Strategies of manipulation as levers of influence on human consciousness in English-speaking political discourse

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of manipulation strategies, which are important levers of influence on human consciousness in English-language political discourse. In today’s conditions, manipulative tactics are used by almost all politicians to win the attention of the audience and further achieve their own goals. Scientists have identified and described various strategies of manipulation and the threat they pose to the electorate. A manipulative speech tactic is a speech act that corresponds to a particular stage in the execution of this or that strategy. It is also a collection of techniques organized in a specific way for the implementation of hidden influence, with the goal of achieving the desired effect or preventing an undesirable result. In the article, we describe the manipulative strategies that politicians use in one way or another in their election speeches. Manipulative strategies include argumentative and referential manipulation. Collective manipulation is the topic of research in the context of political discourse. The following terminology is used to describe the manipulating process: a supertask that the speaker sets for himself; tactics, the concrete actions the speaker does to carry out the selected plan. The linguistic tools (at all language levels) that the speaker employs are referred to as linguistic methods. The option to select linguistic means heavily influences the variety of linguistic interpretations. It should be highlighted that only in a specific communicative (speech) act do both strategies and methods become manipulative. Since gaining and retaining power is the primary goal of political communication, influence strategies and tactics that work to persuade the addressee that their perspective is correct as opposed to that of political opponents take on a unique significance. A communicative task that is developed and put into action with the intention of having a significant impact on the addressee is referred to as a strategy. Determining the semantic, stylistic, and pragmatic choices of the speaker during speech. Language techniques can define a particular dialogue with a distinct set of objectives, depending on the “globality” of intentions. They may have broader objectives that are intended to further more broad social objectives.