British Mass Media on the Cult of Jeremy Corbyn: Realization of Discreditation Strategy

The aim of the given study is to describe the linguistic means used in British mass media while creating the image of the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn realizing the discreditation strategy. The method of component analysis was used to analyze the texts of the British political publications placed on the Internet. The study has shown that the dis-creditation strategy is realized via the creation of the image of J. Corbyn as a religious leader and a personality cult ruler. With this end in view, journalists and bloggers use pejorative vocabulary, neologisms, religious metaphors and a number of other linguistic means. The use of the lexeme "cult" focuses the reader's attention on the excessive reverence for the leader and the related negative consequences for the Labor Party, fanaticism and intransigence of his supporters, irrationality of their political choice, and forms the ironic attitude to the politician. The recurrent use of the lexeme "Messiah" in relation to Corbyn ascribes to him the desire to become god and serves as an expression of sarcasm. The neologism "Corbynism" used to denote the British Labor movement has a salient negative connotation. The comparison with dictatorships and the use of the expression "cult of personality" are also targeted at the politician's discreditation.В статье рассматриваются языковые средства, используемые в британских СМИ при создании образа лидера оппозиции Джереми Корбина для реализации стратегии дискредитации