Lexical Features of German Right-Wing Populist Discourse

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the specific features of modern German right-wing populist discourse, that are manifested at the lexical level. The relevance of the study is substantiated by stronger positions of right-wing
 populist organizations in the political arena of Germany, which has been steadily observed over the past decades, as well as the insufficient study of German rightwing populist discourse from a linguistic point of view. In this study, an attempt is made to present a list of nominative units typi-
 cal for the type of discourse under consideration and to demonstrate the condi-
 tions of their use by the strategic nature of political communication. The article reveals the concepts of political discourse and right-wing populist discourse as
 its variety, communicative strategy, tactics and means. The use of various lexical means is illustrated by excerpts through the texts of the main German right-wing populist organizations, namely the Alternative for Germany party and the Pegida, a socio-political movement. As a result of the study, the author makes a conclusion that at the lexical level in the texts of German right-wing populist discourse one can trace its difference from the entire political discourse as a whole. Various means of secondary
 nomination with pejorative or positive connotations prevail, which is associated with their special power of influence on the recipient, while the common means of primary nomination are represented mainly by proper names, namely polytonyms and anthroponyms. In addition, the study concludes that the lexical level of right-wing populist discourse reflects its heterogeneity.