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23Ученые записки Крымского федерального университета имени В. И. Вернадского. Филологические науки. Научный журнал. Том 7 (73). № 2. С. 71-86._
2. ФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНО-КОММУНИКАТИВНОЕ ОПИСАНИЕ ЯЗЫКОВЫХ КАРТИН МИРА
УДК 8142:27-27=111
BIBLICAL INTERTEXT OF THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN THE CURRENT POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT (BASED ON THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH-LANGUAGE POLITICAL MEDIA TEXTS)
Abramicheva Ye N., Zaitseva V. V., Sokol A. A.
Институт общественных наук и международных отношений
ФГЛОУ ВО «Севастопольский государственный университет»,
Севастополь, Россия
[email protected]; [email protected]
The article studies biblical intertext in the contemporary political discourse. Both direct and semantically modified quotations of the biblical prototext, as well as allusion, are regarded as linguistic mechanisms of biblical intertext formation. The obj ectives pursued in the article are to define a biblical expression as a precedent phenomenon functioning as an intertextual element and realizing a certain pragmatic function in the political communication; study the functions of biblical intertext in the political discourse; consider biblical intertext implementation in the current political environment. Mainstream American, British and Spanish media resources, such as The Guardian, The Time, The Nation, The New York Post, La Nación, El Mundo etc. as well as news scripts of American, British and Spanish politicians' speeches over the past year, serve as the material for the research covered in the article. Methodological framework of the research includes biblical expressions studies, the Bible translation and interpretations studies, political discourse analysis, theory of intertextuality and precedent phenomena. Peculiarities of Biblical intertext implementation in the political discourse are studied in the context of the current political environment.
Keywords: biblical expression, biblical intertext, precedent situation, political environment, political discourse.
INTRODUCTION
The role of the main Christian prototext on the modern media scene remains highly significant: biblical expressions are widely represented in different types of discourse, and their use not only reflects the seamless integration between culture, religion and social life, but also frequently becomes an effective tool for manipulating public mind. This trend is immediately obvious in the political discourse where current political situations are often compared with stories from the Bible. Biblical precedent phenomena allow for more precise definition and interpretation of an event, its proper evaluation, they create new connotations and produce an emotional impact on the mass recipient.
Biblical expressions as multifunctional precedent units that can be reproduced in speech generating new meanings form the object of the study, the results thereof will be presented in this article. The objectives of the study were as follows: 1) to examine biblical expressions as intertextual elements performing a special pragmatic function in the language
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of politics; 2) explore the functions of biblical intertext in the political discourse; 3) trace the tendencies of the use of biblical expressions in the context of present-day political environment.
Though biblical expressions have been given many linguistic definitions, all of them are united by a number of common features characteristic of these language units: genetic relation to the text of the Holy Scripture, stability, reproducibility, heterogeneity of the structure (from a single word to a whole sentence), complete or partial semantic modification of components. For example, E. M. Vereshchagin defines biblical expressions as separate words, collocations, groups of words or whole phrases originating from the Bible, either borrowed from the Bible, or subjected to semantic influence of biblical texts, including those which are no longer associated with the Scripture in modern linguistic consciousness [6].
We share E. I. Bolliger's opinion and regard biblical expressions as any intertextual implementation of the biblical text in any other text or discourse [2, p. 10]. At the same time, we consider intertextuality as a technique for composing a text, an instrument for text production, which includes an author's strategy for creating a text using the resources of other texts, non-verbal systems and discourses [9, p. 16]. According to Nathalie Piegay-Gros, intertextuality is a device with the help of which one text rewrites another text, and an intertext is an entire set of texts reflected in a given writing, regardless of whether it is related to the writing in absentia (for example in case of an allusion) or in praesentia (in case of a quotation) [10, p. 48].
Discussing the biblical intertext, we should note that biblical expressions, as precedent phenomena incorporating precedent texts, utterances, names and situations, present minimal cultural signs that perform a specialized pragmatic function [7], serve as indigenous culture bearers, and, according to the definition by D. B. Gudkov, form units of speech that are familiar to the vast majority of the community, stored in its collective memory and regularly actualized in speech [3].
The precedent phenomena of biblical origin are exceedingly diverse and variable, having a profound impact on the global culture. They include a large number of universal biblical concepts such as light, evil, darkness, love, God, etc., and precedent names, as well as precedent situations which are easily recognized by a recipient familiar with the biblical prototext (Judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses and the Ten Commandments, brothers Cain and Abel, etc.). The texts of the Bible can undoubtedly be considered as 'precedentedly strong' texts described by V. N. Toporov in his works as a mythopoetic space with an aesthetic source, discourse potential and inner freedom [8].
Providing ample opportunities for interpretation, precedent phenomena can be widely used in different areas of the media landscape and various types of discourse. Biblical precedent phenomena are no exception; they actively function not only in the works of fiction, but also in advertising, political and media discourse, forming a dynamic biblical intertext of the modern communication environment while remaining symbolic indicators of various cultural values and universal criteria for assessing current developments.
When it comes to the use of biblical expressions in the political environment, it is, primarily, dictated by the fundamental pragmatic tasks and functions of political communication, wherein biblical intertext plays an important part - instrument (struggle for
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power), regulatory (influencing), magical (based on the mythologized perception, belief in the magical powers of words and the use of manipulative techniques), ritual (in some types of political discourse, for example, inaugural speeches), and creative (by which, according to L. M. Terentii, the desired response of the public to a political situation or select political figures is created, whereby an imaginary world built with the help of the language can completely replace the existing reality) [12, p. 29].
K. Ju. Rybachuk's reflections on the role of intertext in the political discourse enabled him to differentiate a whole range of functions of which intertext is capable. According to K. Ju. Rybachuk, they include: the capacity to reinforce the speaker's vigour of an argument by appealing to authority, self-citing, or joint opinion; the function of refuting an argument; informative, illustrative, decorative, euphemistic, referential (when the reference is made to the original text, its content and related associations), phatic, and didactic functions [11].
From M. V. Belyakov's perspective, functioning in the political context, intertext allows for the manifestation of the Friend-or-Foe opposition (in case of a rational use of the intertext, the speaker could be counted among Friends), as well as the implementation of a euphemistic function since it permits covert criticism of the opponent avoiding direct insult [1].
Yet another important aspect of political communication ought to be brought to notice. Politicians are well aware of the fact that political persuasion is primarily associated with the influence on emotions and the subconscious, rather than reason and logical thinking [13, p. 78]. This is especially true for the politicians' way of interacting with the public, when suggestive techniques prevail over rationality, and the success of communication is based on winning the addressee's sympathy and trust [ibid.]. Frequently, the politician's direct citation of the biblical prototext becomes an efficient way of gaining the addressee's trust, producing a major emotional impact by triggering the same irrational mechanisms of faith and confidence that religion resorts to.
Thus, being a 'strong' precedent text, a unit of cultural code and an effective rhetorical means at the same time, a biblical expression used in the political environment is capable of enhancing the recipient's comprehension of the information received, producing both rational and irrational impact, as well as shaping the recipient's political views and sentiments by influencing his or her associative thinking.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the purposes of illustration, let us turn to the political discourse around the COVID-19 pandemic which has provided fresh impetus for dynamic transformations of the biblical intertext. Conventional wisdom says that in times of calamities, diseases and great changes people tend to seek help from God. So do politicians and journalists.
For one, The Daily Beast news site published an article headed "The Biblical, Primal Terror of the Coronavirus" (J. Michaelson // The Daily Beast: March 11, 2020 [26]). The article opens with a direct citation from the Bible, the Book of Leviticus 13:46, "As long as they have the disease, they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp" [26]. The publication argues that the isolation of the healthy population from the diseased has been a common practice in every nation in all times. Jay Michaelson, the author of the article, lists diagnoses that turn people into pariahs and reflects on what the new virus
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holds for the Americans. Criticizing President Trump's response to the coronavirus situation and accusing him of germophobia (a pathological fear of germs and infection), the journalist is outraged that Trump, for his personal reasons, minimizes the severity of the threat which the coronavirus pandemic poses to his country. The use of a biblical quote in this case serves to draw the public attention to the serious social problems caused by the pandemic. The idea that COVID-19 became the cause for global social distancing has deeply entrenched in the society: "Covid is the disease of stoppage, of social distancing, of self-isolation, of no-handshakes-no hugs, no flights, no passing through." (criticallegalthinking.com // March 13, 2020).
In a less restrained manner Donald Trump is criticized by the authors of the article in The Nation weekly magazine. Its headline "Prayer Will Not Stop the Coronavirus" (J. Wilson-Hartgrove, Rev. Dr. W. J. Barber // The Nation, March 15, 2020 [29]) is a direct reaction to the first phrase of the speech delivered by Trump on March 15, 2020, on the day of prayer for coronavirus victims: "In our times of greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty" [33]. President Trump is accused of failure to adequately respond to public health crisis, reluctance to prepare for the pandemic and a number of actions exacerbating an already critical situation. "It's time for repentance, not just prayer", says the author and cites the Epistle of James (2:26): "Faith without works is dead" [29].
On March 21, 2020, The New York Post published an article about the drug combination potentially effective in treating COVID-19 patients. The article cites the words of the President who called the drug a "gift from God" and expressed optimism about its upcoming use: "This would be a giftfrom heaven, this would be a gift from God if it works" [30]. The biblical expression "the gift of God" (Ecclesiastes, 3:13) means that everything that is good, kind and useful in a person is given to him by God [5, p. 93]. The following day, on March 22, 2020, Real Clear Politics, a political news website, posted a caustic article headlined "Trump's Faith-Based Pivot: Anti-Viral Rx Would Be God's 'Gift'" (P. Wegmann // Real Clear Politics, March 22, 2020 [25]), manifesting the media reaction to the President's tumid political prose. The author of the article believes that the change in Trump's rhetoric and his trust in God is but an attempt to hide his failure or reluctance to curb the problem, and that the methods to fight back the pandemic proposed by the President simply do not work. Furthermore, the journalist is outraged and highly skeptical of the "God's gift" drug that has not gone through trials yet: "The doubting Thomases of the White House press corps did their job by questioning the president on whether it was prudent to push an untested drug cocktail on the public" [25]. The precedent biblical story, to which the expression "doubting Thomas" (John 20:25) refers the reader, describes Thomas's disbelief after the other disciples told him about the resurrection of Jesus; later, he changed his mind on seeing Jesus in flesh with crucifixion wounds. In the present-day language, "a doubting Thomas" is an inveterate skeptic [5, p. 59]. This way, an allusion to the Gospel contributes to the critical nature of the article, emphasizing absurdity of Trump's premature statements. Speaking the same language with the President, the language of quotations from the Bible, the journalist holds an allegorical political conversation with the President, thus subtly undermining the authority and credibility of the American leader.
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The article published on The Guardian website on May 22, 2020, pertains to the economic after-effects of the pandemic on the British government's budget: "...the two main parties were committing themselves to spending plans that implied the need for increases in taxation that they regarded as politically anathema" (W. Keegan / The coronavirus outbreak has made the budget irrelevant // The Guardian, May 24, 2020 [28]). The authors of the article speculate that the politicians must be well aware of the fact that tax increases would be an extremely unpopular decision, especially amidst the pandemic, and those who took this step would be "politically anathema" with no electoral support. The meaning of "anathema", its biblical sense, is based on the ancient Jews' history of sacrificing the defeated enemies and their weapons in the Lord's name: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be the Anathema" (1 Corinthians 16:22); over time, the term has undergone semantic changes and, separating from its biblical context, acquired a more general meaning of "excommunication, curse, exile, damnation" [5, p. 12]. A thick negative connotative meaning of the biblical expression allows the journalist to give an explicit description of the political repercussions of the forced economic policies.
An article from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, dated April 22, 2020, quotes the words of Pablo Casado Blanco, the leader of the People's Party of Spain, accusing the government of failure to provide special institutions for the isolation of COVID-19 patients: "¿Dónde está el millón de test que dijo usted que se iban a hacer? ¿dónde están las arcas de Noé?" (M. Cruz // El Mundo, Abril 22, 2020 [18]) ("Where is the million tests that you said you were going to do? Where are Noah's arks?")1. The expression "Arca de Noé" (Noah's ark, Genesis 6-9) cannot be found in the Bible as a fixed collocation, but it summarizes the precedent situation from the Book of Genesis - the Flood: God instructed Noah to build an ark in which he, his family, and "two of all living creatures" would be saved from the Flood. In modern English "Noah's ark" means an emergency refuge or shelter [5, p. 163]. The analogy to the salvation of mankind on a biblical scale gives extra weight to the politician's concern over the fate of his nation, and Pablo Casado resorts to this analogy more than once. Casado's accusations against Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, are built upon the same biblical metaphor: "...y ha recalcado que el "arca de Noé se construyó antes del diluvio" y, por lo tanto, el Gobierno debería haberlo previsto "antes", no "casi un mes después de reconocer la pandemia" (D. Mudarra // Europa Press, Abril 7, 2020 [19]) (... and [Casado] stressed that "Noah's ark was built before the flood", and therefore, the Government should have thought about it "before", and not "almost a month after the pandemic had broken out").
In case when the biblical quotation is incorporated to form the structure of the discourse, thus performing a text-building function, the biblical intertext contributes directly to the communicative function of influencing the reader. On March 19, 2020, an American news site Time published an article by Laura Turner expressing her feelings about the sheltering order enacted in San Francisco. The headline of the article "The Best Way to Love Your Neighbor Right Now Is to Stay Home" [31] contains an allusion to the precedent biblical expression "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" taken from the Gospel of Matthew 12:29-31 and considered one of the Golden Rules [5, p. 150].
1 All Spanish examples in this article are translated into English by the authors of the article.
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In the article Laura Turner shares her own experience and understanding of the restrictions introduced to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The author makes a point that American culture, built on the principles of business competition and individualism, makes it hard to put the interests of the majority first, and therefore advises to behave responsibly and remember the lifelong biblical wisdom. In an attempt to convince her readers to observe the sheltering order, Turner refers to the precedent event of Cain murdering his brother Abel. The article starts with a direct citation from the Bible: "Where is your brother Abel?" God asks. <...> "I do not know, " he says. "Am I my brother's keeper?" (L. Turner // The Time, March 19, 2020 [31]). Voicing her opinion on many people's refusals to "shelter in place", the author goes back to directly citing the biblical text: "After Cain asks God about being his brother's keeper, God responds with thunder. "Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!" [31]. Summing up her thoughts, the journalist modifies the biblical quotation in order to promulgate her message: "If I were to do anything to add to that number, the blood of those who died would cry out from the ground" [31]. The comparison of people's refusal to stay home with crimes of negligence and omission produces a profound psychological effect on the reader.
On March 19, 2020, a Spanish news magazine and website Menorca (named after one of the Balearic Islands where its publishing house is located) posted an article headlined "El coronavirus, la undécima plaga" (J. J. Quetglas // Menorca, Marzo 19, 2020 [21]) (The Coronavirus, the Eleventh Plague). Despite being protected by UNESCO and designated a biosphere reserve, as well as generally considered an expensive tourist destination and thus being not a very populous area, Menorca suffered a gradually rising number of COVID-19 diagnoses, and the quarantine order on the island was the same as in the rest of Spain. In the first paragraph, Joan J. Quetglas, the author of the article, helps his reader identify and comprehend the biblical allusion used in the headline. Quetglas retells an episode from the biblical precedent story, the source of the set phrase "Las diez plagas de Egipto" (The Plagues of Egypt, Exodus 7-12). The story tells about God's desire to deliver the Israelites from slavery and lead them out of Egypt. The Pharaoh does not allow it, and then God inflicts ten "plagues" on Egypt. The tenth Plague (death of firstborn), which took the Pharaoh's son, broke his resistance, and the Israelites led by Moses left Egypt. Today, the biblical expression "the Plagues of Egypt" means successive disasters and terrible misfortunes, implying that "one doesn't mess with God as He will always have the last word" [5, p. 177]. Reminding his readers of how severe the wrath of God can be, the journalist recaps on the recent epidemics that posed a serious threat to the life and health of people and required strict measures be taken to combat them, including massive lockdowns. However, the author cannot remember any similar epidemics as to the scale and consequences as the coronavirus. On the one hand, comparing COVID-19 with the devastating biblical plagues is a good way to ramp up the spread of panic, which can be highly beneficial; many political and media experts believe that the widespread panic is designed to take people's attention away from more important issues, such as the global economic crisis or blatant attempts at creating police states with total control over population. Yet, on the other hand, the author of the article seeks to calm down his readers and raise the spirits of the fellow-Spaniards: "No creo que el COVID-19 sea un castigo divino" [21] (I don't believe that COVID-19 is a divine punishment) - the journalist
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renounces his "apocalyptic scenario" proposed in the headline and tries to convince his readers that the Spanish government has the situation under control.
Another Spanish journalist J. Velarde holds a dissenting opinion. The heading of his article of March 22, 2020 "El coronavirus y los 7pecados capitales de Pedro Sánchez" (J. Velarde // Periodista Digital, Marzo 22, 2020 [23]) (Coronavirus and seven deadly sins of Pedro Sanches) contains the biblical expression "los siete pecados capitales' (Seven deadly sins, 1 John 5:16-17). Though the list of sins is actually not found in the Bible, it is provided in the ecclesiastical writing and is generally known to have a biblical origin [5, p. 198]. In contemporary discourse the phrase implies somebody's faults, wrongdoings and unforgivable acts. Expressing their bitterness about inaction and don't-care attitude of Spanish prime-minister Pedro Sanches in the face of pandemic emergency, the authors mention seven outrageous facts of his political negligence equating them with seven deadly sins. Thus, being exposed to semantic modification within a new 'coronavirus context', the biblical phrase serves to shape a distinctly negative attitude towards the politician and performs evaluative and conative functions.
Quite often the original biblical text becomes subject to occasional semantic modification when it is dictated and, hence, justified by the intentions and objectives of an author, e.g. in achieving comic or ironic effect. Thus, a popular American political commentator Michael Savage tried to ease public tension and diminish mass hysteria caused by the pandemic with an ironical commentary on his Facebook page: "MAN CANNOT LIVE BY TOILET PAPER ALONE" [22]. M. Savage resorts to semantic modification of a well-known biblical expression "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matthew 4:4), mocking the so-called covidiots (one of the recent 'coronavirus' coinages derived from covid and idiot) and scaremongers, at their inability to act reasonably and rationally in the exceptional circumstances of pandemic realia. The way a man of today thinks and acts in the face of new challenges appears comic if compared to the instructive and exemplary biblical narrative. The Bible tells us about Jesus who before starting His earthly mission was to spend forty days in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. When the devil came to entice Him to turn stones into bread Jesus answered with these famous words of His, showing His will to combat the need to satisfy the flesh [5, p. 154].
Very often an intertextual dialogue between politicians and journalists is brought about by some internal political crisis, election campaign, in-party leadership race, etc. On March 25, 2019, The Evening Standard published an article on the conflict between B. Johnson and T. May over Brexit. Inner-party disputes on Britain's leaving EU at that time were almost deadlocked, the contenders for Tory leadership race clashed over delivering Brexit, the UK was facing the worst political crisis in its modern history. An ardent Brexiteer B. Johnson sounded acerbic when he spoke on T. May's vacillating policy: "It is time for the PM to channel the spirit of Moses in Exodus, and say to Pharaoh in Brussels - LET MY PEOPLE GO" (J. Morris // Evening Standard, March 25, 2019 [20]).
In the biblical context the phrase "Let my people go" refers to the precedent situation "Exodus" (the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses, Exodus 5:1). When Moses and his brother Aaron came to Pharaoh to ask him to liberate the people of Israel, Pharaoh refused and later was punished by Lord with Plagues [5, p. 139]. The precedent phrase is not just associated with the well-known biblical plot,
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but symbolizes people's strivings for independence in general. The phrase has become a slogan of those struggling for freedom. For example, it is used in one of the popular Negro spirituals: "Go down Moses, / Way down in Egypt Land, / Tell old Pharaoh / Let my people go" [5, c. 139].
The strategy of semantic modification of the original biblical expression employed by Johnson seems rather effective as it enables him to simultaneously achieve several practical goals: promote the idea of Britain's liberation from EU, demonstrate his linguistic resourcefulness and quick wit as well as his political decisiveness, undermine the authority and debase the political image of the opponent by creating a rather comical image of a politician who could no longer influence the decisions of the European Commission.
Against the background of another internal crisis, this time in the US political life, The Nation news website published the article "True Religious Faith Demands an Unwavering Rebuke of Trumpism" (J. Wilson-Hartgrove, Rev. Dr. W. J. II Barber // The Nation, Dec. 23, 2020 [29]) featuring harsh criticism of Trump and Trumpism. Blaming Trump for his immoral policies and threats of violence, and Trumpism for the distorted moral narrative it has created, the authors of the article speak of the Revolution of Values necessary for the revival of the US democracy. Supporting president Trump's impeachment and alluding to the biblical metaphor, they admit that in itself impeachment of Trump cannot change the political agenda (the main evil of which they see in the 'dangerous Christian nationalism') and would serve a symbolic victim to be sacrificed for the sake of democratic values: "If an extreme personality becomes the scapegoat for immoral policies and the distorted moral narrative that has long justified them, then we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can address the moral crisis by simply getting rid of the man" [29]. The origin of biblical "scapegoat" (from "escape" and "goat") is related to the Book of Leviticus (16:7-22), describing an ancient Hebrew ritual held on the Day of Atonement. The high priest would bring the two goats before the Lord - one to be sacrificed and slaughtered as a sin offering for the Lord and the other, bearing the sins of Israelites, to be sent away into the wilderness and escape. In present-day English it means the one who is blamed or punished for the mistakes or sins of the others [5, p. 193].
Reproaching Trump and his evangelical defenders for their outrage provoked by the call for Trump's impeachment from the editor of Christianity Today magazine Mark Galli, the authors allude to the biblical precedent name Herod (Matthew 2:1-16; Luke 23:7-15), which in the Modern English metaphorically implies "a villain and evildoer: "And when the Herods of this world are challenged, their backlash can be violent" [29]. There were two Herods mentioned in the Bible: Herod, the King of Judea, who, according to the New Testament, ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in attempt to kill Jesus, and his son Herod Antipas, a Roman governor in Palestine, who ordered the killing of John the Baptist and later took part in the events that led to the execution of Jesus [5, p. 108-109]. It's obvious that the biblical allusions eliciting so strong negative associations can hardly create a positive image of the US president. Besides, by suggesting these very biblical stories the journalists might have hoped for getting a predetermined response from the audience that was likely to affect the outcomes of the presidential race. Their implicit call on 'sending an acting president away to wilderness for all sins of his administration' was likely to find a broad response among the pro-democratic opponents of Trump.
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Quite often the use of biblical expressions is imposed by the convention. Thus, an important ceremonial function is performed by biblical expressions in the official protocol discourse that usually attends inaugurations, state and royal leaders' official addresses to their nations, etc. In this type of discourse, the references to the Biblical prototext are usually made in the form of direct citation. The significance of the event as well as the eminence of the source quoted from, often exclude the very possibility of semantic modifications of the quotation. We have already mentioned Trump's Presidential Proclamation on the National Day of Prayer for all Americans affected by Coronavirus Pandemic, of March 14, 2020 [33], in which he encouraged the US citizens to pray for the health and well-being of their fellow Americans and "remember that no problem is too big for God to handle" [33]. In his Proclamation Trump made three direct references to the Holy Bible. His first quotation comes from 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you" [33], and was intended to remind millions of Americans of God's presence, protection and love during the period of unique challenge 'posed by coronavirus pandemic'. For the second time Trump alluded to Psalm 91 (New International Version) while expressing his warmest thanks to all who worked tirelessly to treat the infected patients and to ensure the health and safety of American people: "He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust" [33]. This very Psalm might have been chosen for quotation because the original context in the New International Version (the verse that follows the one cited by Trump) suggests a certain relevance to the situation of pandemic to which Trump addresses: "Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence" ("pestilence" is a fatal infectious disease that spreads quickly and kills a lot of people; plague). A good knowledge of the Bible exposed by the majority of Americans is likely to call to their minds the missing part of the quoted verse. And finally, Trump's third quotation is derived from Luke (1:37): "For with God nothing shall be impossible " [33]. It enabled Trump to sound promising and optimistic to those who unite in prayer and acts of compassion, but on the other hand, might have been an implicit recognition of people's helplessness in facing the pandemic. The nature of biblical citation in Trump's Proclamation (the choice of quoted verses, their recurrence and manner of inclusion in the discourse) bear more than a passing resemblance to a sermon delivered by a true upholder of the faith ensuring the salvation of his congregate through genuine faith in God. It should be mentioned here that a considerable part of Trump's electorate was, in fact, made up of white evangelical Christians, and as one of them says, "Millions of Americans Believe God Made Trump President" (A. Sullivan / Politico, Jan. 27, 2018 [24]). Such bold rhetoric from his supporters might explain Trump's frequent, if compared to other American presidents', references to the Bible and his zeal in meeting his voters' expectations.
References to the Bible are also regularly featured in the American presidents' farewell addresses, though pragmatics of their usage can vary. Thus, in his Farewell Address 2017, the 44th US president B. Obama spoke about the main threats to American democracy, prosperity and national security, among which were terrorism, extremism, intolerance, chauvinism and nationalistic aggression. Obama claimed that the only way to protect American way of life from this evil was to save and expand their democracy, respect the rule of law and American Constitution: "Democracy can buckle when we give in to_ fear. So just as we, as citizens, must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard
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against a weakening of the values that make us who we are. < ...> So let's be vigilant, but not afraid. ISIL will try to kill innocent people. But they cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles in the fight" [27]. The phrase "be vigilant" originates from 1 Peter (5:8): "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (King James Version (KJV)) [15]. Frequently used in sermons, the phrase adds some preaching tone to the president's speech, triggering those irrational mechanisms of influencing the audience that are likely to strengthen people's faith in democracy and its advocates, and shake their faith in those who betray it. Obama's fears did not seem groundless, and his implicit message as well as the main implied threat to the American democracy could be inferred from what he was saying, taking into consideration that the Presidential campaign 2016 was won by a Republican D. Trump, who'd been branded a Trumpenstein by the mainstream news media long before Trump won his presidency. This journalistic creation became "a verbal and conceptual embodiment of everything bad that has been ascribed to Trump" [14, p. 131] by the media biased against US Republicans, along with another political neologism Trumpocalypse that, according to Macmillan Dictionary, implies "the potential catastrophe that would be triggered by the election of Trump as US president". The exhaustive explanation of the "potential catastrophe" is offered by the popular Urban Dictionary: "the universal wide spread destruction, disaster and collapse of the United States due to Donald Trump's corruption, lack of experience and hard work, malignant narcissism and his relationship with Putin of Russia. Which includes the encouragement of the extreme military right wing" [34].
As far as the functions of the traditional ending of a presidential Farewell Address "Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America", they embrace the conventional illocutionary act of farewell blessing, thanksgiving and well-wishing, and secondly, the ceremonial function of the protective ritual embedded in the history of English-speaking nations.
Biblical allusions are commonly found in the official and diplomatic discourse of Latin American politicians. This can be illustrated by the speech of the president of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel, of December 23, 2019, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) creation. Recalling glorious and tragic pages of the Cuban diplomacy Diaz-Canel mentioned the well-known biblical names related to the precedent biblical story "David and Goliath" from 1 Samuel 17:49 "Comenzaba la pelea de David contra Goliat" [17] (The fight of David against Goliath began). Goliath is known to be a well-armed Philistine giant who terrified the Israeli and was eventually defeated by the young shepherd David, who killed the giant warrior with a sling and a stone; later known as the King of Israel [5, p. 98-99]. This remarkable biblical metaphor has been over time enrooted in the national consciousness of the Cubans, and the knowledge of the biblical parable alone is not sufficient to understand why. The process of embedding the images of David and Goliath into the revolutionary history of Cuba began with an outstanding figure of Fidel Castro, a Cuban politician advocating the ideas of socialism, who was the first to compare Cuba with David 'engaged in combat against Goliath of the "nuclear era" represented by the USA [4]. Later, being made a national romantic hero, Fidel Castro himself was often equated with David. Thus, in Diaz-Canel's speech, the symbolic
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for the Cuban history metaphor assumes an essential pragmatic content and is furnished with rhetorical, conative, and euphemistic functions.
Euphemisation is one of the important strategies commonly implemented in the contemporary political discourse through various semantic and stylistic mechanisms, including, inter alia, references to the Bible. For example, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain (MAEUEC) Arancha Gonzales Laya at the press conference on April 14, 2020 was very reserved in her official response to the president Trump's disparaging statements that 'Spain was being decimated', by which he was blaming the Spain's government for lifting some lockdown measures at the height of the pandemic. Arancha Gonzales said: "Podría decir que es fácil ver la paja en el ojo ajeno y no la viga en el propio pero no lo voy a hacer porque no es la forma en que tenemos que enfrentarnos a la pandemia " [19] (I could say that it's easy to see the mote in your brother's eye and not the beam in your own, but I am not going to do this because it's not the way we should face the pandemic). The biblical expression 'mote in the eye' (Matthew 7:3) is a curtailed variant of the phrase of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount: "Y porque miras la paja que está en el ojo de tu hermano, y no echas de ver laviga que esta en tu propio ojo?" (And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?). This biblical expression has turned into a proverb long before and its sense "Judge not, that you be not judged" is familiar to everyone. Biblical quotation enabled the Spanish politician to evade an offensive tone in her official comment on Trump's words and sound, as opposed to the US president, politically correct.
However, politicians' references to the Bible can sometimes badly affect their image. Misinterpretation or misquotation from the sacred prototext is likely to provoke the journalists' justifiable criticism over a politician's ignorance, false piety, or thoughtlessness towards the Holy text. Conscious of the fact or not, a politician undermines one of the maximes of the cooperative principle of communication (formulated by P. Grice in his Theory of Conversational Implicatures) that prescribes an utterance to be truthful, by which, subsequently, abuses the trust of his more educated adherers. For example, during his first presidential campaign, D. Trump referred to the Bible as his favourite book but failed to produce an accurate quote from it when was requested to. The phrase "never bend to envy" suggested by Trump, brought about an immediate scathing irony of The Washington Post journalist J. Johnson, in her article headlined "Donald Trump likes that Proverbs verse that might not exist" (J. Johnson // The Washington Post, Sept. 16, 2015 [32]).
According to the Business Insider website report, Speaker of the US House of Representatives and a Democratic Party opponent of D. Trump, Nancy Pelosi was also repeatedly condemned for her excessive ingenuity in quoting the Bible. One of her recent misquotations runs: "To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us" (E. Relman: Nancy Pelosi loves to quote a Bible verse that isn't actually in the Bible at all // Business Insider, Feb. 5, 2019 [16]). Pelosi claims that she is sure this quotation comes from the Bible, though she is not certain about the exact place of its occurrence in the Book: "I can't find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time" [16]. Such misapplication of the biblical text is a mere political manipulation and when detected, can be ruinous for a sound political reputation.
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_BIBLICAL INTERTEXT OF THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE._
CONCLUSIONS
As can be seen from the above, biblical expressions have not lost their value in the modern political discourse; on the contrary, as new global threats and crises arise, they become more frequently used in one form or another. In addition to supporting traditional conservative views and ritualizing certain types of political communication, the biblical intertext is used to 1) form the image of political figures; 2) characterize and assess political situations; 3) shape and manipulate public opinion; 4) discredit opponents; and 5) implement a euphemistic strategy.
The biblical intertext manifests itself in the political environment in various forms: anywhere from the direct citation of the prototext and biblical allusions, to the deliberate semantic modification of the precedent text, which allows the author (a politician or journalist) to express a judgment on any developments with a hint of irony or sarcasm, make the speech more emotional or demonstrate learnedness and humor. And, conversely, inept citation of the well-known prototext can undermine the politician's image and discredit him or her in the eyes of the media and the public.
The nature and structure of the political communication intertext can be studied both in the context of general cultural and linguistic knowledge required to interpret new information in a quick and accurate manner, and with regard to political linguistics which explains the mechanisms of influencing the mass audience. As symbolic signs of common cultural values that elicit similar associations from the representatives of different linguistic cultures, biblical intertext elements let an addressee easily recognize and interpret their meaning, at the same time allowing an addresser to actively use this language means relying on the addressee's knowledge of the precedent text. Thus, biblical precedent phenomena often form the intertext of political discourse, including the discourse of critical situations.
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БИБЛЕЙСКИЙ ИНТЕРТЕКСТ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО ДИСКУРСА
В УСЛОВИЯХ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ СИТУАЦИИ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНЫХ И ИСПАНОЯЗЫЧНЫХ СМИ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ НАПРАВЛЕННОСТИ)
Абрамичева Е. Н., Зайцева В.В., Сокол А. А.
Статья посвящена исследованию библейского интертекста в политическом дискурсе. В качестве основных механизмов создания библейского интертекста рассматриваются прямое цитирование библейских прецедентных текстов, использование семантически модифицированных библейских единиц (квазицитация), аллюзия. В задачи исследования входило: изучить библеизм как прецедентную единицу и одновременно как интертекстуальный элемент, выполняющий особую прагматическую функцию в языке политики; изучить функции библейского интертекста в политическом дискурсе; проследить тенденции использования библеизмов в условиях современной политической ситуации. Материалом исследования послужили тексты электронных и печатных американских, британских и испанских медиаресурсов: The Guardian, The Time, The Nation, The New York Post, La Nacio n, El Mundo и др., а также тексты публичных выступлений американских, британских и испанских политиков за последний год. Методологической базой исследования стали работы отечественных и зарубежных авторов, посвященные библеизмам, переводу и интерпретации Библии, анализу политического дискурса, теории прецедентности и интертекстуальности. Особенности функционирования библейского интертекста рассматриваются на примере политического дискурса кризисных ситуаций текущего периода.
Ключевые слова: библеизм, библейский интертекст, прецедентная ситуация, политическая ситуация, политический дискурс.
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