Chironova, I.I. Cognitive structure of the “power” concept in Russian and English language political discourses

Abstract: The study of the “power” concept in Russian and English languages presupposes a linguistic view of a political discourse via the analysis of interrelations between language an d politics. The language is used for conceptualizing the reality, therefore, the legal practice plays an important role in establishing the meanings of political terms. The article uncovers and describes the differential elements of the “power”/”vlast” concept in the two languages. The etymological analysis of the terms “vlast”, “power”, and “authority” shows how the historical experience of native speakers is reflected in them, and how it influences the current understanding of this concept. The comparison between the concepts in English and Russian political discourses shows considerable differences in their contents. Specific features of the concept of “power” in the Russian political discourse is due to the fact that in the Russian-speaking culture it reflects the position of having competence and ability to rule and govern, while in the Anglo-Saxon political culture, it mostly refers to the ability to act and express dominion. The English language concept has another important semantic element, which is the “lawful ability to act, competence, right”. The semantic field of the Russian language concept lacks the element of “lawfulness”. The article also analyzes emotional evaluations of the concepts in two political discourses through the comparative analysis of associations caused by the stimuli words among the English and Russian speakers. Thanks to the linguistic analysis a new step towards understanding political phenomena is taken, and understanding of the specific features of the “power” concept in different political cultures has an input into the critical discourse studies.

Keywords: