The dissertation deals with the complex analysis of pseudo news as a genre of modern English media discourse, taking into account linguistic, cognitive, communicative and pragmatic parameters.
The thesis clarifies the concepts «media discourse», «feuilleton», «pseudo news», «fake» and examines the influence of pseudo news on recipients via perception and understanding of the concept LIE.
It has been proved that the «fake» news as a genre of media discourse is realized with the help of means of mass communication and it provides conscious and clear position of the addresser. It is accompanied by the set of integrative strategies to attract the recipient’s attention among which there are not only verbal but visual and audiovisual ones. Such a fact lets us define the «fake» news as a new media reality where «yellow» news occupies a cental place. It includes untruly, apocryphal or even retorted facts of a person as well as the whole society. The intention of the addresser of the «fake» news is oriented into establishing a contact with the recipient to impress, astonish and intertain him, that is «infotainment».
The knowledge of a human being about lies and deceit is brought under the sign of the concept LIE (UNTRUTH, DECEIT) and actualized in the text of pseudo news by lexical units denoting lie. This concept being a component of the media discourse is one of the most significant units of the conceptual sphere of modern man as well as the whole society, since it is practically transversal in modern communication. It is in the media discourse the indicative situations of manifestation of the concept LIE are demonstrated, they specify the various characteristics of the phenomena of deceit, manipulation.
A three-component structure of the concept LIE (conceptual, figurative and value components) has been reconstructed. Features of the logical and conceptual layer of the mentioned concept are traced on the verbal level via the system of paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of units of the English language. The nuclear of the concept LIE, as a prototype unit with the most sensual and specific concreteness being both universal and group or individual, is the conceptual sign of lying, deceit – something that you say or write that you know is untrue. The conceptual attribute of lie is defined as pollar to the conceptual attribute of truth. It illustrates the availability of the nuclear of the concept LIE, the near periphery and two far peripheries.
The results of lexical and semantic analysis of lexical units verbalizing the concept LIE demonstrate revealing of the systemic nature of the syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships of the lexeme lie, indicated by its combination with a wide range of nominative units (verbs, nouns, adjectives) and the presence of a sufficient number of synonyms and phraseological expressions.
The frame system of the concept LIE has been presented as a system of six parcels each of which has its own argumentive role. It has been revealed that the actional sceme of LIE changes due to the aim of lie (exaggeration of information or false data).
Linguistic and cognitive mechanisms of pseudo sense formation in the texts of «fake» news due to the verbalization of the oppositional frames SPHERE OF TRUTH vs. SPHERE OF LIE have been traced.
The realization of the concept LIE and corresponding perlocutionary effect on the recipient in English media discourse are ensured by the use of certain communicative and pragmatic strategies and tactics. The linguistic features of implementation in the texts of pseudo news of four leading strategies – argumentative, appealing, valorative and strategy of perlocutionary effect optimization – have been described.
