PRAGMASEMANTIC ORGANIZATION OF THE SONG “WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?” AND ITS PARATEXTS

Abstract

The object of the study is the song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (hereinafter referred to as the SONG) and its paratextual (translated) interpretations in different languages. The subject of the research is the linguistic-pragmatic dimension of their analysis, and the aim is to identify the communicative-pragmatic algorithm of the SONG and to examine the mechanisms of its verbal influence on the clients of the anti-war discourse. The research is based on the methodological principles of cognitive-discursive paradigm of linguistics, which allows for the application of such methods of analysis as descriptive, speech-act, and hermeneutic. Both the English original and its numerous translations are built on the basis of a strict algorithmization of its form and content. It is demonstrated that the pragmatic-semantic structure of the SONG relies on the principles of cyclicality and parallelism. The text is marked by variations and repetitions (a characteristic feature of folklore), which presupposes a stable syntactic pattern in each stanza: three interrogative sentences followed by a single answer, and one question repeated twice at the end of the stanza. In most paratextual versions, this repeated question remains unchanged. The analysis shows that, due to the predominance of interrogative intentions, the pragmatic-semantic pattern of the SONG is organized around two illocutionary clusters: information-seeking and rhetorical-interrogative. Each of the five octets is structured according to this opposition. The first cluster is based on the interaction between interrogative and assertive speech acts, facilitating the transmission and interpretation of information related to the key conceptual content of the SONG. The second cluster, realized through double repetition, functions as a refrain. It constitutes a monological appeal to human reason, aimed at encouraging reflection on past events and an assessment of individual responsibility within this process. This cluster is particularly significant because it integrates didactic, logical, emotive, and appellative intentions. Its pragmatic impact on the agents of discourse is intensified, on the one hand, by the systematic use of mental verbs and, on the other hand, by the interplay of personal reflections. The latter reflects the perspective of the discourse agents on the issue of the subject’s guilt and responsibility for what has happened.