Verbal and non-verbal rituals as values of the professional culture of the military

Verbal and non-verbal rituals as values of the professional culture of the military

This article analyzes the values of military professional culture, expressed verbally and nonverbally, depending on levels of social control. Each level is distinguished by a degree of social control, which determines the range of verbal and nonverbal means used. The degree of social control determines the implementation of the corresponding verbal and nonverbal means. Higher-level values correspond to the requirements formulated in general military regulations and manuals and are implemented in the practice of relations between military personnel depending on their social status. Middle-level values are determined both by the aforementioned regulatory documents and by the practice of everyday communication, characterized by a reduction in the level of social control to standards that do not interfere with the performance of official duties. Lower-level values are determined by the practice of informal relations among military personnel with reduced social control. Each level is characterized by its own set of verbal means, which in the first case meet the requirements of the literary language, and in the second, the literary language with the inclusion of colloquial speech and professional jargon. At the lower level, verbal communication is characterized by a richness of colloquial speech, jargon, and even vulgarisms. Among the values of professional culture, rituals, which are realized in non-verbal and verbal forms, are of considerable importance. The language of rituals at the highest level of social control is enshrined in general military regulations, and at the middle and lower levels, in the speech practices of military society. Non-verbal and verbal rituals as forms of interaction between military personnel depend on the degree of social demands and are expressed both in full compliance and in various deviations from statutory requirements.

Keywords: verbal and non-verbal values, professional culture of the military, levels of social control, rituals as values of professional culture, language of rituals.

B. Boyko

VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL RITUALS AS VALUES OF PROFESSIONAL CULTURE OF MILITARY

The article deals with the analysis of the values of the army professional culture in the forms of its verbal and non-verbal implementation, depending on the levels of social control. Each level is distinguished by the degree of social control that determines the set of verbal and non-verbal means. The implementation of appropriate verbal and non-verbal means depends on the degree of social control. The values of the highest level meet the requirements set forth in the general military regulations and manuals and are implemented in the practice of relations between military personnel depending on their social status. The values of the average level are determined both by the mentioned regulatory documents and by the practice of everyday communication, which is characterized by some reductions in the level of social control to the norms that do not impede the performance of official duties. The values of the lowest level are determined by the practice of informal relations among military personnel with reduced social control. Each level is characterized by its own set of verbal means, the highest level meets the requirements of the norm of a literary language, the average one by the norm admits inclusions of means of everyday speech and professional jargon. At the lower level, verbal communication is characterized by means of everyday speech, jargon units, and even vulgarisms. Non-verbal values (uniforms, forms of interaction between servicemen, etc.), like verbal ones, depend on the degree of social control and are expressed both in full compliance and in various deviations from statutory requirements
Keywords: verbal and non-verbal values, professional culture of the military, levels of social control, rituals as values of the professional culture, language of rituals.

 

Army society: general characteristics

 

The military component of society in any ethnic group is characterized by both stability and instability. This stability is based on its social function: the armed forces are designed to defend against external attack, and this function remains unchanged even when preemptive strikes are launched against a potential aggressor outside its own borders. Like any independent component of society, the army has its own professional culture; its service members are distinguished by their own modus vivendi, realized within the delimited territory of military units and command structures.

The military's daily activities are aimed at maintaining troops in readiness to act in accordance with their mission if necessary. Military society is generally divided into two layers: professional soldiers and conscripts. Both parts of military society, while sharing a common purpose, differ in the length of their military service. Career officers join the armed forces for long periods of service, measured in decades. Ideally, they move up the hierarchy of command positions and military ranks. Their professional culture is stable, characterized by the repetitive relationships between superiors and subordinates, between senior and junior officers, honed over years. Relationships within the military social group are established both by the provisions of general military regulations and relevant regulatory documents, and by the unwritten rules of etiquette that exist in any society within various social groups—a respectful attitude toward elders, a demanding and at the same time humane attitude toward those who are at the lower levels of the social structure and who are overcoming the difficulties of professional development.

Values of the professional culture of military personnel

The professional culture of military society is characterized by a number of values, the possession of which ensures the fulfillment of their functional duties. Among the highest values of military service, we will mention the desire to honorably fulfill one's constitutional duty and pride in fulfilling the honorable duty of defending the Fatherland, as well as military honor and dignity [3].

These highest values of military service, constituting the core of the professional culture of military personnel, are realized through verbal and nonverbal means, which in turn acquire the status of social values. In this regard, the speech of military personnel as a means of explanation, persuasion, and expression of will, complemented by nonverbal actions, such as encouraging subordinates to act according to the formula "do as I do," is worthy of being elevated to the level of social values of military personnel. Among the nonverbal values, below we will discuss only the external manifestations of status relations between military personnel.

Culture of speech

The concept of military speech culture is also related to the highest-level social and group values. Regulations require adherence to certain communication norms and respect for the honor and dignity of military personnel. The regulations formulate the forms of address by superiors and seniors to subordinates and juniors: "Private Petrov," "Comrade Private," "Sergeant Koltsov," "Comrade Sergeant," and the forms of address by subordinates and juniors to superiors and seniors: "Comrade Senior Lieutenant," "Comrade Rear Admiral," "Comrade Guard Colonel." Outside formation, officers may address each other not only by military rank but also by their first name and patronymic. In everyday life, officers are permitted to use the affirmative expression "officer's word," and when saying goodbye to each other, they are allowed to say "I have the honor" instead of "goodbye" [6, pp. 42-43].

An officer's speech culture, as a mandatory component of professional training, includes such concepts as correctness, clarity, and purity of speech. Correctness of speech ensures the accuracy of commands and the consistency of orders; clarity and distinctness of speech presuppose its intelligibility and accessibility to those to whom it is addressed; purity of speech presupposes the use of literary expressions and the absence of vulgarisms, jargon, obscene language, and filler words [1].

The language of formal and informal relations in the military environment

Without losing sight of the system of social and socio-psychological relations at each of the above-mentioned levels, we will now focus on the linguistic underpinnings of these relations, analyzing speech fragments, primarily lexical units used to denote objects, processes, and relationships between military personnel, partially known to civilian society and thoroughly assimilated within the framework of military society. Here, attention is drawn to speech units enshrined in regulations and manuals, in descriptions of weapons and military equipment, the acquisition and mastery of which ensures the functioning of the armed forces within military units in accordance with the hierarchy of service relationships in officialdom.

By analyzing fragments of military language and speech within the system of official and unofficial relations, we will attempt to understand the essential aspects of everyday life and everyday life, expressed in units of speech and reflecting the social essence of official and non-official relations. As a result, we will discover three layers of vocabulary and phraseology reflecting the content of military-professional speech depending on the level of social control. In the first layer, we will find the vocabulary and phraseology of the "language of regulations," the language of official relations, the foundation of which is the standardized literary language. In the second layer—the "language of everyday relations"—the standardized literary language will be interspersed with elements from everyday speech experience, allowing for deviations from the literary norm, but not violating the tone of communication accepted between superiors and subordinates, seniors and juniors in military rank, and reflecting the overall level of etiquette of the "civilian" part of society. Here we will find units of colloquial speech and inclusions of professional jargon, reflecting the specifics of communication among military specialists performing a functionally defined range of tasks. Finally, in situations with reduced social control, in situations of informal communication among equals, the frequency of use of speech units related to the layer of everyday communication, the so-called "barracks speech", saturated with units of military jargon interspersed with units of vulgar speech, will increase.

The Language of the Parade: Teams as Values of the Highest-Level Professional Culture

Formal relations between military personnel are defined in general military regulations. Ceremonial formations, the marching of units in formation, approaching a superior to report, and returning to duty—all have their own verbal formulas, adherence to which is maintained by the formality of relations and the strictness of military ritual. Commands are carried out with particular care during ceremonial formations, parades, the carrying in and out of the State Flag of the Russian Federation and the Battle Banner of a military unit, the awarding of military units with orders that are then affixed to the banner, guard mountings and post mountings, and rituals associated with the funerals of military personnel. We consider such speech patterns to be of the highest order; they are memorized and recited with an intonation that reflects both solemnity and the highest degree of expression of will. Their prosody—the presence of mini-pauses before stressed syllables and pauses between individual units of command, necessary for the execution of command elements—reflects the solemnity of the event and ensures the execution of individual commands. A lay reader, watching live broadcasts from Red Square, is familiar with the unit command patterns associated with the start of a troop parade on Red Square. These verbal commands are reproduced in accordance with Articles 362 and 365 of the General Military Regulations of the Russian Federation:

362. The garrison troops march in a ceremonial formation in the order and formation specified in the order of the garrison commander.

For the ceremonial march, the parade commander gives the commands: «Parade - ATTENTION», «To the ceremonial march, company by company (battalion), at one line (two line) distance, first company (battalion) straight ahead, the rest to the right (left)», «On the shoulder-CHO», «Eye to the right, at a walking pace - MARCH».

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365. At the command of the parade commander, "MARCH," the lead unit, following the commander, the standard-bearers with the State Flag of the Russian Federation and the Battle Banner, their assistants, and the drummers, begins marching to the beat of small drums. The remaining units advance to the formation of the lead unit, at the command of their commanders, turn left (or right, or shoulder-to-shoulder), align, maintain the established distances, and at the command "STRAIGHT" follow the lead unit.

The right flankers in the units follow the line designated by the linear ones, one step away from them [5].

Verbalized rituals on the occasion of an officer being promoted to the next military rank

Military practice recognizes two levels of rituals associated with the promotion of an officer to a higher military rank. The first-level ritual and its verbalized portion are enshrined in the Internal Service Regulations of the Russian Federation. After reviewing the order conferring the next military rank, the serviceman, having pinned the next star to his shoulder straps, presents himself to his immediate superior:

For example: «Comrade Major. Commander of the 1st motorized rifle company, Captain Ivanov. I introduce myself on the occasion of being awarded the military rank of captain» [6, p. 59].

Similarly, a service member presents himself to his immediate superior upon receiving an order or medal, being appointed to a new position, relinquishing his military post, departing on a business trip, on leave, or for medical treatment. While not codified in regulatory documents, these rituals are verbalized in everyday experience and are located outside the system of formal, statutory relations. For example, the ritual of presenting an award to a service member has two levels: the official one, which takes place in a ceremonial setting in accordance with the provisions of general military regulations and manuals, and the unofficial one, entrenched in the practice of relations between members of army collectives. In the former case, the superior, presenting the award to the service member, congratulates him. In response to this congratulation, the service member, as a rule, turns to those present at the ceremonial ceremony and says, "I serve the Russian Federation" [6, p. 36].

Official rituals are conducted in strict accordance with regulations and adherence to appropriate dress codes, non-verbal and verbal actions of the participants. Observance of rituals related to official ones is no less important for the social evaluation of an individual service member and the success or failure of their military service. These rituals define a specific framework for understanding mutual obligations and adherence to social requirements associated with an officer's honor—an important value category rooted in the officer traditions of past centuries. Mastering rituals is a significant step for a service member in their professional self-determination, their belonging to military society, and their acceptance of the values of military service as a whole. Mastering rituals, mediated by their verbalization, complements the non-verbal picture of the world of military service as a series of significant events, from the change from civilian clothing to the uniform of the appropriate branch or type of troops to the assimilation of the basics of drill training. This signifies the formation of a service member as a professional linguistic individual [4].

At the informal level of social relations are equally important rituals related to leisure forms of communication. These include initiation into the professional environment of the corresponding branch or service, and promotions within the service—sometimes a farewell (setting a table for fellow soldiers), while others require acceptance into a new group (having a social gathering). For example, following the official presentation of a new military rank or award, military practice includes the ritual of "washing" the new stars or awards during a friendly evening organized by the honoree for his or her fellow soldiers. The rules of such evenings, as well as the nonverbal and verbal actions of the participants, are preserved in the social and verbal experience of military groups. The following key words and phrases are required to describe the celebration and its individual scenes: to be treated to, "to set the festive table," to wash the order, to wash the star(s), "the event as a whole and the act of immersing the order or stars in a glass of vodka." Immediately after the glass of vodka had been emptied by the hero of the day, and the stars had been fished out with his teeth, the hero of the day addressed the commander (chief) and recited the introduction formula: "Comrade (military rank), Captain (name of river), I introduce myself in connection with the assignment of the next military rank of captain (in connection with the award of the order (name of the award)). This is followed by a banquet, during which those present, in the order of their positions and military ranks, propose toasts and express good wishes to the hero of the occasion. The off-duty (in place and time) nature of such an event does not relieve the commander of responsibility for its conduct. For those interested in ritual options, we recommend making an Internet search, typing in the phrases "wash the star(s), wash the title, wash the order.".

Barracks language and rituals, from the perspective of extremely weakened social control, occupy a low niche in the proposed hierarchy of social relations among conscripts. Key publications reflecting informal relations in the barracks environment of the Soviet era have been repeatedly described in scientific literature, literary texts, lexicographic manuals, and amateur dictionaries of Russian military jargon in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century. One of the author's articles on the topic of professional jargon and professional speech among military personnel is published in the second issue of this electronic publication [2].

In conclusion, we emphasize the importance of social control as the basis for the functioning of verbal and non-verbal rituals as values of the professional culture of the military.

 

 

Literature

1. 1. Baryshnikov N.V., Shevtsov I.O. Officer Speech Culture: Ideal and Reality. See https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/kultura-rechi-ofitsera-ideal-i-realnost (Accessed: March 1, 2019)
   2. Boyko B.L. Organizational functions of professional jargon and professional speech of military personnel // Organizational psycholinguistics. 2018, No. 2 (2). P. 8–18. Organizational psycholinguistics [Electronic resource]: electronic scientific journal / ed.-in-chief S.V. Myskin. – Issue. No. 2 (2). P. 1–18.
   3. Myskin S.V. Professional self-determination of a linguistic personality // Questions of psycholinguistics. No. 2. pp. 66–77. See cyberleninka.ru/article/v/professionalnoe-samoopredelenie-yazykovoy-lichnosti (Accessed: 01.03.2019)
   4. Singer L. Values of military service in light of a sociological survey of military personnel.

   See: http://www.grinchevskiy.ru/rvo/012007/cennosti-voennoy-slujbi.php (Accessed: 01.03.2019)

   5. The order of the garrison troops' ceremonial march. See: http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_72806/0ba40f607f23fa148a2ade297968a64e047dc72e/ (Accessed: 01.03.2019)

   Internal Service Regulations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Moscow: Military Publishing House, 2007, pp. 42-43.

 

References

1. 1. Baryshnikov NV Shevtsov IO The Culture of Officer's Speech: Ideal and Reality https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/kultura-rechi-ofitsera-ideal-i-realnost (Date of application: 01.03.2009)
   2. Boyko BL Military profzhargon and professional speech of the military // Organizational psycholinguistics. 2018, No. 2 (2). pp. 8-18.
   3. Peven' L. Values of military service in light of a sociological survey of military personnel //

   http://www.grinchevskiy.ru/rvo/012007/cennosti-voennoy-slujbi.php (Date of application: 03/01/2009)

   4. Myskin SV Professional self-determination of linguistic personality // Questions of psycholinguistics. 2013. No. 2. P. 66–77.

   http://www.cyberleninka.ru/article/v/professionalnoe-samoopredelenie-yazykovoy-lichnosti (Date of application: 03/01/2009)

   5. Procedure for the ceremonial march of garrison troops //http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_72806/0ba40f607f23fa148a2ade297968a64e047dc72e (Date of application: 01.03.2009)

   Charter of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Moscow: Military Publishing House, 2007. P. 42-43.