Magical Discursive Practices in Russian Public Discourse

Abstract

The article examines the discursive practices of modern Russian public discourse, which includes political communication as a necessary part. The author considers first of all those discursive practices and the corresponding speech acts that are magical in nature. Such types of speech acts are proposed to be called “the acts of magical embodiment”. The pronunciation of the act of magical embodiment leads to a change in the world, resulting from the release of mystic forces associated with both the speaker’s supernatural abilities and the participation of mysterious forces. Among the acts of magical embodiment, there are vows, curses, tabooing and overcoming the taboos (use of euphemisms and concealment), prohibitions, benevolence, spells, and others. The use of magical practices in public discourse has a long tradition in political communication, especially in the creation of slogans. In modern public communication, many speech practices of magical nature have a legal basis. Current practice suggests that every mention of a prohibited political actor is accompanied by an indication of the prohibition. The curse as an act of magical embodiment sometimes adjoins the practice of imposing restrictions on “foreign agents”. Concealment (tabooing and overcoming the taboos) is enforced by the law on the “right to be forgotten”.

Keywords

• speech act
• discursive practice
• magic semantics
• political discourse
• language of the media