Genre characteristics of UNESCO statements of outstanding universal value of world heritage sites in the linguostylistic aspect

The paper considers a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage Sites, which is one of the most important of UNESCO documents. The research is aimed at studying its genre characteristics both in terms of form and content. They are illustrated in the paper through the example of the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value of the Galapagos Islands, being one of the major sites on the UNESCO list. Based on discourse analysis of the text, the following interrelated characteristics of its genre have been distinguished: typical content, rigid composition, informativeness, intertextuality, accuracy, laconicism, clarity, persuasiveness, argumentativeness, axiology, expressiveness, imagery, rhetoricalness. The unity of these features distinguishes this genre from others and is determined by extralinguistic factors: the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value is aimed at describing and proving the unique value of the archipelago. The research shows that the genre is characterized by typical content which is developed coherently in accordance with the standard composition of the format. It contains factual, conceptual, and implicit information. To prove the outstanding universal value of the site, both factual and axiological arguments are used. The verbal representation of these features is characterized, on the one hand, by lingual units used in accordance with literary norms and direct meaning, as well as by precision lexicon. On the other hand, it is characterized by metaphors and evaluative lexicon. The key metaphor representing the essence of the archipelago in the document is that of ‘a unique living museum and showcase of evolution’. It is developed through the document in a wide range of contextual evaluative synonyms, epithets, rows of homogeneous phytonyms and zoonyms depicting the variety and special character of the flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands and the Galapagos Marine Reserve, their unique seismic, volcanic, biological, ecological, geological, evolutionary processes. The intertextuality of the document means its connection with a wide range of the UN documents, as well as fiction, mass media, science.