Manipulative Strategies in Representing the Image Characteristics of Political Figures in American Mass Media Discourse

Abstract

One of the characteristic features of modern political discourse – manipulativeness – is especially clearly manifested in the nomination of image characteristics. At the same time, in scientific discourse there has been an insufficient number of studies devoted to the analysis of specific political texts for the verbal representation of manipulative strategies. The author analyzed the means of manipulative influence in American political media discourse. The results showed that the manipulative influence in the formation of a politician’s image is implemented through the inclusion of positively colored vocabulary that refers to American values (a strategy of appealing to significant concepts and archetypes). It has been revealed that politicians implement the “I am one of you” strategy, positioning themselves as a member of the people. Indicators of this strategy are the adverb “together”, pronouns “we”, “our”, “us” and other lexical means. In some situations, American politicians emphasize their active life position, nonconformism, and progressive views (leadership strategy).  The strategy has been highlighted, the essence of which is emphasizing sincerity, honesty and declaring the rejection of political intrigue. The strategy of invective nomination is less commonly used, when a politician, instead of emphasizing his own positive qualities, directly insults his opponents. The results of the study contribute to clarifying ideas about the functioning and evolution of English-language political discourse.