The Linguistic and Communicative Representation of Social Crisis in Dramatic Discourse: An Analytical Approach to Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard

Abstract

This paper examines the representations of linguistic discourse in relation to the social conflict in) The Cherry Orchard (by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, viewing the play as a text that reflects the transformations of Russian society at the dawn of the twentieth century. Through an analytical reading that goes beyond surface-level study, the research delves into the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the characters’ discourse and the unfolding events, adopting a pragmatic approach that links linguistic structures to social meanings and communicative contexts governing the interaction among the characters in the play. In Chekhov’s work, language does not serve a purely functional role; rather, it mirrors profound social changes and conveys the contrasting class perspectives of characters representing the declining nobility and the rising new bourgeoisie. The study also seeks to analyze the implicit, unspoken discourse in the text by uncovering the underlying structure of the social and class conflict, which is veiled in a calm conversational style, whose surface carries an implicit communicative language within the characters’ dramatic dialogue.