Irony in the primary and secondary german political discourse

DOI 10.51955/2312-1327_2021_4_21

Аnna А. Litvintceva

Abstract. The article focuses on the peculiarities of irony in the primary and secondary German political discourse. The object of the study is primary and secondary German political discourse. The subject of the study is irony and the language means that express it. The study was based on public oral and written statements by German-speaking politicians, as well as publications on political topics in the international media.Β  Politicians always manipulate public consciousness through language. Irony is used in politicians’ speech to increase its expressiveness and to increase its impact on the audience. To monitor and analyze the results of the use of irony, the author emphasizes the necessity to divide political discourse into primary and secondary and offers its own vision of these concepts. Recently, in modern political discourse, the significance of such a term as political correctness has increased. Politicians often violate the laws of political correctness, and their controversial statements cause public outcry. This article examines examples of such ironic statements by politicians and examples of broadcast of these judgments by representatives of the media. The results of the study demonstrate the deliberate use of irony by German politicians in their speech.

Key words: irony, primary political discourse, secondary political discourse, impact, political correctness.

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