Peculiarities of Manipulative Strategies in English Political Discourse

Abstract

The article discusses peculiarities of manipulative strategies in English political discourse. Manipulative strategy can be considered as a form of persuasive strategy aimed at influencing hearers and making them accept beliefs or do things advocated by the manipulator. Manipulation can be considered effective when the hearer doesn’t recognize the intentions of the speaker to influence him. Manipulation is realized by means of different strategies. The two most important ones are the strategy of positive self-presentation which aims at maximizing the significance of one’s own status and the strategy of negative other-presentation which aims at creating a negative image of the opponent, discrediting him. An equally important manipulative strategy often used in political discourse is the theatrical strategy which is characterized by a very high level of emotionality and aims at forcing emotional responses on behalf of the hearers. In the article linguistic means of realization of manipulative strategies and tactics are revealed and discussed.