Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

During the pandemic crisis, social contradictions have significantly aggravated. This process leads to an increase in anomie, on the one hand, and feeds protest activity, on the other hand. Along with diminishing sense of security the radicalization of protest language is observed in Russia. Hate speech usage has increased noticeably, both by the protesters and their public opponents and the authorities. Aggressive labeling is widely used by opposing parties, and it happens to escalate into discriminatory behavior and dehumanization. While the previously existing conspiracy theories are being actively used, the new theories are emerging. Not only the gap between the authorities, citizens and the elite groups is deepening, but also the horizontal ties are weakening within the polarized society.
The paper focuses on the investigation of the current processes of categorization, identifying groups, and labeling mechanisms as well. The studied sources embrace speeches made during mass protests, posters of single-person pickets, the rhetoric used in the discourse of authority, and discussions on Internet forums and social networking sites. The classification of frequent labels is proposed, and their origin has been traced. The research is carried out with the use of semi-automated tools of content analysis and phono-semantic analysis. The diachronic comparative method and the method of corpus study are applied.
The Russian language of protest seems to retain traditional characteristics that indicate social stratification and ideological divisions. However, it is argued that the protest language has also acquired some unexpected features in the age of the pandemic that deserve closer attention. The new trends in the manifestations of civil protest having impact on the language are discussed in the paper.