Not a single phenomenon or event occurs in isolation, in a vacuum. Not a single word is used "in itself" - without regard to others. Context is a term of Latin origin (lat. Contextus). It denotes relationships, relationships, environment.
It is difficult to find a sphere where this phenomenon would not find application, where it would be insignificant. A word in a context can take on a variety of meanings, shades of meaning - even the opposite (for example, if it was used with irony or sarcasm). In language, as in interpersonal communication, the interpretation of a passage of text, speech, or expression depends on what was said (meant) before and after. For example, for the word "sea" the direct context is a large amount of water, but when we say "sandy sea" we mean the desert. The token is used here as a metaphor. The meaning of the word "sea" here is perceived as a synonym for "a huge amount", "something immense."
In the sphere of verbal communication, ignoring the "environment", atmosphere, and the situation of conversation can lead not only to misunderstandings, but also to conflicts. In addition, the cultural context is extremely important in this area. This is often a decisive factor that can completely distort the course of the conversation and further events. For example, in France, when greeting, kisses on the cheek will be completely normal even among unfamiliar people. And in Japan or the UK such a gesture will be perceived as unnatural, too intimate.
In linguistics in the study of human communication, we are talking mainly about the phraseological context (the meaning of phrases and idioms), as well as situational. In the case of the latter, such factors as time, space, sphere are important:
business negotiations, lecture, family conversation, television debates, as well as events preceding the communication. Significant are the participants in the communication process and the roles that are intended for them, for example: mentor, friend, lover. The situational context is also the goals, plans, intentions and knowledge of the interlocutors. It is not always obvious, but underlying “currents,” for example, thoughts and feelings of an opponent, are extremely important for understanding the essence of the whole. For example, in a discussion about the fate of prisoners, people with experience in prison or arrest and those who have been victims of crime will behave very differently.
Other sciences use this word to express the connections (sometimes quite distant) of certain events or phenomena. The context in literature can be historical, artistic, ideological. Not a single work exists outside of time and space. Of course, the degree of accuracy of the transmission of realities is completely different, depending on gender and genre.
However, in poetry and prose, the atmosphere of time, values, ideology is present. Bunin
’s Dark Alleys reproduce not only pre-revolutionary Russia, but also the life of Parisian emigration. And in Tolstoy's War and Peace, the cultural and historical context is the tenth-twenties of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by certain concepts, allusions (a hint of some fact or object not mentioned directly), the words take on a new meaning. Symbolism can only be interpreted in the macrocontext - that is, on the scale of the entire work, the complete creativity of the writer, era, direction. Certain phenomena can be perceived in their entirety only in connection with the biography of the author or his ideology. For example, the Voronezh context is for Osip Mandelstam a place of exile, it is no coincidence that the
associative series associated with this city recalls something dark and severe: "Voronezh is a raven, a knife." Only knowing the life path of the poet, we can decipher these symbols. Any word in the context can activate its figurative or peripheral meaning.