The Concepts-Constants of Political Discourse

• Main Author: Ya. Yu. Demkina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University 2020-03-01
• Series: Дискурс
• Subjects: language and politics; political discourse; cognitive linguistics; concepts; constants; frames; concrete-sensual image; prototype; propositional structure; hyponymy; insight
• Online Access: https://discourse.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/307

Introduction. The paper considers the specifics of the cognitive concepts from the world of politics. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the concepts of political discourse and their constant structures. Scientific novelty lies in the new approach, exploring concepts of political discourse carried out on a cognitive level, given the structures of the concepts and at the level of consciousness, a thorough analysis of their. The object of this research is the concepts and constants of political discourse. Actuality of work is determined by the great interest on the part of linguists to the study of the relationship of language and society, language and politics, in which language becomes the main tool of understanding political battles and victories.Methodology and sources. Cognitive-discourse approach to the analysis of the concepts of political discourse is used in the paper, experimental methods creating a picture of use of concepts and their constant structures in political debates and speeches. Any concept is a part of the information about the real situation in society, politics, and the world.Results and discussion. The analysis of the concepts of political discourse and their constant structures based on systemic functional approach, the essence of which is the consideration of the object as a system – a coherent body of interrelated elements operating within the framework of political discourse. Analysis of the concepts and their structures was achieved through the establishment of a connection with history and etymology, through the creation of associative, relying on various dictionaries (historical, explanatory, etymological). These data were obtained by using experimental methods that determine the frequency of use of any concept and its constant structure in the speeches of political figures, for example, the political leaders of Great Britain. In addition, the analysis of concepts and their structures must identify the units of lexical meanings of concepts. The concept is necessary to be studied not only at the linguistic level but also at the level of consciousness.Conclusion. The use of experimental methods for the analysis of concepts and their constant structures allowed to discuss elements of the concepts and their relationships. The results of the paper were to build systematic structures concepts of political discourse on the example of the use of basic concepts: “power”, “people”, “nation”, “state”, “unity” in the speeches of political leaders in the UK.