Discourse strategies in proper names in relation to multiculturalism as a feature of modern travel literature

Abstract

Modern travel literature is the research material used in the article, and particularly how it represents a particular vision of multiculturalism. One can make use of contemporary travel reports as an example of nowadays very popular branch of literature relating to other cultures, thereby confirming the consequential status of multiculturalism as a socio-cultural aspect. As the methodological basis of the work, modern literary and cultural onomastics, and onomastics of discourse have been selected. Discourse is understood as a communication phenomenon of a higher level, concentrating various components and not only verbal ones. Furthermore, it is motivated by social, ideological, and cultural factors which are manifested in different forms. The crucial methodological context is the adoption of discourse linguistics as an extensive research program that can help to create the additional context of the proper names observed in travel literature. The aim of the work is to highlight the main discourse strategies concerning the multiculturalism aspects of proper names present in modern travel literature. Three primary strategies were identified i.e. assimilation, exoticisation and neutralisation. Depending on the strategy adopted, the proper name relates to the ideological level of discourse to a varying degree, it also profiles the Known–Other/Strange relation, approximates given cultures or reflects their disparateness. As one can see, the research has identified many different points of liaison between proper names and the ideology of the text and, what is more, the creation of the world in a chosen discourse. Moreover, it confirms the thesis that proper names, analyzed on the discourse level, requires a context approach revealing its whole semantic and functional potential in microtext as well as macrotext.