Manual pattern in Chekhov’s short story “Enemies” as a mirror of speech genres

The article presents the study of gestural composition in Anton Chekhov’s short story “Enemies”. The study provides a definition according to which modern linguistic science understands “non-verbal means of communication”. The paper considers the speech genres within verbal communication between a doctor and a patient: the speech genre of a medical complaint, forming the core of the institutional discourse, as well as the speech genres that go beyond the nuclear zone: the speech genres of pleading, refusal, silence, unburdening one’s soul, payment for medical services. It is stated that the speech genres can be illustrated by manual manifestations of the character and reveal their socio-cultural specifics. It is noted that the same manual gesture changes the content of information transmitted verbally. Special attention is paid to the manual manifestations conveyed in the text of the short story by means of expressions, which include the lexemes ’heart’ and ’fist’. At the same time, it is emphasized that following the synchronous modulation of the speech genres of the institutional discourse, a gradual change in the hand pattern (polite kinetics) is observed, signaling a phase of behavioral conflict. The paper also emphasizes the role of the author’s remarks in the description of communicative situations. The author of the paper concludes that each speech genre involved in the formation of institutional discourse includes a manual non-verbal sign, like a mirror reflecting a communicative event, and offers a scheme reflecting the manual behavior of the characters.