Features of Representation of the Developing Geopolitical Concept of “Brexit” in English, Russian and German

Abstract

AbstractPurpose: The article on the material of English, Russian and German presents the experience of studying the geopolitical concept of Brexit, which is present in the media space of the three countries, but has differences in representations. The purpose of the study is to identify the main trends in the formation and development of the geopolitical concept of «Brexit», a description of its bipolar structure, consisting of two value parts: positive-assessment and negative-assessment.Design/Methodology/Approach: The article explores the interaction of semantic representations of the concept in discursive representations in three languages, from different geopolitical positions, as well as the influence of the native British concept and events on socio-political communication in Russia and Germany. The analysis was based on authentic language material: printed publications of three countries, as well as Internet pages of newspapers, magazines, news sites (The Guardian, The Economist, The Telegraph; Spiegel, DW website, Izvestia, Russian newspaper). The main method of research was comparative-conceptual analysis, associated with complex semantic analysis, namely, definition and component analysis.Findings: The results of the study show that there are a number of general laws for the formation of a multilingual geopolitical concept of Brexit in the space of European political discourse. This concept is distinguished by the rapid development in a fairly compressed time period, the oppositivity of manifestation at the level of the cognitive model and in discourse. The article emphasizes the isomorphicity of the basic components of the cognitive model of a single geopolitical concept, as well as the semantics of their representations, the characterology of representative structures and the specifics of functioning in discourses of different socio-political orientation.Originality/Value: The article concludes about the bipolarity of the cognitive model of the concept of «Brexit» and representations, as well as its temporary status among other geopolitical concepts, established in the process of studying the concept from the perspective of geopolitics and political linguistics. The latter allows us to assert the possibility of defining Brexit as a linguistic geopolitical concept.KeywordsBrexitGeopolitical conceptCognitive modelMedia discoursePolitical discourseRepresentationJEL CodeF50Y80Z00