Clickbait as a linguistic and cultural phenomenon (based on the material of the russian, french and english languages)

Abstract

The article considers a type of headlines – clickbait – that is common in modern mass media discourse. The novelty of the research is in the object of research and the material represented in three languages – Russian, English and French. Clickbait as a phenomenon has not been investigated before, neither has its national and cultural specificity in the three analyzed linguistic cultures; this fact determines the relevance of the study. The analysis of the language material was based on hypothetical-deductive method, continuous sampling method, and method of stylistic and contextual analysis. The purpose of this work is to identify the content and stylistic characteristics of clickbait in the Russian -, English- and French-speaking information space. Initially, the English-language lexeme “clickbait” was borrowed into Russian and also French, where it received additional nominations. In the Russian language this word is almost assimilated as a language unit. The authors believe that clickbait is a type of a manipulative influence exerted on perceiving mass audience, the essence of which is to attract and retain the recipient’s attention using false or dubious information. To this end, a variety of language and audio-visual tools are used that allow assigning clickbait to a creolized text type. The authors believe that clickbait is a global phenomenon in modern information space, which national and cultural specificity is determined by a national “agenda”. The article is addressed to philologists, psychologists and sociologists. The research results can as well be useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students specializing in the Humanities.