Stylistic devices in political discourse

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Department of English Language Practice and Teaching Methodology

Rivne State University of the Humanities

Stylistic devices in political discourse

Yuliia Kuriata,

Ph.D. in Psychology, Associate Professor

Olena Kasatkina-Kubyshkina,

Ph.D. in Psychology, Associate Professor

The article considers stylistic means in political discourse on the examples of modern and past Ukrainian and foreign politicians' speeches. The topicality of the research is defined by social significance ofpolitical discourse in the life of the community. The term “political discourse” is determined as coherent oral or written text, expressed through both verbal and nonverbal means, which directly depends on the situation of political communication in combination with pragmatic, socio-cultural, psychological and other factors. A “figure of speech” (also called “stylistic device” or “rhetorical device”) is commented on as a modification of the usual or expected sequence of words, grammatical structure of the text, the use of any of a variety of techniques to produce an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling. The definitions and examples of “metaphors” (especially those related to war, sports, family, and nature), “personification”, “repetition”, “simile”, “allusion”, “synechdoche”, “hyperbole”, “emotive language”, “balance”, “invertedphrases”, “rhetorical figures” (rhetorical appeals, questions, assumptions, exclamations, statements), “gradation”, “ invective” and “poetic devices” (irony as one of the ways of comic perception of reality, which contains a hidden mockery of facts or people; satire as sharp, sensitive ridicule of vices, errors, negative phenomena of reality, a sharp, scathing mockery; sarcasm as malicious, scathing mockery, caustic irony; humour as benevolent laughter, aimed at exposing certain defects of human character or inconsistencies in people's lives, in their behaviour; word game as a means of artistic expression that functions in language as a joke, created on the basis ofpolysemy, homonymy and similar sounding words) are given in the context of political discourse. “Sustained (prolonged) metaphor” is enlarged on with relation to the problem researched. Factors influencing the choice of political discourse strategies and tactics are commented on, namely - a personality of a politician and their function in the political system and the addressee of communication.

Keywords: political discourse, figure of speech, linguistic means, emotive language, rhetorical figures, poetic devices.

Курята Юлія Вікторівна,

кандидат психологічних наук, доцент

Касаткіна-Кубишкіна Олена Володимирівна,

кандидат психологічних наук, доцент

Кафедра практики англійської мови та методики викладання, Рівненський державний гуманітарний університет

Стилістичні засоби у політичному дискурсі

У статті розглянуто стилістичні засоби політичного дискурсу на прикладах виступів сучасних та минулих українських та зарубіжних політиків. Актуальність дослідження визначається соціальною значимістю політичного дискурсу в житті громади. Термін «політичний дискурс» визначається як зв'язний усний або письмовий текст, виражений як вербальними, так і невербаль- ними засобами, що безпосередньо залежить від ситуації політичної комунікації у поєднанні з прагматичними, соціокультурними, психологічними та іншими чинниками. «Фігурамови» (за іншими варіаціями: «стилістичний засіб» або «риторичний засіб») коментується як зміна звичної або очікуваної послідовності слів, граматичної структури тексту, використання будь-якого з різноманітних прийомів, які надають продукту мовлення допоміжне значення, ідею чи емоційне забарвлення. Визначення та приклади «метафор» (особливо тих, що стосуються війни, спорту, сім'ї та природи), «персоніфікації», «повторення», «порівняння», «алюзії», «синекдохи», «гіперболи», «емотивної мови», «балансу», «інверсії», «риторичних фігур» (риторичних звернень, запитань, припущень, вигуків, висловлювань), «градації», «інвективних» та «поетичних засобів» (іронії як одного із способів комічного сприйняття реальності, яка містить прихований глум над фактами чи людьми; сатири як різкого, чутливого висміювання пороків, помилок, негативних явищ дійсності, різкого, їдкого глузування; сарказму як злісної насмішки, їдкої іронії; гумору як доброзичливого сміху, спрямованого на виявлення певних вад людського характеру чи суперечностей у житті людей, у їхній поведінці; словесної гри як засобу художньої виразності, що функціонує в мові як жарт, створений на основі багатозначності, омонімії та подібних за звучанням слів) подано у контексті політичного дискурсу. «Стійка (тривала) метафора» розглядається у контексті досліджуваної проблеми. Коментуються чинники, що впливають на вибір стратегії та тактики політичного дискурсу, а саме - особистість політика та його функція у політичній системі та адресат комунікації.

Ключові слова: політичний дискурс, фігура мови, лінгвістичні засоби, емотивна мова, риторичні фігури, поетичні засоби.

Topicality

Due to its social significance political discourse is one of the topical issues for a great number of linguists. Political speeches are public-oriented, that is they are directed to people of different ages and backgrounds. Nonetheless, to interpret thoroughly the speeches the politicians deliver, to understand the real meaning they convey one need draw attention to linguistic means and devices politicians utilize embellishing their language in a unique way to give extra effect and force to their message in order to achieve their communicative objectives, which is why this phenomenon requires close study.

Thus, analysis of the different stylistic devices politicians use to achieve their aim is the objective of the article.

Recent researchers and publications. Antonio Reyes, Alexander Bain, Adrian Beard, Ronald Carter, Jonathan Charteris- Harteris-Black can be mentioned among the researchers of the question of stylistic devices in political oratorical speech.

Results

The first foundations of the study of political discourse were laid by scholars of the Oxford and Cambridge philosophical schools in the 1950s, which drew attention to the linguistic aspect of this phenomenon (Johnstone, 2007).

Political discourse can be defined as coherent oral or written text, expressed through both verbal and nonverbal means, which directly depends on the situation of political communication in combination with pragmatic, socio-cultural, psychological and other factors (Beard, 2003: 25-87).

Due to the potential of its influence on society, political speech is a carrier of ideology, support for propaganda, which allows its use by politicians as a means of manipulation. Manipulation here means consciously modifying or constructing a new political discursive reality using different linguistic means (Dijk, 2006: 359-383).

In literature and writing, a figure of speech (also called stylistic device or rhetorical device) is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give it an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling (Carter, 2004). The use of stylistic figures occurs by modifying the usual or expected sequence of words, modifying the grammatical structure of the text. The rhetorical effect obtained by regrouping the order of words affects its aesthetic appeal. Stylistic figures provoke a reaction from the audience, because transformation of the expected meanings of the words attracts attention of the listeners.

Metaphor is considered a chief figure “to play a central role in the construction of social and political reality” (Steen, 2008: 213-241).

A metaphor is transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects. So there exists a similarity based on one or more common semantic component. And the wider the gap is between the associated objects the more striking and unexpected - the more expressive - the metaphor is. If a metaphor involves likeness between inanimate and animate objects, we deal with personification, for example: “a cry for help from the destroyed Carpathian forests” as it is often formulated in the context of the problem of uncontrolled deforestation in Ukraine. Metaphor, as all other lexical stylistic devices, is fresh, original, genuine when first used, and trite, hackneyed, stale when often repeated. In the latter case it gradually loses its expressiveness.

Metaphor can be expressed by all notional parts of speech. Metaphor functions in the sentence as any of its members. When the speaker (writer) in his/her desire to present an elaborated image does not limit its creation to a single metaphor but offers a group of them, this cluster is called sustained (prolonged) metaphor (Wales, 2011).

Politicians use metaphors to characterize themselves (e.g., V. Zelenskyi positioned himself as “the sentence to the old system" [Pre-election debates..., 2019] during the presidential election period), also their opponents (e.g., I. Farion's “Eagles do not confess to hyenas” in one of her emotional speeches [I. Farion's comment on..., 2013]), and their political agendas (e.g., “Ukraine will definitely become a member of a large European family” as was and is frequently stated by P. Poroshenko [Poroshenko P. congratulating on., 2018] and other pro-European politicians of the country in the meaning of strategic foreign policy development of Ukraine).

Several types of metaphor are used in political communication, including those involving war, sports, family, and nature (Lakoff, 1991).

Recently, the use of metaphors to denote financial realities (economic growth, business climate, transparent credit) has intensified in world political discourse, which is obviously due to the dynamic changes in the financial environment under the influence of the Covid pandemic 19.

Typical of a political narrative is also a zoomorphic metaphorical model by which opponents endow colleagues with verbally expressed characteristics that are usually characteristic of animals. Most often, such metaphors are used to create a comic effect or to demonstrate their own superiority over others: “the lion of great politics”, “the dark horse of the party”.

Repetition is common for political speech, since it has the pragmatic attribute to successfully convey the implicit meaning of the message. This, for example, can be illustrated by W. Churchill's “Never. Never, never - do not give up in the big; do not give up in the small. Never give up.”

Simile is very close to metaphor; it is a verbal expression of the comparison of two similar objects or phenomena in some characteristic in order to determine certain features of one of them through comparison with another. To take a particular instance of this attribute: “our doctors, like warriors, are fighting the pandemic” - such simile can often be heard in political speeches in the context of COVID 19 events.

Individual things and phenomena, their totality, general concepts, as well as the same object in different spatial manifestations and temporal states can be the objects of comparison, that is, a variety of objects different by their nature can be compared (Wales, 2011).

It has already become commonplace to compare politics with theater, because their common feature is the presence of a certain audience, as well as the use of some populist political techniques of acting. Such similes often use tokens such as farce, absurdity, theater,play, applause, benefice, and so on. This type of comparative constructions is a means of emotional and evaluative influence on the addressee, which is manifested as a system of coordination interaction of its participants (Wales, 2011).

The use of allusion is a paramount characteristic of the speech of politicians - a specific method of text formation, which consists of correlating the content of the statement with a certain historical or literary fact. It is actualized when they try to convince of the correctness of their candidacy, to influence the feelings of the electorate, to win a special favour. Allusion is the manifestation of the textual category of intertextuality, a means of artistic expression, which enriches the content of textual information, creating numerous associations by hinting at events, facts, characters of other texts. This is a manifestation of the continuous dialogicity of text generation in particular artistic creativity (Wales, 2011). For instance, religious allusions are actively used in political speeches to enhance the speaker's message: “Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword”, “Prodigal son”, “Solomon's decision”, “ let them throw the stone first who..”.

Another type of allusion, which is often used in political discourse, is a historical one - a reference to the past, a reference to historical facts, which are statements that make the main idea more impressive: “mankurts in politics”, “Stalin's methods”. Such inclusions in the speeches of politicians are mainly related to past or recent events that have received wide resonance in the world.

A hint, indirect or accidental reference to a historical, literary figure, event or object is an important rhetorical tool. The use of quotations or a well-known phrase that the recipient has already heard and knows can also draw researchers' attention: “to hope without hope” occasionally used by Ukrainian politicians is a clear allusion to L. Ukrainka's poem “Contra spem spero!”. It should be noted that this technique can be used as a language strategy to avoid direct appeal to the recipient, the reflection of a hidden reference.

Synechdoche - is a kind of metonymy based on the quantitative comparison of objects and phenomena. The use of the singular in the plural and vice versa, a definite number instead of an indefinite, a species concept instead of a generic one, and so on: “A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription” (George Bush) Reyes, 2011: 87- 152). The president criticizes the health care system in the United States and because of the fact that a prescription is an attribute of the whole system of health care it is considered a form of synecdoche (Charteris-Black, 2014: 57-143).

Hyperbole is characterized by overstatement, making things bigger or smaller, better or worse, greater or less, etc. The object of hyperbole is to achieve a special effect, to leave a strong impression on people: “I've said it a thousand times!”, “it was a lightning response to the enemy”.

Emotive language - words that appeal to the listeners' emotions rather than to their powers of reason and logic. These are sometimes called `loaded' words as they contain a message that is subtly telling the listener what to think or believe.

Balance - rhythmically balanced phrases and sentences appeal to the ear. They can have a hypnotic effect, persuading listeners to accept what is being said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country” (John F. Kennedy) (Charteris-Black, 2014: 57-143).

Inverted phrases - changing well know phrases by inversion or subversion can be extremely engaging: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning” (W. Churchill).

Rhetorical figures are means of expression that increase the reader's attention to a particular expression (rhetorical appeals, questions, assumptions, exclamations, statements) (Wales, 2011).

Gradation is a means of literature in which there is a gradual increase or, conversely, the suppression of emotional significance. The gradation becomes even more pronounced in combination with the anaphora. For example, the most popular expression of Julius Caesar: “I came, I saw, I won” (Wales, 2011).

Invective is an ancient means of literature, which consists in a sharp satirical accusation of certain phenomena or persons. The invective openly ridicules some objects - these can be harsh speeches that are accompanied by sharp criticism (Wales, 2011).

Poetic devices - other poetic devices such as imagery and personification can also be used, where suitable, to add life and colour to what is being said. The following can be mentioned: irony as one of the ways of comic perception of reality, which contains a hidden mockery of facts or people (to highlight the irony, you need to feel the double meaning of the expression); satire as sharp, sensitive ridicule of vices, errors, negative phenomena of reality, a sharp, scathing mockery; sarcasm as malicious, scathing mockery, caustic irony; humour as benevolent laughter, aimed at exposing certain defects of human character or inconsistencies in people's lives, in their behaviour; word game as a means of artistic expression that functions in language as a joke, created on the basis of polysemy, homonymy and similar sounding words (Gibbs, 1994).

A personality of a politician introduced into the system of the apparatus of government at one level or another, and their function in it determine their language behaviour. Social roles are reflected in the category of personification in the speeches of politicians, for example in the opposition “I - we”, which allows to define the image of the speaker as a “collectivist”, “team player” or “individualist”. This relationship in the speech of politicians is found in the choice of tactics for the implementation of communication strategies, which are dominated by “we” in the sense of “party”, “team” and implies equal participation of “me” and “not me”: the action that belongs to them to the same extent (Wodak, 2007: 203-225).

Another factor influencing the choice of strategies and tactics is the addressee of communication. For example, in the discourse of an opposition politician, three groups of addressees can be distinguished: 1) like-minded people and allies - members of the same party, liberals, entrepreneurs; 2) the electorate - a heterogeneous mass audience; 3) opponents - authorities and competitors in the political struggle (Charteris-Black, 2014: 57-143).

stylistic political discourse

Conclusion

As a conclusion, we may point it out, that political discourse is the object of analysis of a large number of linguists, as it has a direct impact on society through its predominantly manipulative nature of influencing the beliefs and views of the members of the community.

Metaphors, comparisons, allusions, hyperboles can be mentioned among the most commonly used stylistic means of formulating political propaganda and ideology in political discourse, giving them more expressiveness, emotional content, brightness in the perception of the audience and, accordingly, creating more leverage to manipulate it.

As political life is constantly undergoing changes and influencing life of people all around the world directly the question of political discourse undoubtedly requires further researches there being many unclear and questionable aspects of the phenomenon.

References

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9. Poroshenko P. congratulating on Europe Day, 19 May 2018. URL: https://www.facebook.com/petroporoshenko/ videos/1274602746007448/

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