Theatrical metaphor as the basis for modeling the image of Russia in the ukrainian media 2014-2024

Abstract

The language of politics today represents a significant area of modeling the worldview of a mass addressee, his system of values and anti-values, beliefs and expectations. This thesis is revealed most vividly in the era of conflicts, in which the key task is to attract a potential addressee to your side, imposing ideas beneficial to the addressee. The purpose of the proposed article is to establish the features of the functioning of theatrical metaphor as the basis for modeling the image of Russia in the Ukrainian media in 2014-2024. Based on the material of the texts of the Ukrainian media, the key features of the formation of the image of Russia through the linguistic units of the figurative system included in the thematic group theater are revealed. The conflict and aggressiveness of the modern world is reflected in various spheres, one of which is the media space. The study proves that when modeling the image of Russia in the Ukrainian media space of the specified period, there is a sharply negative connotation, expressed both in the use of negatively connoted linguistic units and in modeling the corresponding contextual environment aimed at demonizing Russia, forming the image of the enemy. It is argued that the choice of linguistic units appealing to the sphere of theater is due, on the one hand, to the recognizability of this image by representatives of different linguistic cultures, on the other, to the national and cultural peculiarities of perception of certain situations, actions, characteristics, behaviors. The authors conclude that one of the most frequent and effective metaphors of modern political discourse is the theatrical metaphor, which vividly and comprehensively models the image of Russia in the Ukrainian press and fully corresponds to the pragmatic attitudes of journalists and politicians seeking to demonize the Russian Federation and impose a sharply negative image of the aggressor state on the mass audience. The dialogic nature of politics, the interaction of politicians with each other and with journalists presupposes not closed, but open communication, where the target audience becomes implicit participants, whose image is very successfully broadcast in the media space through the metaphor of the auditorium. The linguistic units of the figurative system modeling the theater thematic group are not homogeneous either in grammatical or semantic characteristics and include a wide range of words, phrases, sentences and microtexts. The analysis allows us to speak about the wide attributive compatibility of the key unit theater, while the greatest frequency is observed in the use of the political adjectival. The combination of the key unit theater with a noun in the form of the genitive case (for example, the theater of the absurd) seems to be very frequent. No less frequent are the linguistic units appealing to various types of theatrical performances, theatrical actions and attributes (farce, benefit, backstage, curtain, etc.), implemented in the Ukrainian media in 2014-2024 in both free and related combinations. A wide range of metaphorical images included in the thematic group theater underlies the formation of a metaphorical image of Russia as an aggressor country, dangerous not only for Ukraine, but also for Western countries; an unpredictable partner whose destructive actions harm the economy of other states.