CONFLICT-BASED STRATEGY OF SELF-REPRESENTATION IN THE UK PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES

Abstract

This article deals with the peculiarities of the conflict-based self-representation strategy within the political interactions in the UK parliamentary debates. Conflict-based communicative interaction presupposes the choice of certain strategies and tactics to represent face-threatening acts towards the opponents of political communication and face-saving acts in presenting the positive traits and actions of the communicants in the UK parliamentary debates. This type of interaction involves confrontation between the government and the opposition. Despite the fact that the final goals of the communicants in the parliamentary debates correspond in solving the existing social, political, economic and other issues of the domestic and international status, actions, views and interests of the debates’ participants considerably differ and do not overlap. This leads to the conflicts in the political communications. This research considers parliamentary debates as a genre type that form a complex hierarchical system of communicants’ interaction. The communicants in the debates use various strategies and tactics to reach maximum effect in parliamentary communication. Comprehensive analysis of self-representation strategy realized via the tactics of professionalism demonstration, disbalancing, agitation in the interactions of the communicants within the scope of the political discourse of the UK parliamentary debates stipulates the understanding of the effectiveness of communicative processes in the political life of the country. The research of its verbal representation demonstrates the effectiveness of usage of various communicative moves, speech acts and performatives to intensify and deepen the argumentation of the political speeches in the UK parliament. Here the specific language and stylistic means used by the participants to discredit opponents during the meetings of the UK House of Commons in the post-Thatcher period are highlighted.