Peculiarities of Analyzing Christmas Messages as an Element of Political Discourse

Abstract

Political discourse is one of the most famous and thoroughly analyzed varieties of
discourse. Nevertheless, the study of political discourse is complicated by two factors: firstly, the diversity
and heterogeneity of the political sphere of a society, which must be analyzed in the framework of studies
of political discourse, and secondly, its mediation by the media. The latter is expressed in the fact that
political discourse and texts within the discourse tend to contain several codes at the same time (verbal,
visual, musical, etc.).
A special place in the structure of politicians’ speeches is occupied by the Christmas messages
of the heads of state. This message is traditional in celebration of the New Year. This “tradition” requires
more than just recitation from the head of state. He should be more convincing, lively, for example, usually
he/she smiles, takes off his glasses, makes a welcoming gesture, speaks with enthusiasm, etc. Therefore,
Christmas greetings relate to communicative events. This means that the communicative practice (public
speaking) in them is combined with the practice of the media (television format).
In addition, Christmas messages are always a production. The production includes not only the
operation of the cameras, the position in the frame, but also the use of national symbols, festive decorations
and music, making the speech discourse merged with visual and sound