values, which relies on expressive means and stylistic devices, as well as a diverse visual series: photographs, collages, graphic drawings and various paragraphemic symbols, such as emoji.

Results. The conducted semiotic analysis allows us to conclude that there is high potential for the semiotically variable encoding of family values in media texts.

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