Irony and its role in political communication (based on the British television series “Yes, Minister!”)
Kudryavtsev Andrey Aleksandrovich
Belgorod National Research University
Submitted: 24.03.2024
Abstract. The aim of the research is to identify the language phenomena of irony that contribute to the ridicule of the political communication of British officials in the satirical television series “Yes, Minister!”. The article analyzes irony in the monologues and dialogues of the characters in the British TV series “Yes, Minister!” and identifies the language phenomena with the help of which the satirical technique is achieved. It is shown that in political communication, irony with the use of language elements demonstrates a wide range of functions, for example, ridicule and criticism of political situations in which officials find themselves, as well as the transmission of acute social problems in a humorous manner. It is noted that irony, realizing these functions, attains a pragmatic goal – attracting the audience’s attention to current problems and shortcomings in the activities of politicians and the state apparatus. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the definition of the main lexical means that form irony and contribute to the achievement of a comic effect in political communication within the framework of a television context. The results obtained showed that antithesis, hyperbole, and metaphor most often form a comic effect in political discourse.
Key words and phrases: политическая коммуникация, телевизионная сатира, комический эффект, сатирический прием, телевизионный сериал “Yes, Minister!”, political communication, television satire, comic effect, satirical technique, television series “Yes, Minister!”
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