Zyryanov, M. S.

English

Tomsk State University Repository

Министерство образования и науки РФНациональный исследовательский Томский государственный университетФилологический факультет ТГУАКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ЛИНГВИСТИКИ И ЛИТЕРАТУРОВЕДЕНИЯСборник материалов III (XVII) Международной конференции молодых ученых (18—23 апреля 2016 г.)Выпуск 17Издательство Томского университета 2016609Robert Frost. // Robert Frost. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. 6 Dec. 2012. Youtube. Web. 24 Dec. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR2ZWR5wPHE>.6. T.S. Eliot defined modernism as a way of controlling, of ordering, of giving a shape and a significance to the immense panorama of the futility and anarchy which is contemporary history. Eagleton, T. Úvod do literární teorie. Prague: Albatros, 2010. — P. 124.7. Eagleton T. Úvod do literární teorie. Prague: Albatros, 2010. — P. 182.8. The Patristic philosopher Thomas Aquinas was among the first who tried to prove God’s existence using the argument from design, equally present in both Qur’an and Bible. Hirschberger, J. Krátke dejiny filozofie. — Bratislava: Dobrá Kniha, 1999. — P. 107.9. Brodsky J. Op. cit. — P. 262.10. Ibid. — P. 264.11. Sartre J. Existentialism Is a Humanism. World Publishing Company in 1956. // Marxist Internet Archive: Public Library. — 24. 12. 2015. — P. 8. (www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm).12. Ibid.13. Jakobson R. Language in Literature. — London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1987. — P. 43.Zyryanov M. S.THE ENGLISH FRIEND-OR-FOE SEMANTIC MODEL: LINGUISTIC LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGIES OF INFORMATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFAREThe English “friend-or-foe” semantic model is analyzed on the material of a CNN Internet article on the Kosovo conflict as a fragment of a geopolitical conflict information support. The research focuses on manipulative semantics, simplification and stereotyping as the linguistic leverage technologies of the information and psychological warfare. “Friend-or-foe” qualities are analyzed.Keywords: information and psychological warfare, friend-or-foe, linguistic leverage technologies, geopolitical conflict.To identify the significant traits of the “friend-or-foe” semantic model in the minds of the English-speaking recipient I am to examine the implementation of information and psychological warfare carried out through the media discourse lexical content on the Internet and to analyze the US English fragment of a geopolitical conflict information support.I have chosen the Kosovo conflict as the physical warfare ground, while the theme is the media coverage of the NATO “humanitarian bombing” of Yugoslavia in 1999.In order to study the leverage technologies I use a classification by Kaftan and Shcherbina1, which briefly falls into: 1) fabrication of facts; 6102) manipulative semantics; 3) simplification and stereotyping; 4) formation of myths.For it is the linguistic sphere I focus on, the implementation of linguistic impacts —  namely “manipulative semantics” and “simplification and stereotyping” (but for media viruses) —  is to be illustrated by the example of a CNN article entitled “NATO Attack on Yugoslavia Begins”2, published on March 24, 1999.Manipulative semanticsThe manipulative semantics technology stands for changing of the meaning of words and concepts and deals with information fragmentation altering the whole message, as well as with linguistic leverage like metaphor and epithet.a) Fragmented information. The message is actually made up of many disparate parts —  a bombardment of Pristina, Milosevic’s obstinacy, NATO intelligence reports, fears of “mobile missile launchers”. The background is barely given and is interpreted to the subject’s most good: everything subject does is only “to police the peace”.b) Linguistic structure. The metaphor is widely used at the beginning of the text in the description of the raid on Pristina: “explosions lit up the night sky”, “Pristina was plunged into darkness”, “sirens echoed throughout the city”.The epithet is implemented everywhere: “long-standing threat”, “peaceful solution”, “unacceptable behavior”, “outright aggression”, “clear indication”, etc. All the important concepts in the text are extra endowed with evaluative connotations. One should highlight the “less vulnerable spots” of Serbian heavy weaponry. This phrase as opposed to a similar “more secure” implies extra weakening of the weak attribute (double weakening), while the epithet “more secure”, on the contrary, shows a strengthening of the strong feature.Simplification and stereotypingSimplification is used to quicken the reception of the message by common people, while stereotyping works with their logical matrices. In the article given this method falls into repetition strengthening the main points and sensationalism activating the target logical and emotional triggers of the recipient group.a) Repetition. There are two ways repetition is used. Firstly, it takes place in quoting as a partial synonym accentuating the qualities of “friend” or “foe”: “friend” is provided with “extensive and repeated efforts”, while “foe” is associated with “unjustified and incomprehensible obstinacy”. Secondly, it acts as a repetition of separate words, so the words “attack” and “military” are used seven times, “peace” six times, “action” and “explosions” three 611times each, “aggression” is used only once and ascribed to an ideological adversary (which is the Russian leader).b) Sensationalism. Slobodan Milosevic is positioned as a cruel and stubborn hypocrite calming his country (“urged the citizens of Yugoslavia to remain calm”) and promising a “peaceful resolution”, while simultaneously bringing troops into the territory of Kosovo Albanians (“Yugoslav tank battalions had moved a further 16 tanks into the Kosovo province itself”). Such behavior is undoubtedly supposed to be regarded as a blatant crime.General analysis of the article structure and messageThe description of what is going on is almost artistic and the style is highly narrative: “Two orange explosions lit up the night sky”, “Pristina was plunged into darkness shortly afterward, and sporadic automatic weapons fire was heard across the city”. The validity of the strike is postulated from the very first lines: “Serbs refused to sign a US-drafted peace accord for Kosovo”. The enemy had been warned and now “The time has come for action”, Javier Solana, the UN Secretary General said. Bill Clinton did the same way: “We and our NATO allies have taken this action after extensive and repeated efforts to obtain a peaceful solution”. The attack is on the next day after a NATO diplomatic mission “failed. . . to persuade” Milosevic to acknowledge Kosovo as local Albanian autonomy within the former state. Persuasion is emphasized; while “friend” is guided by reason and peaceful intentions, “foe” shows prevalence of obstinacy and cruelty. Serbs stubbornly refused to perform “a key element” of the plan “allowing 28,000 NATO-led peacekeepers into the province to police the peace”, so Serbs needed no peace.The frame of “foe” expands consistently from “Serb leaders” to the whole “rebellious” state, as “the attacks would be carried out on targets throughout Yugoslavia”; the justice concept with an armed assault as the last resort means all Yugoslavia is “guilty”.Other major political entities are also mentioned, both those sharing the view of the subject, for example, France claiming Serbia to show “unacceptable behavior for too long with regard to the Kosovo Albanians”; and those disagreeing with the subject, specifically Russia that “recalled its NATO ambassador from Brussels”. Russia interprets the actions of the subject as “outright aggression against Yugoslavia”. Instead of direct commenting of this criticism the focus shifts to the “defendant”, Slobodan Milosevic who assured that the conflict in Kosovo would be “resolved in a peaceful and political manner”; but “NATO intelligence reports showed a continued buildup of Yugoslav troops … in and around Kosovo”. This is strengthened with a statement that “Yugoslav tank battalions had moved a further 16 tanks 612into the Kosovo province itself”, as the exact number of units is to make the report more reliable. Thus, the recipient is being convinced that Milosevic lies both to his people and to other countries, he keeps on committing genocide. So if Russia defends him, Russia’s arguments hardly matter.Conclusion“Friend” is personified in respected political figures, concise and strong. “Foe”, even embodied, is able only to lie awkwardly and to oppress the defenseless. “Friend” qualities are fairness, patience, peacefulness combined with determination —  if necessary, he acts firmly without any delay, also these qualities enlist responsibility for others, reasonableness and adequacy, consistency and the defense of the oppressed. “Foe” qualities are mendacity, vulnerability, stubbornness and nationalism. “Foe” is either a faceless evil or a human manifestation of vices relevant for the target group.Endnotes1. Kaftan V. V. & Scherbina D. N. Voennaya informatsionno-kommunikativnaya operatsiya v informatsionnom prostranstve sovremennogo obshchestva [Military Information and Communicative Operation in the Information Space of Modern Society] // Prostranstvo i Vremya —  Space and Time. — 2013. — № 4. — P. 224–230.2. NATO attack on Yugoslavia begins. Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment and Video News: CNN.com [Online] Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/24/kosovo.strikes/ (Accessed: 20th June 2015).Loginova A. A.WORLD-BUILDING DOMINANTS IN ENGLISH OF THE 21ST CENTURYThe article is devoted to the analysis of the word-building dominants in En-glish of the 21st century. The analysis is based on the selection from national British and American press and social networks. The preliminary results of the analysis prove the dominance of the process of shortening including its types — abbreviation, clipping and blending. Other dominant types in word-creation are conversion and the so-called holophrasis.Keywords: word-formation, neologisms, abbreviation, clipping, blending, holophrasis.English proves to have the largest vocabulary of any living language that ever was. Modern way of life has changed significantly due to the development of the new trends and innovations of the 21st century, like modern technologies, 

The english friend-or-foe semantic model: linguistic leverage technologies of information and psychological warfare

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The english friend-or-foe semantic model: linguistic leverage technologies of information and psychological warfare

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