SYNERGISM OF PERSUASIVE PRAGMATIC EFFECT IN ENGLISH MASS-MEDIA DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article is devoted to functional-linguistic research into the actualization of a complex cooperative effect of pragmatic impact on recipients’ emotional, volitional, intellectual spheres within modern English discourse of mass media. The authors analyze the notions of speech manipulation, persuasiveness and conclude that it is necessary to study the interconnectedness of explicit and implicit communicative goals, specific functional properties of a certain type of discourse and the inventory of verbal means, available to interlocutors. Articles published in The Economist are chosen as empirical material due to the popularity of this British magazine among ESP students and teachers. Despite the fact that journalism ideally rejects the idea of manipulating readers’ minds, functional-pragmatic evolution of English mass media discourse and the dynamics of communicative norms have led to the popularity of non-standard verbal means in newspaper and magazine texts, thus providing multiple opportunities to cause pragmatic persuasive impact. Guided by the strategic communicative intention, journalists combine language units and arrange them in a particular sequence, while considering the whole network of functional ties among utterances. It helps generate powerful cooperative (synergetic) effect and change readers’ attitude to the described phenomenon, modify their emotional state and intentions, activate required frames and scripts in their consciousness.