Protest in Political Discourse: a Functional Aspect

The article examines political protest as a complicated communicative and discursive phenomenon in the context of contemporary socio-political transformations. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing intensity of protest activity, the increasing complexity of forms of dissent, and the expansion of channels of political communication, which necessitate comprehensive linguistic analysis of protest discourse. The aim of the study is to identify and systematize the communicative functions of political protest. The methodological basis of the research includes definitional and etymological analysis, as well as descriptive-analytical and discourse analysis methods. The empirical material consists of dictionary definitions of the concept of “protest” in Russian and English linguistic traditions, as well as video materials of contemporary anti-Trump protests in the United States. Protest communication is analyzed with regard to its social, political, and cultural context, as well as the characteristics of the participants and addressees of communication. As a result of the study, protest is conceptualized as a conflict-type speech genre and a specific form of political participation. The author identifies and describes five key communicative functions of political protest: agonistic, identificational, mobilizing, informative, and emotive. It is demonstrated that these functions intersect with the functions of political discourse and are realized through specific linguistic means, slogans, and rhetorical strategies. The study concludes that political protest should be viewed not only as a socio-political phenomenon but also as a significant object of linguistic analysis, enabling a deeper understanding of mechanisms of verbal influence, collective identity formation, and public opinion shaping.

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