<i>BEAR</i> IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE
The article is devoted to the analysis of the functioning of the “bear” lexeme in modern mass media. In the modern Russian society the mass media discourse is closely interwoven with that of politics. Therefore, the study on the usage of the word “a bear” in modern mass media will allow to delineate the semiotic space of this sign in new social conditions. The aim of our study is to analyze the metaphorical semantic of the lexeme “a bear” in the political discourse and to identify its semiotic meanings. Methods of contextual analysis and modeling are used in the work, as well as the method of culturological interpretation of metaphors. The characteristics are based on the study of texts from mass media and Internet resources. The author proceeds from the well-known theoretical positions that traditional Russian zoomorphic metaphors are actively used in political discourse. And the metaphors of all frames of the cognitive model «the politics is a world of animals» have a mostly negative connotation and aggressive pragmatic potential. As a result of the analysis of semantic and pragmatic aspects of the “bear” lexeme, it was possible to establish that this lexeme is multifunctional in political discourse. It is a symbolic signal which is associated with the image of Russia, combines the meanings of two homonyms, meanwhile nominating political party "United Russia" and its members, but also including the connotations of primary importance.