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Rhetoric. The effective use of language (UDC 808)
DOI: 10.18454/RULB.8.26 Плацинска А.1, Карапетяна И.2 1,2Кандидат филологических наук, Латвийский Государственный университет ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЯЗЫКА ПЕРИОДА ТЯЖЕЛЫХ ПЕРЕМЕН: КРЕАТИВНОСТЬ КАК ИНСТРУМЕНТ
МАНИПУЛИРОВАНИЯ
Аннотация
В начале 21-го века, большинство экономик мира пережили серьезный экономический спад, который породил атмосферу неуверенности и неопределенности в обществе. Так называемые смутные времена характеризуются экономической и политической нестабильностью, ростом безработицы, бедности и инфляции, вызывая тем самым беспорядок не только в экономике, политике и обществе в целом, но и в человеческих умах. В то же время каждый кризис мобилизует творческие способности человеческого разума и представители власти прибегают к различным манипулятивные средства для сохранения власти, и языковым средствам в этом процессе отводится центральная роль. Власть пытается убедить в правильности своих решений, подчинить население своему мышлению, чтобы скрыть истинные последствия жесткой экономии. В статье рассматривается взаимосвязь между языком и властью на примере двух странах, пострадавших от недавнего экономического кризиса: Латвии и Испании. Лингвистические средства семантической манипуляции в этих двух странах похожи: они направлены на положительное завуалирование политических решений, чего можно добиться, например, при помощи использования эвфемизмов. Для того, чтобы справиться с хаосом, вызванным экономическим спадом, политики пытаются создать видимость порядка и спокойствия, используя в коммуникации такие языковые средства как метафоры, например. С одной стороны, общество это понимает, но с другой стороны, оно готово к ответной реакции, которая имеет тенденцию быть отрицательной. Это проявляется, в свою очередь, в использовании дисфемизмов. Таким образом, население дает понять, что им не так легко манипулировать.
Ключевые слова: кризис, манипулирование, творчество, язык, власть.
Placinska A.1, Karapetjana I.2 1,2PhD in Philology, University of Latvia LANGUAGE OF TROUBLED TIMES: CREATIVITY OF MANIPULATION
Abstract
At the beginning of the 21st century, the majority of world's economies experienced a severe economic downturn, which caused a cloud of insecurity and uncertainty in society. These troubled times are characterised by economic instability, political tremor, unemployment, poverty, and inflation, creating disorder in economy, politics, society and human minds. Each crisis mobilizes the creativity of human minds to make use of manipulative forms of power mechanisms, in which language is given a central role, as through it the dominant groups in society try to succeed in persuading subordinate groups to accept their decisions and policies making them appear sensible and systemic and hide the real effects of austerity measures. The article examines the relationship between language and power in two countries having experienced the recent economic crisis: Latvia and Spain. The linguistic means of semantic manipulation in the two countries are similar: they are aimed at a positive representation ofpolitical decisions, achieved with the help of euphemisms, for instance. It can be observed that politicians try to create their own order with the help of language (e.g. metaphors) in order to deal with the chaos caused by the economic downturn. On the one hand, this is acceptable for society; on the other hand, society proves that it is not that easy to manipulate with it. Society's reaction tends to be negative, which is exhibited in the use of dysphemisms. Thus, society proves that it is not that easy to manipulate with it.
Keywords: crisis, manipulation, creativity, language, power.
Почта авторов / Author Email: alla.placinska@lu.lv, indra.karapetjana@lu.lv
1. Background and the Aim of Study
The global credit crunch that peaked in 2008 triggered a serious world recession. The national economies of many countries globally, including Latvia and Spain, were badly affected giving the rise to the austerity policies adopted by the governments in managing the crisis with the help of drastic surgery. Although international finance was an ideal scapegoat, political leaders in problem economies could no longer hide poor long-term economic policy management (e.g. overspending, excessive increases in numbers of public servants) in good times or during the fat years, as it was called in Latvia and Spain1, when a booming economy essentially blinded everyone.
Latvia's economy has recovered after the third epic recession since regaining its independence in 1991, whereas the situation in Spain seems to be still complicated.
2. To what extent can we speak about the language of troubled times as a linguistic phenomenon shared by languages? Can we speak about language as thought control?
Although the Spanish and the Latvian languages are quite different, they belong to the Indo-European language family. The Spanish language is of the Romance, and the Latvian language is of the Baltic branch.
The linguistic determinism view may make us think that belonging to the same language family, although a different branch, and sharing common experience or living through similar events may lead to similarities in thought [9, P. 422]. A question arises to what extent the people of Latvia and Spain having experienced troubled times and especially the recent economic crisis and its aftermath can think and speak similarly.
Political actors seem to believe in the power of language to affect people's thoughts and behaviour. Political discourse relies on the premise that the mechanisms of power are inherent in language and that people's behaviour or perception of certain events can be affected by language; thus, manipulation is possible with word meaning and connotations, especially when people are not aware of being manipulated.
Manipulative discourse is a type of language use, which is produced with an intention to achieve specific goals by retaining some relevant information in a disguised way. This seems to be especially efficient in troubled times, when the use of, for instance, euphemisms or metaphors, makes it difficult for people to comprehend the true information or intentions lying behind the discourse.
Van Dijk contends that manipulation is "a form of social power abuse, cognitive mind control and discursive interaction" [23, P. 359]. This is a form of discourse-based mental influence often achieved through the mass media. The discursive-semiotic manipulation is exercised through written and spoken discourse as well as visual means. This manipulative discourse may lead people to being unable to retrieve the real informative intention of the message, and they may be unable to understand the full consequences or causes of the situation. In light of the recent economic crisis, people may not comprehend that actually the government policies are largely to be blamed for the bad state of the economy, or they may not see the real meaning behind the creative use of language.
3. Political Language and Communication Strategies
Political language is a generic term used to refer to "all types of public, institutional and private talks on political issues, all types of texts typical of politics as well as the use of lexical and stylistic linguistic instruments characterizing talks about political contexts" [27, P. 7055]. Chilton contends that "language and politics are intimately linked at a fundamental level" and that "the doing of politics is predominantly constituted in language" [7, P. 4].
The relationship between the language and politics was already revealed by Plato more than 2000 years ago. The Spanish academician Alvar holds the view that the means of political communication is as old as democracy. He refers to a special metalanguage: "I do not intend to turn politicians in the theoreticians of the language, but we see that the realization of a particular practice is subject to a historical and doctrinal principles that have been repeated for centuries and, thanks to them we have built such a distinct metalanguage and so well characterized, like any other human activity"2 [5, P. 143]
Martínez points out that there is a language of democracy, monarchs, oligarchs, and even a language of tyranny . It should be noted that each historical period and political regime reveals evidence, in particular, in newspapers and magazines, on television, on the radio, and on the Internet. In a democratic country, the mass media are like a football pitch in which opposing opinions and interest clash. It is well-known that the role of the mass media in the formation of public opinion is significant. Importantly, the Internet has given a megaphone to people to voice their views [5, P. 11].
Gutiérrez arrived at a similar conclusion during the 7th International Seminar for Language and Journalism. Referring to Aristotle's rhetoric, Gutiérrez suggested that there are two strategies used by the political power to communicate with society during a crisis: 1) blaming someone else for what is happening; usually it is the former government, 2) assuming the responsibility and offering solutions. This strategy also serves as an excuse for taking tough decisions and their explanation to people [11, P. 2]. The discourse of major power institutions and their representatives during crises is usually carefully thought out, and its main aim is to manipulate with the society's opinion in order to justify unpopular decisions and stay in power.
Westphalen [26, P. 117] mentions the strategies of problem concealment and problem rejection. The application of these strategies can lead to even a more serious conflict and changes in political power. Therefore, political scientists do not recommend using them often. For instance, a lot of people became very angry in a situation when there were already five million unemployed, but Prime Minister Zapatero continued to claim that the country did not have a financial crisis. As a result, his party later lost the election in 20123. Chilton [7, P. 45-461 proposes three strategies: coercion, legitimisation and delegitimisation, and representation and misrepresentation. Although all three are interconnected, the latter strategy is of relevance for this study, as it deals with the control of information in discourse. It is possible to provide information which is quantitatively inadequate to the needs or interests of the addressee. Qualitative misrepresentation comprises "verbal evasion and denial" [7, P. 32]. Chilton claims that "euphemism has the cognitive effect of conceptually 'blurring' or 'defocusing' unwanted referents, be they objects or actions" [7, P. 33 ]. In such a way, addressee's attention is drawn away from troublesome issues. How is this strategy enacted by linguistic choices?
Schaffner's premise that "any political action is prepared, accompanied, controlled and influenced by language" [8, P. 1] shows that politicians often use language to their own advantage in order to influence people's political views and to persuade them of the validity of their claims. This asks for certain creativity. How is it expressed?
4. Definition of Crisis
The Spanish Language Dictionary (DLE) [28] quote that the lexeme CRISIS is derived from Latin and borrowed from Greek (lat. crisis < gr. Kpici^). In Greek, it means a decision taken in a difficult situation or the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease. Since changes in one's health can be both negative and positive, etymologically the noun does not have only a negative connotation, although it dominates. DLE offers seven definitions of the word, starting from a turning point in a disease to a complicated situation [28].
According to the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, the lexeme CRISIS is derived from Greek (lat. crisis < gr. Kpict^) with meanings separate, cut, judge, etc. The word was used in a medical context, where serious illness decided the fate between to live or to die [6, P. 295]. This is essential because these meanings appear later in the meaning network when the use of the word is expanded on social or economic phenomena.
The Latvian Dictionary of Foreign Words mentions that the lexeme krlze (crisis) comes from German (Krise <fr. crise<gr. krisis), and it is defined as a dangerous and complicated situation, an economic situation in which the economy of a country experiences a sudden downturn (e.g. decline in production, rise of unemployment) [1, P. 404].
As we can see, the meaning of the noun crisis is related to both a grave economic situation and serious diseases. Therefore, there is no surprise that many metaphors use the source domain of health/diseases to describe the target domain of economy, as we will see below.
Latvia was affected by financial crises several times in its recent past. The first one was in 1995, when the largest bank in Latvia Banka Baltija collapsed and thousands of people lost their savings. Latvia was also hit by the Russian default in 1998. This affected the people's trust towards banks and the Government's ability to keep the promises of safeguarding their money in banks. The recent crisis in Latvia in 2008, which followed a period of strong expansion of its
economy, brought to collapse the second largest bank Parex Banka, which affected the people's trust in financial institutions.
Spain also faced a traumatic situation in the transition period from the Franco's dictatorship to democracy, called transición (1976-1986), before the recent disruptive economic crisis. It was the period when the political power changed, monarchy was restored, coup d'état, election, and the adoption of a new constitution took place against the background of the economic instability.
The analysis of 5956 Internet user survey data in November and December of 2008 shows that Latvians associated the noun crisis with lack of money, austerity, fear, panic, hopelessness, pessimism, and unemployment [20].
Interestingly, terminology specialists in Latvia tried to find a word with a more positive connotation and created the neologism dizkibele (eminent trouble), which is used as a synonym of the noun crisis. It was perceived like something funny due to the paradoxical combination of the lexemes it is composed of, and people did not want to accept it. Semantically, there is certain dissonance because the adjective dizs refers to something special with a highly positive connotation, while the lexeme kibele is a colloquial word used in domestic problem situations.
5. The Word and Its Semantics: the Case of Euphemisms
Semantic manipulation is a creative way of linguistic manipulation. Since some words or phrases have a negative meaning, those in power will rephrase them in order to change their meaning with an aim to influence people's beliefs and behaviour, thus manipulating them into accepting some ideas which they otherwise would not support. The much cited quote by George Orwell that "political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness" [19, P. 9] is true nowadays as modern languages abound in euphemisms, comprising one of the richest types of semantic change nowadays [25, P. 82].
Euphemisms can be defined as words or phrases that seem positive and likeable, less straightforward and are milder and less harmful than the words and phrases they substitute or the ideas they express. Euphemisms have a double meaning in terms of what the words connote and what they really denote. They connote favourable or acceptable meaning and disguise the real meaning and measures taken.
This may be an explanation of why euphemisms seem so attractive. Modern media texts brim with euphemistic word play: labour flexibility (i.e. changes in the labour market such as restructuring jobs and salaries in response to some economic stimuli); challenging economic environment (i.e. recession), consolidation (i.e. cuts); and structural adjustment (i.e. restoration of financial stability to countries affected by economic crisis with the help of a wide range of policy reforms).
Bold austerity measures were introduced in order to restore fiscal health; however, people were afraid that the treatment was only temporary, fearing that the situation was like a time bomb4. Given the public's mistrust of privatization, liberalization can be used as a euphemism for privatization: liberalizar los mercados, la liberalización contribuye a la reducción de la inflación, la liberalización del sector de las telecomunicaciones5 [12, P. 61]. In Spanish political discourse, there is a tendency to substitute the verb privatizar (to privatize) with liberalizar (to liberalize), when it is about protecting the interests of the private sector, in such a way disguising the real meaning. This is because the verb to liberalize, being connected with freedom and making
something less authoritarian, is perceived in a more positive way than the verb to privatize, which might cause certain dislike.
We can observe similar tendencies in the Latvian language, for instance, energetikas tirgus liberalizacija, telekomunikaciju sektora liberalizacija6. Due to a surfeit of information, which is often presented in a disguised way, many people find it not easy to understand certain government decisions or their causes and consequences; for instance, those on privatisation or liberalization may be mistaken for a consequence of globalisation.
The lexemes AUSTERITY and FISCAL have become buzzwords. Used alone and in nominal groups, they are widely employed by politicians and economists in their discourse, often to manipulate with the word semantics. Being aware of the unpopularity of the measures taken, which lead to the increase of unemployment and poverty, as well as cuts to the education and social sectors, politicians and economists resort to such words as fiscal austerity, fiscal consolidation, fiscal policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal sustainability, fiscal challenges, austerity measures, austerity programme, which are soft-sounding political language means.
It has been proved by various studies that fiscal consolidation has had "significant distributional effects by raising inequality, decreasing wage income shares and increasing long-term unemployment" [3]. These studies suggest that fiscal consolidation measures are typically associated with an increase in poverty and income inequality. For instance, leaders of the world's major economies in a meeting in Toronto in 2010 endorsed an official announcement, recognising that countries experiencing significant fiscal challenges would need to "accelerate the pace of consolidation" (7). The noun phrase fiscal challenges is also used in the Latvian language. When discussing the year 2009 results, which were said to be better than expected, it is stated that Latvijai prieksa vel lieli fiskalie izaicinajumi (8). The connotation of the lexeme AUSTERITY, which means "astetic practices, economies" [21, P. 65], is strict self-discipline, forcing people to adopt austerity measures, which in many cases have affected the middle class and the working class rather than those who control wealth and power, that is the ruling classes. In reality, the lexeme AUSTERITY equals the poverty of the people affected.
In Latvia, fiskali taupibas pasakumi (fiscal austerity) means fiscal consolidation in connection with tax rate changes, pay cuts in the public sector and cuts in government spending. In Spain, austeridad means budget consolidation, pay cuts in the public sector and tax increase.
According to Lagunilla [12, P. 62], each word can be politicized, for instance transición, modernización, solidaridad, reforma, cambio9. These words possess strong emotional force and are broadly used in political rhetoric. This often leads to the changes in the semantic field of the word. For example, the noun cambio (change) is often used by politicians "we are for changes; we are waiting for changes; vote for changes" [12, P. 22]. In Spain, the noun cambio (changes) was first used by The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party during the pre-election campaign in 1982 in their fight against the right-wing People's Party, in order to avoid using the noun revolución (revolution), which seemed to be too extreme and categorical: Por el cambio (For changes). The People's Party used Voto del cambio (Vote for changes) in the 2015 - 2016 election, offering people to vote for economic changes and the stabilization of the situation10. During the Franco regime, the word huelga [strike] was
forbidden; therefore, such euphemisms as conflicos colectivos, anormalidades laborales, inasistencias al trabajo, ausencias injustificadas, paros parciales, abandonos colectivos, paros voluntarios, irregularidades laborales, fricciones sociales11 etc., were used. [13, P. 43-44]
Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy tries to avoid the use of the noun rescate (rescue) by using apoyo financiero (financial assistance) or some other words so that the Spanish nation does not have an impression that the state has reached a deadlock. There are other euphemistic expressions which characterise the present Spanish government, for instance, fuga de cerebros (brain drain) is substituted for the obscure movilidad exterior (external mobility )12.
The last example to be mentioned in this context is the lexeme REFORM (i.e. reforma, reforma). The lexeme REFORMA [6, P. 902] is derived from Latin reformare and means "make again, improve". An example of money reform is given. The Latvian Dictionary of Foreign Words explains that the lexeme REFORMA is derived from fr. réforme It has to be mentioned that Latvia has experienced painful money reforms, which largely contributes to the rather negative attitude of the majority of population towards the introduction of the euro. Latvians lost a good part of their savings during the monetary reform in 1961 and as a result of the Soviet monetary reform of 1991. In 1992, Latvia was affected by the inflation of the Russian rouble. As a result, a temporary currency - the Latvian rublis (LVR) (widely known as repsiki, named after then governor of the Central Bank, Einars Repse) was introduced in May, 1992. The national currency lats was reintroduced in 1993, replacing the LVR at a rate of 1 lat = 200 LVR. That triggered people's mistrust and negative associations with any money related reforms. Although the euro changeover was not a currency reform, the fact that the lat was of higher value than the euro, made people think that prices in euro were higher than in lats.
Thus, although the definition does not emphasize a negative shade of meaning, a negative connotation of the lexeme REFORM dominates in Latvia. The mass media language responds to topicalities and the changes in the political system. In relation to money reforms, Urbanovica [22, P. 42] gives an example of paronomasia, which, as an effective phonetic stylistic device used in ancient oratory and folklore, includes language units similar in sound but different in meaning. For instance, the linguist mentions an example of wordplay in a commentary to an article on the devaluation of the lat by the journalist Lato Lapsa. Lata devalvacija - Lato devalvacija - Lapsas devalvacija, Lato Lapsa vainlgs (devaluation of the lat - Lato devaluation -Lapsa's devaluation, Lato Lapsa is guilty).
In the 1990s, after the restoration of independence in Latvia, reforms in order to switch from socialism and communism to capitalism and democracy respectively had to be implemented. The first years of independence were painful due to the reforms which hit hard on common people's wallets. At that time, despite the experienced difficulties, people were aware of the necessity of the reforms. However, a different situation was observed during the introduced structural reforms (strukturalas reformas) of the recent economic crisis. In order to tackle key macro-structural bottlenecks, comprehensive structural reforms were introduced, and the painful austerity measures hit the majority of Latvians hard.
The Spanish Language Dictionary (DLE) points at the Latin origin of the lexeme REFORM and offers four definitions: 1) action and effect of reform or be reformed, 2) what is proposed, planned or executed as innovation or
improvement in something, 3) reformed religion, 4) religious movement that began in the sixteenth century and led to the formation of Protestant churches [28].
In Spain, the lexeme REFORM possesses a very strong ideological connotation, but its emotional aspect has been changing. The Spanish citizens exhibited a high level of support and commitment for the political reforms carried out in Spain in the 1980s because a new democratic country's structure was proposed and a door opened for parliamentary democracy and a multi-party system. However, the 20092012 structural reforms were associated with unemployment and decay.
6. The Word and Its Semantics: The Case of Metaphor
The theory of metaphor can be traced back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle [2]. His comparison theory of metaphor suggests that there is an analogy between two dissimilar things or notions, and the metaphor is used for the purposes of style. Lakoff and Johnson's seminal work Metaphors we live by has proposed a different approach to the study of metaphor, known as the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. They argue that "metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, [and] not just in language but in thought and action" [14, P. 195-196]. In the theory, metaphor is defined in the light of understanding one conceptual domain (the target domain, which is usually more abstract) in terms of another conceptual domain (the source domain, which is usually more concrete).
Lagunilla emphasizes the persuasive power of metaphor in political communication: "because of metaphor's inherent ambiguity and its expressive and persuasive power"13 [13, P. 49]. Metaphor can be a manipulation means of social cognition [17, P. 14-24]; it is a unique cognitive device that shapes social thought and affects social information processing [15, P. 1].
In the language of politics and economics, creation of a new meaning of words with the help of metaphors is customary in Spain: congelar los salarios (to frozen salaries), blanqueo de capitales (money laundering), aterrizaje suave (soft landing), enfriamiento (cooling), sobrecalentamiento o recalentamiento de la economía (overheating the economy), depresión (depression), recuperación (recovery), crecimiento (growth), tregua (ceasefire), and guerra informativa (information war), síntomas de la crisis (crisis symptoms) [13, P. 45].
The use of metaphors is also wide-spread in the production of political meanings in Latvia, which reflect the topicalities of the historical period; for example, iesaldet algas (to frozen salaries), noziedzigi iegütu lidzeklu legalizacija (money laundering,), miksta piezemesanas (soft landing), ekonomikas parkarsana (overheating the economy), and atveselosanas (recovery). In the 1990s, which is the period when Latvia regained independence, metaphors with mostly negative connotation were used, e.g. sarkanie baroni, (red barons), laca pakalpojums (bear's service), bananu republika (banana republic), and politiskas marionetes (political marionettes). Many metaphors used in 2007 have become clichés, for instance, the noun phrase dargie aizgajeji (the dear deceased) is used to refer not only to the people who have passed away, but also the ministers who have resigned and received a golden handshake. When adopting the year 2009 budget, metaphors arising from treknie gadi (fat years) used by Prime Minister Kalvitis in his 2007 New Year's address to the nation can be found: treknie solijumi (fat promises), treknie politiki (fat politicians), and kartejas (un pedejas) atraugas (recurrent (and last) belching).
Therefore, the year 2010 was named as liess cauraudzitis (lean streaky bacon) [16, P. 153-154]. Since then the adjective trekns (fat) has been used metaphorically to refer to the politicians who have managed to keep their power using all kinds of means. It is argued that "recurrent metaphors are embedded in languages and cultures and depend both on the human conceptual system and on cultural systems" [8, P. 320]. Thus, people's reasoning is metaphorical. On the one hand, human experience can be seen as culture-specific; on the other hand - universal since there are elements common to all cultures acquired through human history and common events.
Metaphorical reasoning is observed in both languages. The crisis is often viewed as illness, and the economically troubled and enfeebled countries have been proposed treatments: they have been offered therapy in terms of close monitoring of the countries' budgets and economies by the European Commission, which would serve as long-term prevention.
Numerous examples of metaphors in which the target domain is political or economic life and the source domain is the functioning of human body can be found. The use of the metaphoric expressions in Latvian and Spanish the symptoms of crisis (krlzes simptomi, síntomas de la crisis), economic recovery (ekonomikas atveselosana, recuperación económica) (the conceptual metaphor CRISIS IS ILLNESS) below exemplify their use: En política, como en medicina, es preciso, lo primero de todo, limpiar la herida para examinarla, conocer su alcance, su gravedad,y sus amenazas14. Likumsakarlgas saja situacija ir arvalstis un iekszeme verojamas bazas par krizes simptomu merogiem un talako attistibu15. In the article, Krizes domasana (i.e. Crisis Thinking), the author Procevska [20] concludes that the use of the word crisis shows that Latvians prefer tolerating the crisis to taking action. They perceive the crisis as a storm cloud, which cannot be struggled with or a cold, which must be cured. The author has analysed 346 texts produced by journalists, expert bloggers and readers in November and December, 2008, in which the noun crisis appears. The conclusion was drawn that one of the most frequently used groups of expressions (in total 76 times) is related to a crisis as illness, for instance pardzivot krizi, just krizi, krizes simptomi (to endure the crisis, to feel the crisis, symptoms of crisis). The author infers that Latvians are ready to wait for the crisis to finish rather than take action.
Both Latvian and Spanish metaphors manifest a similar tendency: they tend to conceptualize economic and political problems in terms of illnesses.
7. Polemic of society
Verbal reaction of society is manifested in polemic with the ruling power on television, in the press, and on the Internet, the latter being the most popular means. This can be due to the anonymous, faceless nature of the Internet, which allows people to be more open, even impudent, sometimes hostilely refuting a specific statement or opinion. Let us consider the example below published online on 21 April, 2012:
Sra. Ministra Ana Mato, no queremos tus disculpas, queremos que tú y tú gobierno aplique la solución de los más de 70.000 mil millones de fraude fiscal que evaden de este país España y vosotr@s no hacéis nada de nada y sabedores, te pedimos más transparencia, más generosidad, más profesionalidad, más honestidad y en definitiva más PATRIA. Basta Ya, con este dinero que no se recauda no habría más16, 17. Addressing the minister by name, a warning as if is issued: (The Honourable Madam, we would like to
inform you that the people do not need apologies; they want action in the fight against corruption and fraud). Further on, using the dysphemism sabedores (know-alls) and fraude fiscal (tax fraud), the ruling group is being reproached for doing nothing, being absolutely unprofessional and dishonest. The use of Basta Ya (that's enough now) puts an end to the comment on the Internet.
An interesting phenomenon can be observed in the comment above: at the beginning, the minister is addressed using the formal singular form of the second person pronoun you (Sra. ministra), but later the familiar singular form of you tu is used. The T-V distinction between the familiar and formal is also present in the plural forms: vosotros/as and Ustedes. Since Spaniards are quite formal, the members of parliament generally use the formal singular form Usted because this allows them to keep their distance and to prevent a debate from turning into a quarrel. As we can see, an attempt is made on the Internet to keep the distance; however, emotions take over and the author resorts to the familiar singular form.
The verbal reactions in the Latvian language are also colourful. For instance, in a comment posted to Neatkariga Rita Avize on December 30, 2010 in reply to the article entitled "Dombrovskis: Visticamak, 2013. un 2014. gada fiskala konsolidacija vairs nebus nepieciesama"18, we can read: "Dombrovski, vai tev vienreiz nav pasam apriebies melot [...] Derdzas klausities to fiskalo konsolidaciju! Vai tu vel kadu citu vardu savienojumu ari zini?"19.
In this comment, we can observe characteristic structures which show a negative attitude exhibited with the help of the address form (using only the surname without a job title (i.e. Prime Minister) or a title prefixing a person's name (Mr.), which is a serious faux pas; the question forms which exhibit dissatisfaction, as well as a direct accusation of lying. Besides, Mr Dombrovskis is addressed using the second person pronoun forms tu and tev (you). It must be noted that the Latvian language uses the singular/plural distinction to differentiate between the familiar form tu (you), used among social equals and intimates and superiors to inferiors, and the formal address form jus (you), used by inferiors to superiors and amongst strangers.
A concrete term can be also used in the plural to describe the whole set of enemies. Attributing individual characteristics to a larger group of people is more effective: spies, Judas, traitors, pathological liars, charlatans, and clowns.
Besides, not all the words used in the function of dysphemism have a negative connotation. Such words as dog, Asian, liberal, owner have a neutral meaning, but used in specific situations, they acquire negative connotations.
In a comment posted to Latvijas avize on November 14, 2013 in a reply to the article entitled "Dzive ir daudz plasaka par budzetu. Saruna ar Valdi Dombrovski20 a person uses several dysphemisms: Mr Dombrovskis is called nodevejs [ a traitor of the Latvian people ] and his center-right Unity party is called sieva [woman] (the meaning of the noun sieva is generally positive). This is followed by the dysphemism baba, which is a vulgar use of the noun woman. The author is aware of the negative connotation and apologizes [piedodiet] for this use.
8. Times are changing. Is the language changing?
In a voluminous study devoted to the role of language and its peculiarities in the transition period from the Franco dictatorship to a democratic state in Spain, its authors emphasize the fact that upon a changing regime or a historical period in a country, the words and terms typical of
the previous regime disappear; it does not happen overnight but over a period of time [5, P. 147].
The Franco regime and its language can be characterised as authoritarian, the glorification of caudillo and the humiliation of the people who think otherwise. Therefore, such words as lealtad, adhesión, glorioso, masones, judíos, dos bandos, patria, and subversióncan21 be considered the markers of that time, as they characterize the reality very well. As of 1976, other words depicting the new reality have been foregrounded: peculiaridad de las regiones, diálogo, moral civil, ética civil, divorcio, huelga, and elecciones22. [5, P. 130]
In 1977, when the Suárez's government experienced a deep crisis, and the situation in Madrid was very tense, the president delivered a speech, which did not say anything concrete, but owing to its rhetoric, which was based on the antithesis and repetition of two words nada (nothing) and todo (everything), provided a sense of security to people and the conviction about their strength. Terms from the old regime, for example subversión, unidad nacional, provocaciones, Patria (subversion, national unity, provocations, motherland) as well terms typical of the new regime diálogo, la vida ciudadana, peculiaridad de las regiones, oposición política23 were used.
Generally, it can be observed that the markers of the recent economic crisis in Latvia and in Spain are the same: fiskala konsolidacija/consolidación fiscal (fiscal consolidation), taupiba/austeridad (austerity), ienemumi un izdevumi/ingresos y gastos (income and expenditure), kredits/crédito (credit), strukturalas reformas/reformas estructurales (structural reforms), and budzeta konsolidacija/consolidación del presupuesto (consolidation of budget).
The majority of terms have appeared in the Latvian and Spanish languages (although the majority of words are of Latin origin) from the English language due to the language contacts in the form of borrowings, for instance, inflacija/ inflación (inflation), konsolidacija/consolidación (consolidation), arejais tirdzniecibas deficits/ /deficit exterior (foreign trade deficit), strukturalas reformas/reformas estructurales (structural reforms).
9. Conclusions
The aim of the this study was to compare the discourse of politicians as well as the verbal reaction of society to the verbal camouflage of politicians during the recent economic crisis against the background of the broader socio-economic transformations in Latvia and Spain.
We must agree with Crystal [9, P. 291] that it is difficult to prove that the language determines our world-view. However, it seems that the claim that the experienced troubled times may lead to similarities in thought and, subsequently, in language use has been elucidated. Troubled times create disorder in economy, politics, society and human minds, which is reflected in a creative use of language.
The present cross-linguistic research discovered a number of substantial similarities between the Latvian and Spanish languages during troubled times. Language manifests itself not only through the changes in thinking, but also through the changes in society. Similar changes cause similar phenomena in different languages in the form of a creative use of language: words are replaced by more agreeable ones. Their replacement with euphemistic and metaphoric words is one of the means which exhibits the semantic change of words. The peculiar terminology of troubled times has become so pervasive that it is often easy to overlook its euphemistic and metaphoric roots.
Euphemism used to disguise negative information is by far the most widely used manipulation device on the lexical and semantic level. Euphemisms act largely as noxious clouds which tend to conceal a direct impact on our lives. Their function is concealing something unpleasant, and as such they allow for the manipulation with the minds of people. Manipulation takes place when the addressee is unable to recover a clear informative meaning or intention of the message concealed with the help of euphemistic and metaphoric expressions.
Similar metaphoric reasoning related to troubled times is manifested in both languages. However, it has to be admitted that some metaphors can be culture-specific due to different historical experience.
The society's reaction in Latvia and Spain is similar. It manifests itself in the expression of dissatisfaction and polemic with the political actors, where offences and criticism are not softened. This is evidenced through dysphemisms, as well as a familiar style of language used on purpose to hostilely refute a specific statement, which is largely possible due to the facelessness of the Internet.
Each crisis mobilizes the creativity of human minds, and although the economy continues to work itself out of troubled times, the communication strategies of political actors with society seem to remain the same: they are aimed at controlling information in discourse, which is often qualitatively misrepresented, often leading to problematic inferences and diverting society's attention from troublesome issues. "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time" (Abraham Lincoln).
Notes
1 LV treknie gadi - EN fat years, ES los años de las vacas gordas - EN _ fat pigs' years.
2 Translated by the authors.
3 Based on data from <http://www.abc.es/economia/abci-paro-subio-45-millones-gonzalez-y-zapatero-y-bajo-19-aznar -y-rajoy-201510272118 noticia.html>, accessed: 22.11.2016.
4 EN time bomb - ES bombas de relojería, LV bumba ar laika degli. Based on data from <http://zagarins.net/kjl/ teksti/2009/kjl072409htm.htm>, accessed: 05.11.2016
5 EN liberalize markets, liberalization contributes to the reduction of inflation, liberalization of the telecommunications sector.
6 EN electricity market liberalization, telecommunications market liberalization.
7 Based on data from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/10430527>, accessed: 05.11.2016
8 EN Latvia will live a big fiscal challenges. Based on data from <http://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/svf-velesanu-gaisotne-rada-riskus-pec-velesanam-bus-turpmaka-fiskala-korigesana.d?id=30635091#ixzz3gA1GNmIr>, accessed: 05.11.2016
9 EN transition, modernization, solidarity, reform, changes.
10 See <http://www.expansion.com/economia/politica/ elecciones-generales/2015/12/18/5673dc61268e3ee9718b46 bb.html>, accessed: 29.10.2016.
11 EN collective conflicts, labor abnormalities, absences from work, unjustified absences, partial work stoppages, collective dropouts, voluntary work stoppages, labor irregularities, social frictions.
12 See <http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1516871/0/ eufemismos/rescate/ gobierno-rajoy/>, accessed 29.10.2016.
13 Translated by the authors.
14 EN In politics, like in medicine, it is necessary, _ first of all, to clean the wound to examine it, to know its power, its severity, and its threats, - based on data from <http ://estaticos.elmundo.es/documentos/2012/02/19/discurso rajoy.pdf.>, accessed: 02.11.2016.
15 EN Concerns in home countries and the countries abroad about the scope and further development of the symptoms of crisis are natural, - based on data from <http ://www. diena. lv/cilveki-velas-valdibu-kura-vinus-vestu-cauri-sai-krizei-642769>, accessed:02.11.2016.
16 EN Ms. Minister Ana Mato, we do not want your apologies, we want you and your government to solve the situation with more than 70,000 billion tax fraud in Spain, and you do nothing. and you know-alls, we ask you more transparency, more generosity, more professionalism, more honesty and, in short, more PATRIA. That's enough now, with this money that is not collected, there would be no more.
Quoted from <http://www.heraldo.es/multimedia/ videos/v deos del a/2012/11/21/pitada marea naranja_mar ea_blanca ana mato.html>, accessed: 02.09.2016.
18 EN Dombrovskis: It is most likely that fiscal consolidation will not be required in 2013 and 2014.
19 EN Dombrovski, aren't you tired of lying? I am _ fed up with this fiscal consolidation. Don't you know another word combination?
20 EN Life is much larger than budget. Talk with Valdis Dombrovskis
21 EN loyalty, adhesion, glorious, Freemasons, Jews, both sides, motherland, subversion.
22 EN peculiarity of the regions, dialogue, civil moral, civil ethics, divorce, strike, elections.
23 EN dialogue, civic life, peculiarities of the regions, political opposition.
Список литературы / References
1. Andersone I. Ilustreta svesvardu vardnica / I. Andersone, I. Cernevska, I. Kalnina - Riga : Izdevnieclba Avots, 2005.
2. Aristotle. Poetics and rhetoric / Aristotle ; Translated by S. H. Butcher, W. R. Roberts. - NY : Barnes & Noble Classics. (Original work circa 335 B.C.E.), New York, 2006.
3. Ball L. The Distributional Effects of Fiscal Consolidation [Electronic resource] / L. Ball, D. Furceri, D. Leigh, L. Prakash. - URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2292338 (accessed: 22.11. 2016.)
4. Barros García P. La interacción conversacional: actitud y lenguaje / P. Barros García // Estudios de Filología hispánica I / ed. artínez González A. - Granada : Universidad de Granada, 1996.
5. La lengua, compañera de la transición política española / G. Bartolomé Martínez, M. Beltrán Gandullo, I. Blanco Alfonso, J. Cantavella Blasco, P. Fernández Martínez, J. R. Vilamor, ed. J. R. Vilamor, - Madrid : Editorial Fragua, 2006.
6. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology / Ed. by Robert. K. Barnhart - Edinburgh : Chambers, 2000.
7. Chilton P. Analysing Political Discourse Theory and Practice / P. Chilton. - London : Routledge, 2004.
8. Chilton P. Editorial: political speeches and discourse analysis / P. Chilton, C. Schaffner // Current Issues in Language & Society - 1996. - Vol.3. - P.201-204.
9. Crystal D. A. Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics 6th Edition Crystal / D. A. Crystal - Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, 2008.
10. Dreimanis A. Finansu heroins 2013[Interneta resurss] / A. Dreimanis - URL: http://www.rigaslaiks.lv/Raksts.aspx?year=2013&month=2&article=21 (accessed: 21.10. 2016).
11. El lenguaje de la crisis. Conclusiones del VIII Seminario Internacional se Lengua y Periodismo / San Millan de la Cogolla. 16-17 de mayo de 2013 [Recurso de internet] - URL: http://www.cilengua.es/sites/cilengua.es/files/page/docs/conclusiones_sm_2013.pdf (accessed: 22.11.2016).
12. Fernández Lagunilla M. La lengua de la comunicación política I. El discurso del poder / M. Fernández Lagunilla ; ed. By M. Fernández Lagunilla - Madrid : Arco/Libros.S.L., [1999] 2009.
13. Fernández Lagunilla M. La lengua de la comunicación política II: la palabra del poder / M. Fernández Lagunilla. -Madrid : Arco/Libros.S.L., 1999.
14. Lakoff G. Metaphors we live by / G. Lakoff, M. Johnson - London : The University of Chicago Press, [1980], 2003.
15. Landau Mark J. A Metaphor-Enriched Social Cognition. Psychological Bulletin / J. Landau Mark, P. Meier Brian, A. Keefer Lucas. - Advance online publication. - doi: 10.1037/a0020970 (accessed: 06.09.2016).
16. Liepa D. Latvijas preses valoda / D. Liepa. - Riga : LU Latviesu valodas institüts, 2011.
17. Liepa D. Metaforu lietojums prese / D. Liepa // Valoda: nozime un forma. Plassazinas lidzeklu valoda ed. by Lokmane - Riga : LU Akademiskais apgads, 2009.
18. Estudios de filología hispánica (Estudios lingüísticos y literarios) / Ed. by A. Martínez Conzáles. - Granada : Universidad de Granada,1996.
19. Orwell G. Politics and the English Language / G. Orwell. - Peterborough : Broadview Press, [1946] 2006.
20. Procevska O. Krizes domasana [Interneta resurss] / O. Procevska. - URL: http://www.diena.lv/krizes-domasana-653586 (accessed 20.03.2016)
21. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary / Ed. by W. R. Trumble, L. Brown. - USA : Oxford University Press, 2002
22. Urbanovica I. Paronomaze ka stilistisks panemiens publicistika / I. Urbanovica // Valoda: nozime un forma. Plassazinas lidzeklu valoda / red. I. Lokmane. - Riga : LU Akademiskais apgads, 2009.
23. Van Dijk T.A. Discourse and manipulation / T.A. Van Dijk // Discourse & Society / ed. by Van Dijk. - 2006. - Vol 17(2) - P. 359-383.
24. Van Dijk T.A. Discourse and Politics in Discourse Studies. A Multidisciplinary Introduction / ed.by T.A. Van Dijk -London : Sage, 2009.
25. Veisbergs A. English and Latvian Word Formation Compared / A. Veisbergs - Riga : UL Press, 2013.
26. Westphalen M. H. Communicator: Le guide de la communicatione d'enteprise / M. H. Westphalen. - Paris : Dunod, 1998.
27. Wodak R. Language and Politics / R. Wodak // Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics / Ed. by K. Brown. -Amsterdam : Elsevier Ltd, 2006.
28. The Spanish Language Dictionary [Electronic resource] - URL: http://www.rae.es (accessed: 23.09.2016).
Список литературы на английском / References in English
1. Andersone I. Ilustreta svesvardu vardnica [Illustrated Dictionary of Foreign Words] / I. Andersone, I. Chernevska, I. Kalnina. - Riga: Publishing Avots, 2005. [in Latvian]
2. Aristotle. Poetics and rhetoric / Aristotle ; Translated by S. H. Butcher, W. R. Roberts. - NY : Barnes & Noble Classics. (Original work circa 335 B.C.E.), New York, 2006.
3. Ball L. The Distributional Effects of Fiscal Consolidation [Electronic resource] / L. Ball, D. Furceri, D. Leigh, L. Prakash. - URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2292338 (accessed: 22.11. 2016.)
4. Barros Garcia P. La interacción conversacional: actitud y lenguaje.[ Conversational interaction: attitude and language] / P. Barros Garcia // Estudios de Filología hispánica I.[Studies of Hispanic Philology I], ed. by Martinez Gonzalez A. - Granada : University of Granada, 1996 [in Spanish].
5. La lengua, compañera de la transición política española [The language, companion of the Spanish political transition] / G. Bartolome Martinez, M. Beltran Gandullo, I. Blanco Alfonso, J. Cantavella Blasco, P. Fernandez Martínez, J. R. Vilamor, ed. J. R. Vilamor. - Madrid: Editorial Fragua, 2006 [in Spanish].
6. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology / Ed. by Robert. K. Barnhart - Edinburgh : Chambers, 2000.
7. Chilton P. Analysing Political Discourse Theory and Practice / P. Chilton. - London : Routledge, 2004.
8. Chilton P. Editorial: political speeches and discourse analysis / P. Chilton, C. Schaffner // Current Issues in Language & Society - 1996. - Vol.3. - P.201-204.
9. Crystal D. A. Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics 6th Edition Crystal / D. A. Crystal - Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, 2008.
10. Dreimanis A. Finansu heroins 2013[Financial heroin] [Electronic resource] / A. Dreimanis. - URL: http://www.rigaslaiks.lv/Raksts.aspx?year=2013&month=2&article=21 (accessed: 21.10. 2016). [in Latvian]
11. El lenguaje de la crisis. Conclusiones del VIII Seminario Internacional se Lengua y Periodismo.[The language of the crisis. Conclusions of the VIII International Seminar on Language and Journalism] / San Millan de la Cogolla, 2013, May, 16-17. [Electronic resource] - URL: http://www.cilengua.es/sites/cilengua.es/files/page/docs/conclusiones_sm_2013.pdf (accessed: 22.11.2016). [in Spanish].
12. Fernandez Lagunilla M. La lengua de la comunicación política I. El discurso del poder [The language of political communication I: The discourse of power] / M. Fernandez Lagunilla ; ed. By M. Fernandez Lagunilla - Madrid : Arco/Libros.S.L., [1999]2009. [in Spanish].
13. Fernandez Lagunilla M. La lengua de la comunicación política II: la palabra del poder. [The language of political communication II: the word of power.] / M. Fernandez Lagunilla. - Madrid : Arco/Libros.S.L., 1999. [in Spanish].
14. Lakoff G. Metaphors we live by / G. Lakoff, M. Johnson - London : The University of Chicago Press, [1980], 2003.
15. Landau Mark J. A Metaphor-Enriched Social Cognition. Psychological Bulletin / J. Landau Mark, P. Meier Brian, A. Keefer Lucas. - Advance online publication. - doi: 10.1037/a0020970 (accessed: 06.09.2016).
16. Liepa D. Latvijas preses valoda [Latvian Language of the Press] / D. Liepa. - Riga : LU Latvian language institute, 2011. [in Latvian]
17. Liepa D. Metaforu lietojums prese [Use of metaphor in the press] / D. Liepa. // Valoda: nozime un forma. Plassazinas lidzeklu valoda [Language: meaning and form. Media language] / Ed. by Lokmane - Riga : LU Academic publishing house, 2009. [in Latvian]
18. Estudios de filología hispánica (Estudios lingüísticos y literarios) [Studies of Hispanic Philology (Linguistic and Literary Studies)] / Ed. by A. Martinez Conzales. - Granada : University of Granada,1996. [in Spanish].
19. Orwell G. Politics and the English Language / G. Orwell. - Peterborough : Broadview Press, [1946] 2006.
20. Procevska O. Krlzes domasana [Crisis thinking] [Electronic resource] / O. Procevska. - URL: http://www.diena.lv/krizes-domasana-653586 (accessed: 20.03.2016).
21. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary / Ed. by W. R. Trumble, L. Brown. - USA : Oxford University Press, 2002
22. Urbanovica I. Paronomaze ka stilistisks panemiens publicistika [Paronomaze as a stylistic technique journalism] / I. Urbanovica // Valoda: nozime un forma. Plassazinas lidzeklu valoda [Language: meaning and form. Media language] / Ed. by Lokmane. - Riga : LU Academic publishing house, 2009. [in Latvian]
23. Van Dijk T.A. Discourse and manipulation / T.A. Van Dijk // Discourse & Society / ed. by Van Dijk. - 2006. - Vol 17(2) - P. 359-383.
24. Van Dijk T.A. Discourse and Politics in Discourse Studies. A Multidisciplinary Introduction / ed.by T.A. Van Dijk -London : Sage, 2009.
25. Veisbergs A. English and Latvian Word Formation Compared / A. Veisbergs - Riga : UL Press, 2013.
26. Westphalen M.H. Communicator: Le guide de la communicatione d'enteprise [Communicator: The guide of the communicatione corporate] / M. H. Westphalen. - Paris : Dunod, 1998. [in French]
27. Wodak R. Language and Politics / R. Wodak // Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics / Ed. by K. Brown. -Amsterdam : Elsevier Ltd, 2006.
28. The Spanish Language Dictionary [Electronic resource] - URL: http://www.rae.es (accessed: 23.09.2016).
