Peculiarities of volume-pragmatic division of Japanese creolized text

This article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the volume-pragmatic division of Japanese creolized text – manga. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing role of creolized texts in modern communication and the need to study text categories in relation to the relationship between verbal and non-verbal components. The goal of the study is to identify and conduct a multifaceted analysis of the specifics of volume-pragmatic division in manga. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set: to identify the hierarchical structure and key segments of the manga volume; to analyze the functions of non-verbal components in the implementation of division; to determine the pragmatic motives that determine the division of the text into chapters. The material for the study was such popular manga series as “Amatsuki” by Shinobu Takayama, “Dr. Koto’s Clinic” by Takatoshi Yamada, “Magic Battle” by Gege Akutami, and “Black Clover” by Yuki Tabata. This study utilizes an integrative methodology, combining interpretive, semiotic, and structural analysis. The study revealed a stable hierarchical architecture for the manga volume, consisting of mandatory and optional structural segments: the author’s introduction, the preface (including a summary of preceding events and detailed character profiles), the main body of the chapters, the author’s remarks at the chapter junctions, and the final afterword. It is demonstrated that nonverbal components (such as frame composition, scaling, background color scheme, and graphic highlighting) perform a fundamental, constitutive function in the process of articulation rather than an illustrative one. They materialize the category of articulation, signaling shifts in narrative planes, guiding the rhythm and tempo of reader perception, and actualizing the author’s specific pragmatic intentions. A fundamental conclusion is reached regarding the hybrid nature of the category of articulation in creolized texts, where the traditional volume-pragmatic articulation characteristic of monomodal texts is radically reimagined and embodied through an inseparable synthesis of verbal and nonverbal components. This study makes a significant contribution to the development of text linguistics, the theory of creolized texts, and manga studies by offering a proven model for analyzing the structural organization of creolized texts.

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