УДК 81

Terms as a means of law enforcement agents image creation in the White Collar series

Кирсанова Светлана Станиславовна – кандидат педагогических наук, и.о. доцента Мелитопольского государственного университета.

Кирсанова Елизавета Андреевна – студент Мелитопольского государственного университета.

Abstract: The present article deals with terms in the communication of an FBI agent and his assistants, who are the main criminal investigators in the White Collar series. An unusual feature of the series is the legal cooperation of the FBI with the offender, who is a gifted intellectual. Films should create a positive image of law enforcement officers who carry out socially important activities and need maximum support from society. The main outcome is that the terms contribute to the FBI agent and his assistants’ positive image creatiоn in the White Collar series. The use of terms in the series creates such traits and qualities of the characters as high professionalism, ingenuity and creativity. The analysis shows that it is important to take into account not only linguistic, but also socio-cultural factors and features of film discourse. Most of the terms refer to the fields of human activity that are considered prestigious in society. Using terms the authors of the series adhere to audience design. The potential knowledge of the audience is taken into account and little-known terms are explained by verbal and visual means. Features of film discourse allow introducing little-known terms, terms as metaphors or elements of a pun.

Аннотация: В данной статье рассматриваются термины в общении агента ФБР и его помощников, которые являются главными следователями по уголовным делам в сериале «Белый воротничок». Необычной особенностью сериала является юридическое сотрудничество ФБР с преступником, который является одаренным интеллектуалом. Фильмы должны создавать положительный образ сотрудников правоохранительных органов, осуществляющих общественно значимую деятельность и нуждающихся в максимальной поддержке общества. Главный вывод заключается в том, что эти термины способствуют созданию положительного образа агента ФБР и его помощников в сериале «Белый воротничок». Использование терминов в сериале формирует такие черты и качества героев, как высокий профессионализм, изобретательность и креативность. Анализ показывает, что важно учитывать не только лингвистические, но и социокультурные факторы и особенности кинодискурса. Большинство терминов относятся к сферам человеческой деятельности, считающимся престижными в обществе. Используя термины, авторы сериала придерживаются дизайна аудитории. Учитываются потенциальные знания аудитории и объясняются малоизвестные термины вербальными и визуальными средствами. Особенности кинодискурса позволяют вводить малоизвестные термины, термины в качестве метафор или элементов каламбура.

Keywords: terms, film discourse, image of law enforcement officers, audience design.

Ключевые слова: термины, кинодискурс, образ сотрудников правоохранительных органов, аудиторный дизайн.

Introduction

Terms, as an important element of professional substitution for modern society, constantly attract the attention of linguists. The pace of modern development of Science and technology, social changes affect special sub-languages. Special sub-languages are in a state of rapid development, primarily those related to technology. Law enforcement officers work with representatives of different strata of society. They must use the latest technology to effectively protect society. Cases handled by law enforcement officers include offenses in any sphere of human activity. Communication of law enforcement officers should coordinate the activities of representatives of various social groups and professions. Interaction between law enforcement officers and society is an important factor in the fight against crime (Andreev, 2014, P. 64). Modern mass culture takes part in creating the image of law enforcement officers performing important social functions (Shumilov, 2017, p.147). The aim of the work is to consider the peculiarities of using terms in the speech of the main characters (an FBI employee and his assistants) in the TV series "White Collar" as a factor in creating the image of law enforcement officers in American culture.

In the course of our work, we started from the definition of terms, features of such a group of vocabulary, and in literary texts in particular. The corpus of terms was compiled using the continuous sampling method. Stylistic, transformational, and component analysis made it possible to determine whether units belong to a particular sub-language, and the emergence of new semantics. Discourse analysis was used to determine the social context and characteristics of a film product. Descriptive analysis is used to present the results of the study.

Presentation of the main material

We turned to the communication of FBI employees and their assistants in the series "White Collar" in connection with the popularity of the series and its unusual feature, which is the legal cooperation of the FBI with the offender. The former offender is one of the main characters investigating cases. The modern detective genre demonstrates the widespread use of cooperation between professionals and non-professionals (Afanasyev, 2016, pp. 53-55). The authors of the series offer a new type of cooperation, which is not a classic for a detective story. Usually, the offender cannot conduct an investigation (Knox, 1990, p.78). The participation of Thieves and scammers-intellectuals gives the series a special dynamic and novelty.

The term is considered as "a word or established phrase that expresses a special concept of Science, Technology or other branch of human activity and has a definition that reveals those features of this concept that are relevant for this particular branch" (Skorokhodko, 2006, p. 7). The main features of terms are consistency, definition, accuracy, brevity, unambiguity, connotative neutrality (Belozerskaya, 2010,p. 20).

Researchers of terms in a literary text note that such units slow down perception, attract attention, and make an artistic product objectively reliable (Hartung, 2013, pp. 132-133). In a literary text, terms can change their semantic content and acquire additional connotative shades (Sineleva, 2020, P.198).

Research on the material of the series requires taking into account the peculiarities of film production. Film is a multi-component phenomenon that has audio and video components. S. S. Nazmutdinova defines film discourse as" a semiotically complicated dynamic process of interaction between the author and the film recipient, which occurs in the interlanguage and intercultural space using the means of film language, which has the properties of syntactic, verbal-visual plexus of elements, intertextuality, multiplicity of the addressee, contextuality of meaning, iconic accuracy, synthetics " (Nazmutdinova,2008, p. 7).

The main characters of the series who are involved in the investigation of cases, we include an FBI agent and two representatives of crime. Neil Caffrey is an educated, gifted artist, former thief, con artist and con artist who went to prison for 4 years, but masterfully escaped to see his girlfriend Kate Moreau. Neil enters into an agreement to cooperate with FBI agent Peter Burke and works to solve various cases. Gallant, charismatic, smart and very cunning, Neil simultaneously continues to lead his search for Kate Moreau and takes unexpected, not always legal actions that add brightness and intensity to the series.

Peter Burke is a leading specialist, an FBI agent, and Neil's partner. It was Peter who investigated Neil's crimes, for which he was jailed for 4 years. As a result of the agreement, Peter conducts business with the help of Neil, who is actively involved and advises on crime and art issues.

Mozzie is Neil's best friend, a bit of a weirdo, but an extremely smart thief and con artist. Mozzie helps Neil investigate and find Kate.

The lion's share of terms is made up of sublingual terms that serve extremely important and/or prestigious activities in society: law, finance, technology, and art.

The main characters of the series use a significant number of legal terms, since the FBI is an internal intelligence agency and a US law enforcement agency subordinate to the intelligence service and the Department of Justice. Unit prosecute, a legal term used by Neil in a conversation with Peter when discussing the situation that developed after the theft of a valuable item that was illegally stored in the embassy: they're not gonna prosecute for the theft of an item they weren't supposed to have in the first place.

Neil talks to Peter and uses the expression to be released into one's custody, which refers to the legal terms I can be released into your custody.

The customs inspector Language Unit is a legal term. Due to the fact that the FBI deals with international offenses, one of the investigations is carried out at the airport. Peter decided to discuss the matter with the customs inspector and asked: where's the customs inspector?

Financial terms are widely used in the series due to the fact that the FBI is investigating financial offenses. In the first series, the case of bond falsification is solved. Neil uses the term bond, saying that during the forgery, the ambitious criminal artist left his signature on the bond: the bond is his showing off.

Peter uses the financial term to siphon money: it's a way to siphon money. The term to siphon money means «gradually steal money or goods, usually from business or government."

Modern criminals and FBI agents actively use this technique, and, accordingly, technical terms are presented in the speech of characters. Technical terms are used by Agent Burke to explain the operation of a" spy» transmitter watch: when they scan you for bugs, manually deactivate the transmitter. Press it again, it turns it back on.

The series uses terms to refer to expensive, state-of-the-art equipment that should be known to a wide range of viewers. While exploring the elite vaults, Neil asks about surveillance cameras, which are expensive, innovative devices: I notice you don't have surveillance cameras.

A special feature of the Department's work is the investigation of cases of the "elite" of the criminal world, namely high-level officials, fraudsters who are professionals in various fields. Neil was involved in art-related scams and frauds. He is a gifted artist who influences the specifics of the cases that are investigated in the series. Accordingly, the characters use art history Terms. One of the series is dedicated to the painting of the post-impressionist. The choice of Post-Impressionism for the series may be due to the high popularity of the direction. Neil demonstrates not only theoretical knowledge, but also applied. The following sentence uses the art criticism term late European post-impressionist and shows a deep knowledge of periodization of the artistic direction: All the late European post-impressionists. The following humorous dialogue, which contains the art criticism term pigment, presents knowledge of post-impressionist techniques and ways to fake their work.

Neal Caffrey: This pigment needs to be aged.

Mozzie: I'll go preheat the oven.

Neal Caffrey: It's 125.

Mozzie:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know how to age a painting.

Such a dialogue demonstrates that high-level specialists are involved in the investigation of FBI cases.

It should be noted that when using terms in the series, the level of knowledge of the target audience is taken into account. Terms that may be unknown to the viewer are explained verbally and/or visually. The financial term lapping scheme refers to fraudulent practices that involve changing accounts receivable to hide stolen money. The method involves receiving a subsequent payment on accounts receivable from a transaction (such as a sale) and using it to cover theft. The term is used by Neil when he and his colleagues discuss mysterious money laundering schemes. To explain the meaning, Neil visualizes a fraudulent scheme using coffee cups.

Special attention should be paid to the electronic device on Neil's leg, with which the FBI controls his movement - GPS tracking anklet. Device, a technical novelty that becomes one of the most important factors in creating a story. The first appearance of the device in the series is accompanied by the provision of the full term and all the necessary information: GPS tracking anklet. The new ones are tamper-proof, never been skipped on. In the future, part of the term is used to refer to the device. Peter tells his wife about the need to remove Neil's surveillance device for the duration of the FBI operation: He has to convince her that he's working us, which means he has to cut his anklet for real.

Terms in the series can be used literally and figuratively. Prestigious, highly regarded activities in society include the game of chess, which is understood as a combination of sports, art and science. Neil and Mozi play chess and, using chess terminology, discuss the state of affairs and possible developments. Terms in the speech of characters are used simultaneously in literal and figurative meanings with visual accompaniment. There is an image of intellectuals who play chess, use special terminology and, at the same time, analyze research in a metaphorical way.

Mozzie: If only there was some way to compare this to your life.

Neal Caffrey: I get it, Moz. I'm a pawn. Your analogy lacks creative thinking.

Mozzie:You're upset because it's accurate.

See, Kate has reign over the entire board while your movements are more... restricted.

Mozzie:Find the ring... ...you find the king.

Conclusions

By introducing terms into the characters ' speech, the authors of the series emphasizes the high level of intelligence and professionalism of law enforcement officers. The timing in the speech of the main characters of the series contributes to creating a positive image of the FBI investigating the case. Most of the terms in the series refer to high-value spheres of human activity, namely legal, financial, technical, and art history. Referents of technical and art history terminology include those that are designated as prestigious in society: electronic devices, valuable artifacts, and art objects.

When creating the series, the knowledge of the potential viewer and the specifics of the film course were taken into account. The vast majority of terms are used to refer to well-known referents. If it is necessary to use little-known terms, a verbal or visual explanation is added. The terms are used very sparsely to avoid oversaturation with semantic stress.

The use of terms in a figurative sense adds ingenuity and creative characteristics to the images of characters.

The study outlines the prospects of scientific research for creating an image of social institutions by mass culture. The possibility of generating a positive image of law enforcement officers through film production is an important factor in establishing interaction between law enforcement officers and society.

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