Functions of Precedent Phenomena in the Political Discourse of the Elections in Belarus in 2020

Abstract

The authors of the article investigate the texts of the opposition Telegram channel “Belarus of the Brain” in order to identify the precedent phenomena (hereinafter PF) functioning in them. Political discourse is at the core of contemporary discourse research with the problem of strategies and tactics for manipulating public opinion occupying an important place among other aspects of its studies. PFs provide the basis for these strategies, which determines the relevance of the research being conducted. The article presents an analysis of the functional characteristics of PFs of two groups: 1) PFs representing the Belarusian national culture and society; 2) PFs exhibiting foreign cultural space. Based on the theory of precedence developed by V.P. Moskvin, V.I. Karasik and G.G. Slyshkin, the authors resort to the contextological and structural methods, elements of discourse analysis, in order to outline obvious accents in the functional differentiation of these PF groups. While national PFs have a positive connotation and participate in the creation of the national identity of Belarus and the Belarusians, PFs of foreign cultural spaces are marked by negative connotations and are used to discredit the existing political regime. The authors highlight common functions of the PFs of both groups such as creating vivid images and communicating credibility and authority to the information provided. PFs actualizing foreign cultural space show a tendency to participate in the didactic function of teaching the average reader the peaceful mechanisms of a democratic society. The study of structural features allows us to come to the conclusion about the word combination as the major form of PFs’ realization. The structural complexity and predominance of proper names in the morphology of PF signal their multidimensional semantic nature as well as their social essence. The authors also point out the formation of the PF corpus within political discourse with such dominant source spheres as history and culture. The research proves that PFs of our days are used as actively as PFs referring to the past. By and large PFs act as a means of analyzing, interpreting and categorizing the phenomena of public life in the political discourse.