Scottish Regionalist Discourse in British Press

Abstract

The article is devoted to the Scottish regionalist discourse in the British quality press. The period from the time of the referendum on independence in 2014 till 2019 is covered. Regionalist discourse is considered as an object of linguistic study. The definition of the term regionalist discourse as a kind of political discourse is proposed. The framework for the study of regional discourse from the standpoint of political linguistics is given. With the help of semantic-stylistic and discursive analysis the specific characteristics inherent in the Scottish regionalist media discourse are revealed. The latter include metaphorization based on both universal and culturally specific images, as well as a philological vertical context. The functions of metaphor in political discourse are briefly clarified. The author analyzes the universal metaphor of the divorce process and the cultural-specific metaphor based on the colour symbolism and cultural reference. Particular attention is paid to the geographical marking of the border between North and South in the Scottish regionalist discourse. The potential of historical and philological vertical context is discussed. Communicative strategies of appeal to the authority of Scottish literary figures (R. Burns, W. Scott, R. L. Stevenson) are revealed. The stylistic potential of Scottish dialect inclusions in the English text is considered.

Keywords

• vertical context
• media discourse
• metaphor
• political discourse
• regionalism
• regionalist discourse
• scottish dialect
• scotland