Manipulation and Power: Pragmatic Markers in Political Discourse

Abstract

The political discourse is characterized by high degree of pragmatism. When communicatingsome political challenges to their electorate, politicians use various manipulative social practices to evokethe desirable response. The study presents the analysis of the discursive events of the same subject matterfrom Boris Johnson’s and Liz Truss’s political activities as Prime Ministers. Special attention has been givento the pragmatic markers that comprise a functional class of linguistic items which are significant forthe organization and structuring of discourse. The descriptive method in researching the pragmaticmarkers reveals the interaction between power which, in this paper, is seen as manipulation, and discourse,which is considered to be the representation of this institutional power. The study is intended to prove thatin a social context such an interaction, when skillfully exercised, leads to forming the positive image ofthe politician as well as it makes the social agents, his/her electorate, do what they are expected to door think what they are wanted to think