DECLARATIVE AND MANIPULATIVE MEANS OF INFLUENCING THE ADDRESSEE THROUGH THE OPPOSITION “WE-THEY” IN THE POLITICAL TEXT

Abstract

Te article is devoted to the problem of means and ways of exerting influence on the reader. Mass media does it through its interpretation of the covered events. Te character and the mode of interpretation depend on the stance of the author in the broad meaning of the word. Any political text is based on the archetypical opposition “we-they”, “ours-theirs” which with centuries has become cultural dominant feature thus creating contradiction. Any controversy presupposes use of weapons. Mass media uses its effective weapons of declarative and manipulative devices which affect the addressee and change their behaviour. Declarative devices are expressed verbally thus being more explicit. So they aim at “we”, “ours”. Manipulative devices are implied rather than expressed openly, since manipulation means an intentional and covert way of making the addressee act according to the will of the addresser. Te article looks at several manipulative devices concentrating mainly on an alternative situation whose problem cannot be solved. Te article analyses two types of division: differentiation which is defned as a phenomenon of segregation foregrounding the opposition “we-others”; and contrast which introduces controversy and confrontation with the opposition “we-enemy”. Te given analysis of manipulative devices seems actual especially in the context of teaching foreign affairs department students to work with political texts as such and comprehend the complexity of the global political situation.