Critical Analysis of Language Deviations in Modern Mass Media Metaphorology

Abstract

AbstractIt is generally accepted knowledge that mass media is an omnipresent and omnipotent tool for drawing the public’s attention to a particular home or foreign affairs. However, few researchers have addressed the issue of linguistic deviations in the metaphorical coding of information contained in media texts. The present paper aims to validate that the creative ability of the linguistic personality as the discourse recipient is manifested in decoding the communicative process, based on their personal traits, experience, social and cultural background. The theoretical framework is tested on the corpus of more than 100 metaphorological expressions found in the political discourse of contemporary Russian media. The application of the cognitive-semantic approach made it possible to classify metaphors into several thematic groups of linguistic deviations. They are metaphors promoting certain political ideas, encouraging participation in political actions, shaping public opinion, describing political realities, etc. We have obtained comprehensive results proving that coding/decoding metaphorical phrases much depends on a complex set of cultural, linguistic, historical, and social factors that should be taken into account when creating media texts. Our findings will add to a body of literature on metaphors and linguistic deviation in political discourse.KeywordsIntentionCodingDecodingLanguage deviationCommunicative processMetaphorMetaphorology