Confrontational strategies and tactics as a means of representing speech aggression in political communication (based on Olaf Scholz’s speech)
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2024-4-84-92
Nowadays, political communication uses a whole range of confrontational speech strategies and tactics aimed at discrediting opponents in an information war, as well as imposing their point of view and forming a certain public opinion regarding discredited objects. A confrontational strategy provides the speaker with the opportunity to express a negative attitude towards his opponent, hostility and willingness to enter into conflict to achieve his own goals, ignoring the goals and interests of the other side. A confrontational strategy involves retreat and even violation of moral and ethical norms. Confrontational speech strategies include strategies of submission and persuasion, discrediting. Each of the strategies is implemented using different speech tactics. In order to effectively counter the threats of negative information impact, it is necessary to identify the speech strategies and tactics used by the German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which determines the relevance of the study. The purpose of the research is to study the confrontational strategies and tactics in O. Scholz’s speech, affecting a mass audience and aimed at discrediting both the image of Russia itself and Russian foreign policy. The source of the research material was Olaf Scholz’s keynote speech, which he delivered to the German Federal Government on February 27, 2022. This speech was the FGR reaction to the beginning of a special military operation by the Russian Federation. Descriptive and comparative methods along with contextual analysis techniques, as well as definitional, semantic analysis were used to achieve this goal. The article analyzes two confrontational strategies used by Olaf Scholz: discrediting, submission and persuasion. The discrediting strategy is used more often than the strategy of submission and persuasion. The following discrediting tactics have been identified: accusation, negative forecasting and polarization. The strategy of submission and persuasion is objectified with the help of threats and orders. Confrontational tactics act both autonomously (in isolation) and in combination with each other (combined).
Keywords: speech aggression, confrontational speech strategy, discrediting strategy, strategy of submission and persuasion, speech tactics, political communication, the German language, Olaf Scholz
References:
1. Ruzhentseva N. B. Diskreditiruyushchiye taktiki i priyomy v rossiyskom politicheskom diskurse [Discrediting tactics and techniques in Russian political discourse]. Ekaterinburg, USPU Publ., 2004. 294 p. (in Russian).
2. Ozyumenko V. I. Mediynyy diskurs v situatsii informatsionnoy voyny: ot manipulyatsii – k agressii [Media discourse in an atmosphere of information warfare: From manipulation to aggression]. Vestnik RUDN. Seriia: Lingvistika – Russian Journal of Linguistics, 2017, vol. 21, no. 21 (1), pp. 203–220 (in Russian). URL: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2017-21-1-203-220 (accessed 12 March 2024).
3. Burmakova E. A., Polyakova N. V. Kombinirovannyye taktiki, realizuyushchiye rechepovedencheskuyu strategiyu diskreditatsii administratsii D. Baydena: na materiale peredachi Tucker Carlson Tonight [Combined Tactics of Communication Strategy: Discrediting Biden’s Administration in Tucker Carlson Tonight]. SibScript, 2024, no. 26 (1), pp. 62–71 URL: https://doi.org/10.21603/ sibscript-2024-25-1-62-71 (accessed 15 March 2024).
4. Zisko O. Yu. Rechevyye taktiki, realizuyushvhiye konfrontatsionnuyu kommunikativnuyu strategiyu podchineniya i ubezhdeniya [Speech tactics implementing a confrontational communicative strategy of subordination and persuasion]. Lingvisticheskiye i kul’turologicheskiye aspekty sovremennogo inzhenernogo obrazovanija. Sbornik tezisov IV Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii pamyati kandidata pedagogicheskih nauk, dotsenta N. A. Kachalova [Linguistic and cultural aspects of modern engineering education. Collected abstracts of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference in memory of N. A. Kachalov, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor]. Tomsk, 2023. Pp. 140–144 (in Russian).
5. Vorontsova T. A. Rechevaya agressiya: kommunikativno-diskursivnyy podkhod. Avtoref. dis. dokt. filol. nauk [Speech aggression: a communicative and discursive approach. Abstract of thesis doc. philol. sci.]. Chelyabinsk, 2006. 43 p. (in Russian).
6. Sheygal E. I. Semiotika politicheskogo diskursa. Dis. dokt. filol. nauk [Semiotics of political discourse. Diss. doc. philol. sci.]. Volgograd, 2000. 433 p. (in Russian).
7. Bazylev V. N. Politicheskiy diskurs v Rossii [Political discourse in Russia]. Izvestiya Ural’skogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Lingvistika, 2005, no. 15, pp. 5–32 (in Russian).
8. Altunyan A. G. Ot Bulgarina do Zhirinovskogo: ideyno-stilisticheskiy analiz politicheskikh tekstov [From Bulgarin to Zhirinovsky: an ideological and stylistic analysis of political texts]. Moscow, RSUH Publ., 1999. 263 p. (in Russian).
9. Issers O. S. Kommunikativnyye strategii i taktiki russkoy rechi [Communicative strategies and tactics of Russian speech]. Moscow, KomKniga Publ., 2006. 284 p. (in Russian).
10. Scholz O. Regierungserklärung in der Sondersitzung zum Krieg gegen die Ukraine vor dem Deutschen Bundestag am 27. Februar 2022 in Berlin. URL: https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/975292/2131062/78d39dda6647d7f835bbe76713d30c31/bundeskanzler-olaf-scholz-reden-zur-zeitenwende-download-bpa-data.pdf?download=1 (accessed 1 April 2024).
11. Sternin I. A. Vvedeniye v rechevoye vozdeystviye [An introduction to speech impact]. Voronezh, 2001. 252 p. (in Russian).
12. Parshina O. N. Strategii i taktiki rechevogo povedeniya sovremennoy politicheskoy elity Rossii. Dis. dokt. filol. nauk [Strategies and tactics of speech behavior of the modern political elite of Russia. Diss. doc. philol. sci.]. Saratov, 2005. 325 p. (in Russian).
13. Moshcheva S. V. Intentsional’nost’ rechevogo povedeniya: sistema sredstv intensifikatsii [The intentionality of speech behavior: a system of means of intensification]. Moscow, Rusains Publ., 2018. 324 p. (in Russian).
14. Vereshchagin E. M., Kostomarov V. G. Yazyk i kul’tura. Tri lingvostranovedcheskiye kontseptsii: leksicheskogo fona, rechepovedencheskih taktik i sapientemy [Language and culture. Three linguistic and cultural concepts: Lexical background, speech-behavioral tactics, and sapienthemes]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2005. 1037 p. (in Russian).
15. Kirillova N. N. Kommunikativnyye strategii i taktiki s pozitsii nravstvennykh kategoriy [Communicative strategies and tactics from the position of moral categories]. Vestnik NGTU im. R. E. Alekseyeva. Seriya: Upravleniye v sotsial’nykkh sistemah. Kommunikativnyye tekhnologii, 2012, no. 1, pp. 26–33 (in Russian).
16. Gritsenko L. M. Kommunikativnyye strategii i taktiki, reprezentiruyemye pretsedentnymi tekstami (na materiale chat-kommunikatsii) [Communicative strategies and tactics, represented by precedent texts (based on the material of chat communication)]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filologiya – Tomsk State University Journal of Philology, 2013, no. 1 (21), pp. 15–21 (in Russian).
17. Khlopotunov Ya. Yu. Yazykovyye priyomy realizatsii kommunikativnoy taktiki obvineniya v amerikanskom politicheskom diskurse [Language techniques of communicative accusation tactics realisation in the American political discourse]. Filologicheskiye nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki – Philology. Theory & Practice, 2019, no. 1 (12), pp. 63–68 (in Russian). URL: https://doi.org/10.30853/filnauki.2019.1.14 (accessed 10 March 2024).
18. Burmakova E. A., Polyakova N. V. Obvineniye kak strategiya diskreditatsii administratsii Dzh. Baydena v amerikanskoy mediakommunikatsii [Accusation as a strategy to discredit the Biden administration in the American media]. Aktual’nyye problemy filologii i pedagogicheskoy lingvistiki – Current Issues in Philology and Pedagogical Linguistics, 2024, no. 1, pp. 63–73 (in Russian). URL: https://doi.org/10.29025/2079-6021-2024-1-63-73 (accessed 20 April 2024).
Issue: 4, 2024
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: GERMAN LANGUAGES
Pages: 84 — 92
Downloads: 71