Kategoria wroga w dyskursie rosyjskiej władzy (na przykładzie orędzia W. W. Putina z 24 lutego 2022 roku)

Abstract

The subject of research in this article is the figure of the enemy, which is identified in numerous studies as one of the basic components of the world of propaganda, including communist propaganda. The aim of the analysis is to characterize the language exponents of the category of enemy in V. V. Putin’s message and to indicate their functions in the contemporary discourse of the Russian authorities. It should be emphasized that we treat the discourse of the Russian authorities as modern newspeak, that is, as a contemporary variant of the communist propa ganda discourse used by the political elite of today’s authoritarian Russia. In the examined message, two types of enemies were distinguished: real, i.e. actually existing in the world around us, to which the United States belongs, along with its allies from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and invented enemies, i.e. ones that are a kind of creation of Russian propaganda. These created enemies include neo-Nazis allegedly supported by the NATO organization, who supposedly form the current government in Kiev. They are portrayed as posing the most se rious threat to the Russian Federation. The category of enemy serves V. V. Putin for officially explaining to the Russian people the reasons for beginning the socalled “special military operation” in Ukraine, which is supposed to be “self-defence against threats to Russia”.