FIGURATIVE DEVICES IN THE TEXTS OF CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze the means of imagery in journalistic texts of a political orientation. The object of the study was the texts of modern Ukrainian political discourse; its subject was the means of imagery in political texts (metaphors, phraseological units, and epithets). The main methods of the study were the descriptive method and the method of linguistic analysis. The article examines figurative devices in the texts of contemporary Ukrainian political discourse and determines their role in shaping the emotional impact on the audience. The study analyzes the peculiarities of the functioning of metaphors, phraseological units, and epithets in journalistic texts of political orientation. The main focus is placed on the analysis of metaphor as the central figurative device in mass communication texts. The research considers different types of metaphors according to the degree of their imagery, ranging from dead metaphors to highly expressive metaphorical expressions. It has been established that dead metaphors mainly perform a nominative function, whereas vivid figurative metaphors realize a suggestive function and influence the emotions and beliefs of information recipients. The paper also analyzes the functioning of phraseological units in political discourse, in particular phraseological unities, collocations, and fusions, as well as neologized phraseological expressions that emerged under the influence of contemporary socio-political processes. It has been found that phraseological units possess considerable emotional and evaluative potential, contribute to the concise expression of meaning, and perform an evaluative function. The study also notes the emergence in modern Ukrainian of various types of military-related neologisms characterized by vivid imagery. In addition, the role of epithets in political texts is examined, particularly their ability to enhance the expressiveness of statements and create emotionally colored characteristics of political events, figures, and phenomena. It is determined that the imagery of epithets is mainly based on secondary nomination and contributes to shaping readers’ evaluative attitudes toward the presented information. The research concludes that figurative devices, in general, are an important instrument of influencing recipients’ consciousness, as they contribute not only to the transmission of information but also to the formation of evaluative attitudes toward political events, figures, and phenomena.