Allusive Headlines in the Media: Axiological Aspect

The article is devoted to the analysis of newspaper headlines based on allusion. Using the material of texts published in 2023 in the newspapers Zavtra and Kommersant, which are diff erent in terms of ideological ori-entation and stylistics, the authors examine the axiological signifi cance of such factors as the choice of the source of allusion, the absence or presence of transformation, and the leading principle of playing with the original text. Both similarities and diff erences in the creation of allusive headlines are revealed. Both publications actively seek source material from phraseology, Russian classical literature and Soviet cinema, which is explained by the priority of marketing considerations: a headline that refers to an easily recognisable text is the most attractive. In the Zavtra newspaper, the sources of allusive headlines can be modern rude and ironic statements typical of colloquial speech and works of Russian classical literature that are well known to the mass addressee. In this case, the original form of the source text is either unchanged or minimally transformed, while retaining the original evaluative connota-tions. Recognition and comprehension of such allusive titles does not require additional cognitive eff orts from the addressee, which allows us to speak about the setting to attract the attention of the widest possible addressee. The specifi cs of Kommersant’s headlines lie in the more active use of precedent statements. The sources of allusions are not only phraseological phrases and works of Russian classical literature, but also precedent texts associated with Soviet realities and texts of fi ction that are not widely known. The precedent texts, regardless of their nature, are subjected to a “reducing” transformation through language play. The attractiveness of such titles is determined by the level of background knowledge of the addressee, who needs not only to identify the source text and understand the allusion in the title text, but also to correlate the axiological characteristics of the precedent and allusive texts. The authors of the article note that titling with the use of evaluative allusion is one of the regularly used methods of adjusting the media text to the target audience.