The Concept of “Outsider” in Political and Sports Discourses (Based on the English Language)

Abstract

This article outlines the results of a study on the concept of “outsider” in English political and sports discourses. The concept’s domain was found to be based on such major subdomains as “foreigner”, “intruder”, and “outcast”. Nevertheless, it also includes some positive associations evoked when negative connotations of the term outsider are not emphasized. In fact, in politics, the lexeme outsider and the concept it captures are often linked to positive attributes. The obtained results are in line with those covering the phenomenon of (self-)marginalization within political rhetoric but appear not to be limited to it. In mixed martial arts discourse, the concept of “outsider” is also vague; yet, due to a growing interest in the triumphs of dark-horse contenders, it is regularly employed by communicators, i.e., athletes and sports commentators.