The given article dedicated to the analysis of US political discourse through the concept. The aim of article is to study the concept by using conceptual and contextual analysis as well as the dictionary definitions. Various definitions are given to the term «concept»; meanings of the concept are identified on core, main and peripheral layers.
Keywords: regime, concept, government, core layer, main layer, peripheral layer.
Modern global politics triggered by the complete change of geopolitical scene is becoming saturated with reverberating statements occurring in daily speeches of politicians which impact the linguistic picture of world arising new concepts.
Political discourse of a concept in terms of a particular country gives much clearer insight on political situation of a studying country. That way it can be ensured that diplomacy of other nations will be built up accordingly. The study of concept «regime» in US political discourse provides the understanding of nationally and socio-historically conditioned mentality of its speakers through the professional use of the language. Politicians’ speeches are means to conduct the discourse because they reflect the view of the world that exists in politicians’ mind.
Concept is a linguo-philosophical unit that defines and groups almost every possible meaning of any given word and their development. This term is believed to develop due to contribution of a great number of Russian linguists. Although the term «concept» is comparably modern, it is widely studied in various disciplines, such as linguistics (semantics, linguoculturology, cognitive linguistics), psychology and philosophy. Therefore, it is complicated to define this term and there are diverse points of view about it. The following scientists impacted to the development of the term «concept»: S.Kubryakova, N.Boldirev, Z.Popova, I.Sternin etc.
According to S.Kubryakova concept is «operational meaningful unit of memory, mental lexicon, conceptual system and language of the brain, the whole picture of the world reflected in the human psyche». [2]
N.Boldirev describes concept as «a certain idea of the world, formed through the comprehension of incoming information, the mental construction of objects and phenomena». [1]
Z.Popova and I.Sternin define concept as discrete mental formation, which is the basic unit of the human mental code, having a relatively ordered internal structure, which is the result of the cognitive activity of the individual and society and carries complex, encyclopedic information about the reflected object and phenomena, about the interpretation of this information by public consciousness and the attitude of public consciousness to a given object or event. [3]
It is evident that concept consists of two main ideas — picture of the world (culture) and cognition (human). The interaction of these ideas leads to formation of mental image and word expressing it.
Although concepts are modified and updated continuously, they have definite structure — core layer with minimal emotional-sensual, stylistic, cultural and subjective factors; main and peripheral layers which are more dependent on culture. One can presume that the concept core consists of central, most important invariant components, but the idea of a specific object requires figurativeness too. The core encompasses the notional and figurative information, to a smaller extent; the periphery includes the vague obscure components which form the transitional zone to other concepts. That is why core layer can be correlated with definition from various dictionaries.
According to the definition from Collins dictionary, lexical meaning of the word REGIME is «a form of government or rule». As well there are other definitions provided. Particularly, REGIME is «a political system running a country».
The first meaning that has been taken for discourse is — government or system which rules a country. This meaning is traced in the following sentences:
«The only way to resolve the North Korean problem is to change the regime». [John Bolton]
«We will be changing the regime of Iraq for the good of the iraqi people». [George W. Bush 6.03.2022]
«The president feels not only do we need to change these rogue regimes, but even our friendly allies, who really basically have, sort of, benign dictatorships, need to get with the program if they want to have long-term security and prosperity from terrorism». [Mitch McConnell]
As a result, it can be said that core layer of concept REGIME refers to the government or system of a country which is considered to be hostile by another one.
In several cases concept REGIME is presented by the administration in power ruling in the particular period of time. Some examples of this are:
«Augusto Pinochet's regime, the court has reopened an investigation into whether Banco de Chile helped the former Chilean dictator launder money». [4]
«Mobutu Sese Seko, 66, whose despotic and corrupt regime ruled Congo -- the country he called Zaire -- for 32 years …» [5]
«The President announces that U. S. policy toward Iraq would seek the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power». [6]
The given examples illustrate that concept describes not a government or system as a whole like in the core but it is related to a single person. However, the feature of the core layer, particularly the negative attitude towards a person, can be spotted. By this main layer of the concept branches out from the core meaning.
Further analysis of the various materials reveals that concept REGIME is used to define the form or style of a government, the methods that are utilized within it:
«The proposed democratic regime in New York». [4]
«Election results in Greece reflect discontent with socialist regime». [4]
«Communist regime in Saigon reports some military resistance». [4]
Besides that, concept REGIME can point to actions which are announced or taken by the ruling government or authority in power including laws, regulations, decrees, sanctions etc. For instance:
«… the regime declared martial law…»
The connection of the peripheral and core layers is evident in the following sentences:
«…We cannot allow this authoritarian regime to use their state-controlled digital currency as an instrument to infiltrate our economy and the private information of American citizens». [M.Braun 26.05.2022]
«It makes no sense to tie ourselves to the digital currency of a genocidal regime that hates us and wants to replace us on the world stage». [M.Rubio 26.05.2022]
To conclude, it can be said that concept «regime» is a multilevel construction consisting of several cognitive layers — core, main and peripheral layers. Core layer is the base layer which represents a government or system ruling the country opposing the other country. Main layer defines the government administrated by a person in the concrete period, whereas peripheral layer is related to the form of the government.
References:
- Болдырев, Н. Н. Когнитивная семантика: Курс лекций по английской филологии. / Н. Н. Болдырев. — Тамбов: Тамбовский университет, 2000. — 123 c.
- Кубрякова, Е. С. Краткий словарь когнитивных терминов / Е. С. Кубрякова. — Москва: МГУ, 1996. — 242 c.
- Попова, З. Д. Очерки по когнитивной лингвистике мира / З. Д. Попова, И. А. Стернин. — Воронеж: Истоки, 2001. — 191 c.
- The New York Times: сайт. — URL: https://www.nytimes.com/politics
- The Washington Post: сайт. — URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/
- The White House: сайт. — URL: https://clintonwhitehouse5.archives.gov/WH
