Genre-forming characteristics of a national anthem (on the example of the national anthems of Russia and France)

The theory of discursive genres in Russia is a promising direction that is actualised by the emergence of new types of discourse and their genres. However, not all traditional genres are currently included in this research paradigm. Thus, the genre canon “national anthem” has not been described in terms of this theory. This paper is the “discursive passport” of an anthem, compiled on the basis of a genre analysis of the two countries’ anthems: Russia and France, and in the historical perspective – from the 18th century and to this day. Despite significant differences in extralinguistic situations, the texts of Russian and French anthems have common features that can be considered as key features to this genre: 1) communicative goal; 2) the image of an author; 3) the image of an addressee; 4) dictum; 5) the factor of the past; 6) the factor of the future; 7) formal organisation. For additional verification of the genre description in the given algorithm, we used the texts of parodies of Russian and French anthems, which, according to the analysis, correspond to the canonical representation of the anthem as a genre. The analysis carried out proves that the genre nature of an anthem is international.