The dissertation is devoted to a comprehensive linguistic study of the means of verbalization of the concept POWER in modern Chinese-language political discourse. Attention is focused on the content of this concept, its structure, linguistic means of representation, and pragmatic functions in the texts of official political communication of the PRC. For the first time in domestic oriental studies, a holistic linguistic analysis of the means of verbalization of the concept POWER was carried out on the material of modern Chinese-language political discourse, considering its content, imagery, value, and pragmatic dimensions. The structure of the concept POWER in Chinese-language political speech was clarified, its national and cultural specificity was determined, the main linguistic means of its representation were systematized, and the range of leading metaphorical models was outlined. A comprehensive analysis of the linguistic mechanisms of formation and implementation of the concept POWER in modern political discourse of the PRC was carried out.
The work summarizes the main approaches to understanding the concept in modern linguistics and clarifies the theoretical principles of linguistic analysis of the concept POWER, covering research on the concept by leading representatives of linguistic studies from the point of view of the European and Chinese scientific tradition. The term "concept" in the dissertation is considered a complex, multi-layered mental-linguistic formation, encompassing conceptual, figurative, and value-evaluative components. Methodological principles for studying the verbalization of the concept POWER in Chinese language political discourse are developed, starting with the scientific exploration of national and cultural specifics. The dissertation uses general scientific methods of analysis, generalization, systematization, synthesis, and classification, and special methods (conceptual analysis, definitional-semantic method, continuous sampling method, contextual-interpretive method, critical discourse analysis, corpus analysis).
It is substantiated that political discourse is the natural environment for the functioning of the concept POWER, since this concept acquires the greatest semantic mobility, evaluative richness, and pragmatic power in this form of discourse.
The main structural-semantic, pragmatic, and communicative features of the utilization of this concept in official and public texts of the PRC are determined. The leading verbalization strategies are outlined, including the use of conceptual metaphors, metaphorical models, figurative vocabulary, phraseological units, rhetorical techniques, as well as specific discursive tactics of legitimization and delegitimization of political power.
The relevance of the topic is due to the growing role of China in the world and the need for a systematic analysis of linguistic means and approaches to verbalization and understanding of power in Chinese-speaking political discourse.
It has been detected that in Chinese-speaking political discourse, the concept POWER is formed under the influence of the party-state model of the PRC, the cultural continuity of the Chinese political tradition, Confucian and Legist ideas about proper governance, as well as the high degree of formality of official speech. It has been proven that power in this discourse is regularly conceptualized through the categories of the people, service, order, harmony, stability, development, moral responsibility and state controllability. It has been found that Chinese-speaking political discourse and speech are characterized by a combination of moral justification of power with an emphasis on its institutional strength, disciplinary potential and the right to regulate public life. It has been studied that the conceptual component of the concept POWER encompasses the notion of authority, the right to decide, management, control, responsibility and legitimacy. The figurative component is associated with the models of the vertical, center, path, voice, and historically justified political course. The value-evaluation component of this concept represents power as a force that should be based on serving the people, stability, harmony, and public good. At the same time, its structure retains the meanings of control, discipline, restriction, and coercion.
It was found that at the lexical-phraseological level, the leading role in the verbalization of the concept POWER is played by lexical units with the component 权 (Cn. 权[quán] - power), as well as lexemes and lexical combinations related to the people, development, stability, state, and law.
