Pre-election Discourse Research Articles

Репрезентация интенциональности в эпидейктических речах в предвыборной кампании США 2020 года

The aim of the study is to identify patterns in the construction of the epideictic speeches of political figures within the 2020 US election campaign. The paper analyses the intentional structures of three campaign speeches of different political figures, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, in particular, where they thank their electorate for their support. Patterns in the construction of epideictic speeches were identified from the perspective of the intentionality analysis relying on the analysis of the intentional components inherent in the gratitude speeches in the framework of the election campaign in the form of a monologue. The scientific novelty is due to the fact that the intentional components of epideictic speeches reflecting the current trends of structuring the pre-election speech were identified, as well as the influence of the intentional structure of an utterance in pre-election discourse on the perception of speech by the recipient. As a result, it was proved that the gratitude speeches of political figures within the framework of the election campaign have not only common features from the point of view of intentionality analysis, but also differences, which are characterised by the stage of the election campaign.

Совокупность тактик британского предвыборного дискурса в ракурсе стратегии самопрезентации

The aim of the paper is to identify the features of the self-presentation strategy phenomenon and its tactics actualised with the help of English language means and used by modern British politicians, such as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, during the election campaign. The scientific novelty of the study is accounted for by the need to analyse the language means used by modern British politicians in order to present themselves effectively during the pre-election debates in Cheltenham (August 2022). In the theoretical part of the study, such concepts as “pre-election discourse” and “self-presentation strategy” are considered. In the empirical one, the analysis of fragments of the pre-election speeches is carried out. As a result, it has been proved that politicians can use the following tactics in public speeches to the electorate: compromising the opponent, avoiding an answer, self-praise, consolidation with the audience. It has been established that Liz Truss uses the tactics of consolidation with the electorate and compromising the opponent. Rishi Sunak employs the tactics of consolidation with the electorate, avoiding an answer and self-praise. These tactics are represented with the help of such linguistic means as stylistically charged vocabulary, the first-person singular pronoun, anaphora and metaphor.

Актуальные тенденции протекания электоральных процессов в государствах ЕС в условиях содержательной трансформации электоральных ожиданий

The article presents a retrospective analysis of trends in the course of electoral processes in the EU states, taking into account the substantial correction of the electoral discourse caused by a shift in emphasis in electoral requests and expectations. The authors pay special attention to the consideration of the pre-election discourse of Germany in the period 2017–2021.

Donald Trump’s Speech Portrait (Based on the Material of Elction Speeches in the Campaigns of 2016 and 2020)

The article is devoted to the analysis of Donald Trump’s speech portrait during pre-election communication. Pre-election communication is a specific genre of political discourse combining institutional, ritualistic, rhetorical features. The aim
 of a political speech is to change the perception of reality by the audience, when it comes down to candidates running their election campaign, vote swinging by means of manupulative verbal behaviour. According to the research, the speech portrait of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate is rather diverse. The discourse of the US former President can be classified as a hybrid combining the features of institutional, ritualistic and
 rhetorical communication. It merges constituent characteristics of the pre-election discourse: participants and their roles, chronotopos, manipulating strategies, rituality, symbolism. Being an experienced speaker, Trump facilitates currently
 topical arguments (toposes) in his speeches; patriotism is one of the most essential for him, according to the research. Some tools used by the candidate are typical of all participants of the pre-election discourse (for example, creating the circles of «us» or his supporters and «them» or his rivals in the election race). A typical feature of practically all analysed texts has been distingushed, which consists in using a meaningful slogan for his agitational narration.

СПОРТИВНАЯ ЛЕКСИКА В АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНОМ ПРЕДВЫБОРНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ

The article deals with interaction (in the period of presidential races in the USA in 2016 and 2020) between English sports and pre-election discourses at pragmatic and stylistic levels as well as in the aspect of communicative strategies used. Strategies of pre-election discourse are investigated in terms of their impact on the text perception. The author concludes that sports vocabulary gives the image of a sports competition to pre-election campaigns achieving this by stylistic and pragmatic means that are used in accordance with syntactic communicative strategies, which may be represented by the strategies with a focus on the rheme superposition and non-inherent theme.

Key Words and Political Parties in the 2020 Pre-Election Campaign on Facebook

Abstract The research paper analyses key words found in pre-election communication of electorally successful political parties, based on which the main communication differences among those parties and the specifics of pre-election communication, as well as the pre-election discourse as a whole, are identified. Research material consists of political parties’ microblogs published on individual political parties’ Facebook profiles in the period from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2020, with a reference corpus formed by the total of these microblogs. The analysis showed professionalization of political communication, the use of new, but also traditional ways of interaction with the electorate, pre-election communication based on the presentation of candidates, offensive and combative tone of the most successful parties, self-presentation, hints of persuasive and manipulative techniques, topic points of electoral programmes, but also thematic neutrality and non-specificity that suggest smaller electoral success.

Group Nominations as an Instrument of Electoral Struggle: Ukrainian Discourse of 2019 Parliamentary Elections

The authors work within the framework of political sociology using interdisciplinary methodology. The article presents the results of a sociological analysis of the functions of group nominations in the electoral struggle in divided societies. The empirical basis of the article is the author's study of the electoral discourse based on the material of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2019, carried out within the framework of the ARDU international research project, as well as a mass poll conducted within the framework of the same project. The authors investigate the electoral struggle as a factor and s reflection of macrosocial processes, relying on a combined theoretical and metho­dological foundation: the sociology of cleavages, social constructivism, and critical discourse analysis. The results of the analysis of the pre-election discourse and a mass survey of the adult population of Ukraine show the relationship between discursive group nominations and objective social cleavages. The division of society into conflict groups is used as a discursive tool for segmentation of the electoral audience, as well as for the consolidation and deepening of existing social divisions. Authors conclude that there is the interrelation between discursive group nominations and objective social cleavages. Group nominations (re) produce a macrosocial split of a complex, regional and ideological nature, which receives a technological dimension in the electoral discourse.

Authority-Based Strategy of (De)legitimization in American Electoral Discourse: A Case Study

The paper presents an analysis of (de)legitimization in American pre-election discourse based on the tactics of appealing to “authorities”, any entity, person or value which continue to retain confidence, have credibility or are otherwise entitled to authority in the society and family. Sixty 2020 election campaign speeches of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and U.S. vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris were the material of this case study. Our research approach is based on theoretical and methodological findings of linguopersonology and political linguistics. The main methods used are those of intent, semantic and stylistic analysis. The purpose was to identify, describe and categorize the authorities cited by the two politicians during their campaign and to correlate them to voters’ aspirations in the cities and states involved. The analysis of relevant contexts revealed that the choice of authorities is primarily guided by the expectations of target groups of voters to whom the campaign speech is addressed. For this reason, the pre-election discourse of the politicians under study includes the authorities which are important for different target groups of voters addressed all over the country. The study of the American pre-election discourse yields a general classification of authorities to which both politicians are appealing; it includes famous politicians, public figures, renowned experts, scientists, outstanding representatives of the culture and art. The politicians may also appeal to the authority of the speaker himself, their parents (mom, dad); edifying example of ordinary people (not celebrities); authority of high positions; authority of institutions and bodies; authority of universal values; authority of different kinds of texts (reports, laws, Scriptures), and sometimes authority of some mass media sources. The multiplicity of the authorities represented in our classification is explained in the paper as a logical consequence of addresser-addressee interaction. It also reeals the important role of the politician’s personality to appeal at a rally to “authorities” that might in his opinion be attractive for his specific audience. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the linguistic features of the appeal-to-authority tactics.

“Ethical Evaluation” as a Tactics of Delegitimization Strategy in the Pre-Election Discourse

The present study is based on such relevant areas of modern linguistics as Political linguistics and Linguistic personology. It included//includes samples of 30 speeches given by US President Joe Biden during his 2020 election campaign. A review of related scientific publications showed almost no detailed works on linguistic means connected with tactics that brings about delegitimization strategy; nor is there any unified term for a strategy of creating a negative image of a political rival in the election discourse. The authors believe that, in the election discourse, the abovementioned strategy aims at destroying the credibility of the political opponent and the solutions they have to offer beyond questioning their legality. Therefore, the tactics of ethical evaluation can be an effective means to destroy the credibility of a political oppo nent by using words of evaluative connotation. The tactics makes it possible to explicate a direct or contextual negative attitude to an opponent. Joe Bidens ethical evaluation of Donald Trump appeared to have three axiological aspects. The research used the theoretical and methodological apparatus of Political linguistics and Linguistic personology, e.g. such methods as content analysis, lexical-semantic analysis, and intent analysis. The paper introduces an analysis of lexemes that verbalize the tactics of ethical evaluation, which showed predominance of words and idioms of an unambiguous negative evaluative connotation. The authors also detected the absence of any abusive language that could be interpreted as a direct insult or accusation. The results can be used for a critical analysis of the political discourse of individual politicians.

Роль оценочности в стратагемно-тактической организации американской предвыборной телерекламы в динамическом аспекте

The article analyses evaluativeness role in implementing the American pre-election TV ads strategies in the diachronic aspect. Scientific originality of the paper is conditioned by the fact that dynamics of the pre-election TV ad genre is still poorly investigated and also by the fact that the genre dynamics is considered taking into account the evaluative component of the pre-election discourse distinguished by a high pragmatic potential. The study is conducted by the material of three corpuses of the American pre-election TV ads classified according to the historical periods: 1952-1972, 1976-2000, 2004-2020. The research findings are as follows: the author identifies changes in the choice of evaluation objects, reveals the growing role of certain strategies using evaluation as a means of manipulative influence. The conducted analysis allows concluding on prevalence of negative evaluation in the modern American pre-election discourse.

The discrediting strategy in the pre-election political discourse (based on the example of debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden)

Speech manipulation in the pre-election discourse aims to influence the audience in order to increase the number of the electorate and present their political activities in a more favorable way. This article is devoted to the study of ways to achieve this goal using strategies of self-presentation and discrediting. It is known that the political struggle for power at the stage of debate is carried out mainly through a strategy of discrediting. The task of belittling the opponent's status comes to the fore. Such activity involves a set of certain tactics that help to implement it: from the most common tactics of accusation and ridicule to less frequent tactics of exaggeration and unproven undermining of authority. This analysis demonstrates the variety of tactics used by Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2020 political debate as part of a discrediting strategy. The result of the study showed that politicians resort more to tactics of open speech influence, which takes place in offhand speech. In addition, the efficiency of the strategy of discrediting in political discourse was revealed.

Коммуникативные стратегии манипулирования на примере американской избирательной кампании Д. Трампа и Х. Клинтон

The research objective includes identifying the most efficient manipulative communicative strategies and tactics in D. Trump’s and H. Clinton’s presidential campaign discourse. The article provides a brief survey of the existing views on the phenomenon of manipulative verbal influence. Scientific originality of the paper lies in the fact that the authors consider impact of manipulative strategies and tactics of pre-election discourse on a voter’s electoral choice. The conclusion is made that the verbal means of manipulative influence used by D. Trump turned out to be more efficient.

К вопросу о лингвистических средствах метафорического воздействия в грузинском предвыборном дискурсе

К вопросу о лингвистических средствах метафорического воздействия в грузинском предвыборном дискурсе

Digital humor against essentialization: Strategies of Baltic Russian-speaking social media users

This paper asks what happens to the civic identity of people who have hybrid, transnational identities during times of geo-political tensions when the interests of individuals' historical/symbolic homeland clash with those of individuals' country of current residence. We focus our inquiry on the digital spaces where much of identity work and exercise of citizenship takes place today. Inspired by the concepts of “digital acts of citizenship” (Isin & Ruppert, 2015) and “affective publics” (Papacharissi, 2015), we report the results of a case study that explores the performative, playful forms of digital citizenship enacted by members of the Russian-speaking audiences in the ex-Soviet, Baltic countries of Estonia and Latvia. Against the backdrop of the on-going crisis in Ukraine, members of this group tend to use these forms of digital citizenship to resist the emotionally charged pre-election discourse of essentialization and securitization, and to de-politicize complex, painful issues of geo-politics and nation-building. The strategies utilized by them reveal that transnational audiences actively employ digital devices in order to maintain their hybrid identity, and civic autonomy and dignity and to “make peace” during times of geo-political conflict.

Speech peculiarities of American political pre-election discourse

Speech peculiarities of American political pre-election discourse

Предвыборные менасивы как особый прагматический тип высказываний со значением угрозы

The aim of this article was to study linguistic manifestations of pre-election threat statements as well as to construct their explicit formula and evaluate their pragmatic effect on the voters. This study used the material of discursive practices with the meaning of threat found in the pre-election programmes of the presidential candidates in Russia in 2018. Based on the performative hypothesis, the authors were able to construct an explicit (basic) formula of threat statements and single out its types. The research showed that statements with the meaning of threat can contain a declaration of threat influence directed at either voters or the opposition. In this regard, the basic formula of pre-election threat statements can be represented by two functional-semantic models: explicit-exponential and prospective-consequent threat statements. The authors come to the conclusion that the basic forms of threat statements found in the programmes of the presidential candidates in Russia in 2018 are capable of producing an intensive pragmatic and emotional effect on the mass addressee, since they contain an explicit declaration of the threat influence. Only a small number of explicit statements with the meaning of threat in Russian preelection discourse point to the politicians’ avoiding frequent use of these forms of threats in order not to intimidate voters by possible consequences. In a situation of pre-election discourse, politicians prefer prospective-consequent statements with the meaning of threat, whose possible effect is addressed to the opposition politicians. The results of this study can be used to predict the pragmatic effect of politicians’ threat statements on voters.

СПОРТИВНАЯ ЛЕКСИКА В ПРЕДВЫБОРНОМ ТЕКСТЕ: КОГНИТИВНО-ПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТ

The article deals with cognitive and pragmatic peculiarities related to interaction of the pre-election and sports discourses. The pre-election discourse is a special type of political discoursewhich plays an important role in informing the electorate during the pre-election period (influencing public opinion on the election campaign and its participants). It is assumed thatsports terms build a competitive spirit andmake it possible to increase the effectiveness ofpre-election texts. The purpose of the article is to highlight peculiarities concerning the cognitive mechanism of understanding (interpretation) sports terms in the pre-election text that is the product of interdiscursive interaction of political and sports discourses. Analyzing strategies of using sports vocabulary in the pre-election discourse shows that such lexis can determine a strategy of influence in the pre-election text. It turned out that according to the meaning of sports lexis there are positioning and optimizing strategies. Positioning strategies build a certain perception while optimizing strategies helptoimprove communication.

КОНФЛІКТНІ КОМУНІКАТИВНІ СТРАТЕГІЇ ПЕРЕДВИБОРЧИХ ДЕБАТІВ В ІСПАНСЬКОМУ ТА УКРАЇНСЬКОМУ ПОЛІТИЧНОМУ ДИСКУРСІ

The article analyzes the conflicting communication strategies of the participants of the election debates in Spain in 2019. The peculiarities of communicative interaction of Spanish politicians in the conditions of political agitation on the eve of the parliamentary elections are considered the main strategies of their interaction are singled out. The purpose of the analysis was to identify and characterize the main communication strategies used by Spanish politicians during the 2019 election campaign during a televised debate. The material of the study was a card index of text fragments of speeches by Spanish politicians A. Lastro, C. Alvarez, I. Monteros, G. Rufian, A. Esteban, and others. A total of 350 micro texts were analyzed, which allowed us to identify communicative conflict as the main type of interaction in the pre-election discourse. The article defines that communicative strategy in political discourse is a general direction of interaction of politicians, which directs language means in order to realize the intention – to influence the addressee. In the pre-election discourse of political debates, the main strategies are focused on conflict interaction, within which strategies of discrediting and manipulation are singled out. The strategy of discrediting involves reducing the communicative status of the opponent and is represented by tactics of accusation and insults. The main linguistic means of implementing the strategy of discrediting are stylistically reduced vocabulary and grammatical forms of dialogic nature. The strategy of manipulation is implemented through the tactics of interpretation, declaration and intimidation. At the linguistic level, manipulation involves the use of abstract vocabulary, precedent phenomena and expressive and evaluative means.

ЭТНИЧНОСТЬ В ЭЛЕКТОРАЛЬНОМ ИЗМЕРЕНИИ ПОЛИТИКИ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ РОССИЙСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК: МЕЖДУ УНИВЕРСАЛЬНЫМ И ПАРТИКУЛЯРНЫМ

The article presents the results of the research of the pre-election discourse of candidates for governors of national republics during the last elections from the perspective of the concept of the institutionalization of ethnicity in the identity policy. The aim of the article is to determine the form of institutionalization of ethnicity in the electoral dimension of identity policies implemented in the context of the election campaign of governors and considering the ethnic structure of the republics' population. The research method is a comparative discourse analysis. The empirical data used are media content, election programs, and campaign materials of candidates from their social media accounts. The dominant form of institutionalization of ethnicity is a «symbolic model» in which ethnicity is defined as a symbol of the republic’s uniqueness. Dependence between the choice of such form of institutionalization in pre-election discourse and specifics of the national composition of the republic’s population does not occur in all cases. One of the most common forms of institutionalization of ethnicity is «predominantly without ethnicity». However, the interim governors rarely chose this model.

Прагматические маркеры в англоязычном предвыборном дискурсе (на примере выступлений кандидатов на пост лидера Консервативной партии Великобритании)

The study of the pragmatic functions of such discourse elements as pragmatic markers, which are used in one of the genres of English-language political discourse - the pre-election speeches of candidates are presented in the article. The attention is paid in the article to the correlation of the concepts of “political discourse” and “pre-election discourse”, the features, functions and pragmatic settings of the genre of pre-election speeches are described, the terms pragmatic marker and discursive marker are defined. The material for the study was the video of the election speeches of candidates for the post of leader of the Conservative Party of Great Britain B. Johnson and J. Hunt, published on the YouTube online platform in June-July 2019. The classification of pragmatic markers by B. Fraser was chosen as the methodological basis of the study. As a result of the study, an inventory of pragmatic markers was compiled, used by candidates in several rounds of election campaigns, and the functions that pragmatic markers of various types perform in the genre of political discourse under study are described. The results of a comparative analysis of the use of pragmatic markers by each candidate in their pre-election speeches are presented. Conclusions are drawn about how, due to pragmatic markers, the arsenal of manipulative and influencing language means of election discourse is increasing.