International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), Volume 10, Issue 4, December 2019 Irony and Communicative Values in Political Discourse: Intercultural and Interpersonal Communication Anna Gornostaeva Moscow State Linguistic University, Russian Federation Abstract In the time of globalization and developing 1. Introduction intercultural communication it is necessary not only to master a foreign language but to acquire cultural In the modern globalized world connections and communicative skills. Recently the item of between nations are becoming stronger and questions developing intercultural competence has acquired a of intercultural communication require primary particular importance. It is recognized that attention. It has become obvious that mastering a successful intercultural communication is impossible foreign language is not sufficient to ensure without the knowledge of background information, successful dialogue and understanding, but it is also which includes communicative and cultural values, important to have enough knowledge of cultural and history and traditions. Being an essential part of a communicative values, which form an integral part language culture, humour and irony pose vast of the picture of the world, present in people’s mind. challenges for research. This article concentrates on These values are reflected in the language, its irony, as a communicative value of certain cultures. vocabulary and phraseology and find manifestation It is noted that irony is an integral part of the in the way expressive means and stylistic devices are English communicative culture [1] and used in discourse. This article focuses on political understanding irony and humour in a foreign discourse for a number of reasons. language ensures a fruitful dialogue between 1. Recently the attention of researchers has been cultures [2]. This phenomenon has national and attracted to political communication, as a cultural peculiarities, which should be taken into bright example of intercultural and consideration while understanding and interpreting interpersonal discourse, its mechanisms and the implied sense. On the contrary, the inability to language means. These phenomena are penetrate into the disguised meaning of an ironic utterance may cause communicative failures, analyzed from different angles and through misunderstanding and even conflicts. The aim of the various approaches, including political, study is to determine the links between cultural and cultural and linguistic ones. So, the interest to communicative values and mechanisms of irony in political discourse is high. the British and American culture and to find common 2. Contemporary political discourse reflects the and different trends in irony usage. The hypothesis current situation in society and shows the is: irony is a reflection of culture and forms the recent changes in people’s taste and desires. picture of the world of an individual, belonging to a 3. Political and cultural figures demonstrate certain culture, and of a nation as a whole; irony is examples of speech, which has an appeal not used to express and strengthen the national identity. only to the interlocutor, but to a third party – The knowledge of ironic mechanisms is important to the audience, for the sake of who everything promote understanding between different cultures. In is said and done. That is why political discourse (in political discourse, in particular) irony discourse is usually bright, expressive and performs different functions – from mockery and attack to self-defense and discharging tension. The convincing. appropriate ironic mechanism and the ironic mask, The central figures in political communication are chosen by the speaker, corresponds to his/her the participants and the strategies of persuasion and communicative intention and contributes to creating manipulation. The aim of political discourse is a better effect on the interlocutor and the audience. gaining and holding power, the instrument to achieve The material, used for the analysis, is represented by this aim is language. One of the expressive means is the recent speeches of British and American political irony, whose functions range from attack and and cultural figures. The results of the study can be mockery to self-defense and entertainment and rely applied in the development of discourse theory as on communicative context, background and the type well as teaching and learning intercultural of relations between the interlocutors. It should be communication. noted, that irony, as a category of discourse, is a product of collaboration between the participants of Copyright © 2019, Infonomics Society 4154 International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), Volume 10, Issue 4, December 2019 the conversation: one part is responsible for solidarity and minimize the distance between producing irony, the other – for understanding it interlocutors, as well as enhance the distance and correctly. In the process of intercultural and exclude outsiders, serving as a boundary marker. interpersonal communication it is necessary to In any case, the use of irony and the function it absorb and understand national irony, be able to performs in discourse reflect national, cultural and interpret it in the right way and react appropriately. communicative values. The inability to understand ironic utterances of a foreign interlocutor can cause communicative 3. Cultural and communicative values failures, lead to growing tension and eventually discourage the speakers. On the contrary, In order to understand irony it is important to take background knowledge about the partner’s national into consideration a number of social factors, such as humour peculiarities will contribute to better the type of relationship between interlocutors, their understanding and result in efficient productive gender, cultural and ethnical identity. It is also communication. important to have a background knowledge about the The hypothesis is the following: the use and frequency of irony depends on cultural and norms of using humour and irony in this or that communicative values the speakers have. The culture, to be aware of what is considered to be material, chosen to illustrate the idea, proves the funny. The situation, in which irony is used, should point and poses vast challenges for further analysis. be appropriate and correspond to the mood of the communicants and to the atmosphere. It was already mentioned, that an ironic speech act is a product of 2. Methodology cooperation, so all the parties should contribute equally. The understanding of irony can differ not Political discourse is currently interpreted as a only interculturally, but within one and the same social phenomenon, while politics is associated with culture. Individual characteristics of a person are also power and force: “Politics is the realm of the important. decision, of action in the social world… the So, a great number of factors should be taken into category of hegemony… politics is an act of power, consideration in order to interpret an ironic utterance. force and will” [3]. Consequently, the discourse of If the estimation of the situation is incorrect, the politics has the same characteristics. communicative act is bound to be a failure. According to critical discourse analysis (CDA) Communicative style that is typical of a certain [4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11 and others] there is mutual culture is based on cultural and communicative influence between politics and discourse: the latter values and traditions, as well as on the picture of the can form and change the former, as well as world, that every individual has in mind. It is contribute to changes in the situation in the world. reflected in verbal and non-verbal means used in the Political communication is always ideological, it process of interaction. involves certain instruments to persuade the audience The issue of communicative values is one of the and manipulate it. Irony is regarded as one of such crucial ones for understanding people’s mentality. instruments and a feature of the English Being individualistic cultures (unlike Russian, communicative style [12], which performs different collectivist culture), the British and the Americans functions in political discourse. It creates emotional have some common communicative values. background [13; 14], reflects cultural and Nevertheless, there are a number of differences, communicative values [15; 16; 17] and helps the which are reflected in the language, in particular, in speaker to create maximum effect. the peculiarities of irony usage. In order to compare and find common trends and Among the most important communicative values differences in the national ironic discourses it is researchers single out individualism (privacy), possible to single out several scenarios, such as: pragmatism, competition, equality, common sense, mockery or attack; self-defense; entertaining the positive thinking, tolerance etc. [14; 15; 17; 18]. The interlocutor and the audience; optimizing priority is held by privacy and equality [18]. interpersonal communication etc. In analyzing the American cultural values include practically the role and functions of irony in political discourse in same notions, with assertiveness opening the list of the frame of national mentality, I rely on the priorities (which means “pursue one’s own best hypothesis that these notions are integral elements in interests without denying a partner’s rights” [16, p. the English style