Translated material
Content analysis
Very often, when people are irritated by a new word, they conceptualize it in such a way that, they say, this is a completely unnecessary and unnecessary borrowing, the same can be said in human terms - in Russian, that is. In fact, in most cases it turns out that it is precisely the new meaning for which the word was introduced into the language that is annoying. Here, for example, is the fashionable word content. I have a colleague who is literally shaking at this word. He is indignant: They don’t even say “dictionary” about our work - it’s about one technically “advanced” publishing house. They say “content”. For them it's just content! What a stupid word...
The Russian word content is not the same as the English content . The Russian word, as often happens with borrowings, has a much narrower meaning. Content is the informationally significant content of an information resource. Text, pictures, music, whatever. First of all, of course, in relation to the Internet, but not only. Well, let's say, the same dictionaries. The lexicographer compiled a dictionary: indicated the grammatical forms of words, divided words into meanings, gave examples, translations. That is, he thinks that he has compiled a dictionary. But for bullying, this is where it all begins. Then this raw material - content - goes into the hands of masters: it can be “poured” into one form or another, made into a paper and/or electronic version, and so reformatted, and so on, with a twist and a bounce, it can be merged with another, But you can select (automatically, of course), say, only new words - or only colloquial ones. You can make a verb control dictionary quite cheaply from the same material. It would also be nice to match the pictures - well, to the subject vocabulary (we could then call it a visual dictionary). Otherwise, turn it over... In general, there are many options.
Here are some examples of the use of the word content: Filling a resource with quality content is a task of particular importance for owners. Unique content, namely articles for the site, is the number one means of website promotion. http://kontenta.ru/ ; Let's look at the basic laws of promotion through content: 1. The more content on your site, the more visitors will visit it. http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-42956/ ; The content manager is responsible for filling the website with the necessary content (text and graphic information). www.ucheba.ru/prof/745.html ; Soviet Content is a creative project dedicated to the Soviet past. It is filled according to the principle “post something new, not well-worn.” www.content.su/ ; Alexei Navalny's content will be loaded into car navigators. Famous blogger Alexey Navalny has become a partner […] of the navigator manufacturer Content Master. The RosYama service he invented will supply navigators with data on road damage www.vedomosti.ru/tech/news/1401841/shturman_navalnyj#ixzz1c8t404kI .
By the way, it is completely clear why the word content has taken root in the Russian language: good old content has a slightly different set of associations. After all, as we were taught in school: a work has content, that is, a plot, characters, ideas, and there is a form, artistic features. And the form must be in harmony with the content. Unity of form and content. Content of the form. An old joke (Ardov quotes it): “ Are you a formalist? ” - No, I'm a kept woman! By the way, I found a funny article in some communist newspaper ( http://tr.rkrp-rpk.ru/get.php?3198 ). The author probably studied at some philological department, as the title says: “On the content of form.” It’s about last year’s story with the renaming of the police into the police (the article was written then): “Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting on amendments to the law “On the Police” said that it was time to “return the police to its previous name and in the future call our law enforcement agencies police." And the author concludes: “Today, the main task of the authorities has in fact become the protection of private property and gentlemen-owners, ensuring peace and quiet for the elite of society and the propertied classes. Of course this to the content The name “police” is more appropriate . In fact, today’s bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs already are.” This reasoning very clearly shows exactly the idea to which we are accustomed: the main thing is the content, and the main task of the form is to correspond to the content.
The point here, by the way, is not this or that word. itself The word content has already appeared in the Russian language, primarily in combination with content analysis. Such analysis exists in various sciences. In sociology, psychology, etc., it is a more or less rigorous method of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the content of documents in order to identify or measure social facts and trends. At the same time, in accordance with the objectives of the study, certain parameters are identified (for example, the psychological characteristics of the characters in mass communication messages). Quantitative analysis of text arrays is carried out with the aim of subsequent meaningful interpretation of the identified numerical patterns. As is easy to see, content analysis implies content as the most ordinary content, in the old sense.
But now a completely different idea of the information object has emerged. What is primary is a certain shell into which completely different things can be “filled.” This amorphous thing that is being uploaded is the content - that is, it’s like the same content, but lowered in status. And the form, which is primary and dictates everything else, is now called another fashionable word - format. The new meaning of the word content reflected an important idea: the development of information technology has led to the separation of form from content.
Moreover, this is typical specifically for the Russian word. For example, the English word shopping does not have the same consumerist intensity as the Russian word shopping. Therefore, paradoxically, the Russian word shopping is difficult to translate into English. In the same way, the technological excitement that sounds in the Russian word content is lost when translated into English. Actually, the same parsley with the words gadget and device - I already wrote about this once. This often happens with borrowing. But the Russian language, perhaps, has one peculiarity. Our chronic technological lag and catching up, and on the other hand, our penchant for cultural and linguistic reflection, lead to the fact that the Russian language is especially characterized by the emergence of seemingly stupid words, which so accurately capture the essence of civilizational breakdowns.
Irina Levontina