Expressiveness as a criterion of genre differentiation in the US media space

The article deals with the language means of actualization of expressiveness in the genres of blog and column of American media discourse. The category of expressiveness is one of the key categories for adequate understanding and interpretation of modern media and effective cross cultural communication in the context of technological convergence, increased information sharing, significant changes in genre system and accretive subjectivity. To elucidate the trends in representation of the above-mentioned category in the genres of American media space, recently published texts of different authorship were subjected to linguo-stylistic, contextual, and comparative analyses. The study has proved that the genre of blog tends to demonstrate a greater degree of expressiveness at lexical and syntactical levels. Having said that, both the genres are mostly similar from the point of view of the pragmatic functions which the corresponding stylistic devices perform in American media discourse. Thus, the syntactical devices perform the dialogical function and that of accentuation, whereas lexical devices perform explanatory, distance shortening, compositional, generalizing functions as well as those of enhanced credibility and economy of language. The results of the study indicate that the linguistic peculiarities of expressiveness actualization can be a ground for genre differentiation.