Cultural Associations in the Italian-Language Media as a Means of Audience Manipulation by Right-Wing and Centre-Right Politicians
The article studies culture-specific elements in the Italian-speaking media space in the field of political communication. The aim of the study is to identify culture-specific elements in the political discourse of Italy, as well as to analyze the mechanisms of manipulating the audience of these elements as means of appealing to traditional values in order to win the support of the mass voter. The research material includes Parliamentary speeches, interviews on major TV channels and news agencies, transcripts of talk shows, as well as comments and posts on social networking sites. The method of continuous sampling, discourse analysis and thematic monitoring of political discourse are used as research methods in the study. The following common features of the Italian-language political discourse have been singled out: the declamatory style of speech of politicians and journalists, the ability to present ideas in the form of slogans, high expressiveness of speech behavior during communication with voters, and “democratization” of communication through the use of social networking sites. As a result of the study, it has been found that the Italian language political discourse abounds in cultural invocations that are fully understandable only to the members of Italian or “Latin” culture, the use of which is aimed at gaining consensus among the mass addressee. The analysis of political discourse from the point of view of culture-specific elements can contribute to a more critical reading of the pledges and promises of Italian politicians and a more accurate understanding of the true intentionality of the discursive practice they create.