The representation of Canada in political discourse

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Abstract

The primary purpose of this article is to examine the Canadian image in political discourse, to identify the factors creating this image. Due to the most relevant political speeches, messages, government reports, analysis of statistical data there are being worked out some tools for building the image of Canada on the world stage. Lately, political discourse is becoming a subject of study for linguistics. The interest in the phenomenon is motivated by a wide range of linguistic instruments used as an effective tool to manage the public perceptions. Study and analysis of the mechanisms of political communication allow to decode pragmatic information hidden in the political texts. The subject of the work consists in highlighting the linguistic approaches to the representation of Canada in the international diplomacy. The object of the work is an examination of political discourse in the public statements made by political figures, government documents, which reflect social and political realities. The methodology has developed under the influence of cognitive linguistics of domestic and foreign scientists. Research study includes cognitive and conceptual analysis to reveal distinctive features of the social and political realities; interpretive and context analysis to select political texts. It exposes the ways of representation of Canadian image, demonstrates its weak and strong sides. A vast factual material reveals multi-faced nature of Canada and provides an identity set of lexical units which are reflected in political discourse. The material illustrates today’s image of the country and the perceptions of Canada throughout the world. The idea of multiculturalism is justified by the guiding ideology of ethno-cultural plurality. The main sources of information are official government documents (laws, acts, reports), statistical data, parliamentary debates, party agenda, political speeches. All the provided material combined mass-media information, the Internet.

About the authors

O V Ustinova

RUDN University

Author for correspondence.
Email: deptphilology@gmail.com

Candidate of Philological Sciences, Senior lecturer, Assistant Professor at RUDN University. Research interests: theory and practice of intercultural communication, translation studies, semiotics of literary discourse, sociolinguistics

6, Miklukho-Maklaia str., Moscow, Russia, 117198

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