Sergey A. Aghajanyan, Arsine S. Aghajanyan
The ambiguity of the word “nothing” and the uncertainty of that meanings make it possible for the person using them to form situations of speech manipulation becoming unique, non-standard means of thoughts expressing. One of the best expressions is the famous and of folklore origin fable by “That nothing is me” by Av. Isahakyan. As is the case with all other types of this genre, this too has its own moral and disciplinary component. What is it?
According to the text of this fable, two possible lifestyles are opposed: the mayor and the dervish. It has already been discussed. As for the instructive content of the fable, it is obvious from the text that this is also the author’s ideology. The author tries to convince the reader that out of the two lifestyles presented to them and their symbolic images, out of the values characterizing them, Dervish is preferable. A person who has formed a system of values of his inner psycho-mental freedom, positive social significance, which is significantly different from the purely biological needs of a government official-mayor. The first is intellectual, unique in the sense of his existence, in the form of his self-assertion, the second is a functionary with his place in a coexisting pattern.
However, with all this, it is necessary to keep in mind another form of verbal manipulation, in which the reader is already involved by the author of the text with his narration, created images. And this is the following. His characters embody extremely opposite, contradictory life decisions and lifestyles. In the presented specific situation, as already mentioned, the preferred type of person is Dervish, distinguished by his rich inner world. The author created a conflict where, in any case, Dervish becomes the more sympathetic and the preferred one out of these two. And the author’s manipulation noted lies precisely in the life situation formed according to this idea and in not leaving the listener or reader an alternative to his narration.
Meanwhile, from the cultural and creative experience of mankind, there are other options for understanding life or choosing a lifestyle, characteristic of which is not the opposite of extreme, contradictory options. These variants lack manipulations with thought and speech, and the principle of their formation is to form another lifestyle option by a reasonable combination of possible variants. For example, famous saying from ancient Greek culture “A healthy mind in a healthy body”. Another saying about satisfying the needs of both body and soul through balancing and harmonizing is famous in Christian culture: “Not only long live the man, but also everything that comes from the mouth of God” (Gospel of Matthew, E. 10:15)., 2005, ch. D, part 4/.
In both of the latter cases, the full physical existence of a person is
emphasized as a necessity, since an inferior biological existence becomes the cause of mental inferiority as well. But at the same time, the mental activity of a person is also important, without which he cannot form a lifestyle and a system of values that distinguish him from other beings.
In terms of modern cultural and creative activity of mankind, this problem is one of the most urgent, since it can at least mitigate the process that is being activated and becoming serious day by day through interested international structures and ideologies, as a result of which a person turns into a biological robot.