IMAGE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN B. JOHNSON’S POLITICAL DISCOURSE

The article explores the metaphorical concepts that help to create the image of the United Kingdom in the political discourse of B. Johnson. According to the cognitive theory of metaphor, the impact of metaphorical concepts on human consciousness is enormous, because they are embedded in the conceptual mechanism of the human mind. Their use in discourse allows politicians to structure a figurative picture of the socio-political structure and serves as one of the methods for realizing power relations. With the help of a comparative analysis, the author compares metaphorical concepts that reflect the value-emotional, political and ideological position of the country’s leadership when discussing Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. The purpose of this article is to show how a metaphorical model can simultaneously be an effective tool for manipulating mass consciousness and a way of figurative perception of political reality.

B. Johnson’s rhetoric is a vivid example of the use of both universal and situational concepts, skillful substitution of concepts, and the widespread use of figurative means of the English language for utilitarian political purposes. The British Prime Minister’s public speeches help to trace the relationship between metaphorical concepts and the specific context in which they are applied. One of the main tasks of the addressee in political communication is to create such an information environment that will give the mass addressee a motive for action and unite him with the political leader. Through carefully selected and repetitive linguistic means, the Prime Minister explained the UK’s post-Brexit crisis and conceptual frameworks for nation-building.

As a result of the analysis of the texts of B. Johnson’s public speeches, it was possible to identify the characteristic features of his model of perception of the political reality of the United Kingdom, the motives behind his use of certain language, as well as the effectiveness of their impact on the mass audience. It was possible to reveal that B. Johnson’s political vocabulary has a pronounced integrative function, capable of rallying citizens to achieve a specific goal — to support the politician in his decision to complete Brexit and establish new principles of foreign policy. This effect is achieved by the skillful use and mixing of conventional and ontological metaphors in public speeches of the Prime Minister.

Keywords: political discourse, metaphoric concept, metaphorical image of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party, public speeches