EUROPE-DISCOURSE OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: LEXICAL AND STYLISTIC ASPECTS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE GERMAN PRESS AFTER RUSSIA’S MILITARY INVASION INTO UKRAINE ON 24.02.2022)

Abstract

In the article, media texts that verbalize EUROPE-discourse in the new historical reality that developed before and after the Russian-Ukrainian war were analysed; text passages from the German press for 2022–2024, which contain the statements of leading European politicians regarding the review of military operations in Ukraine were selected; it was established that EUROPE-discourse is characterized by a number of stylistic means that express the actual situation in the European space. A significant role in this is played by tropes (metaphor, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, etc.) and stylistic syntax (climax, inversion, anaphora, antithesis, etc.). The obvious military danger is conveyed using the stylistic figure of semantic build-up (russische militärische Bewegungen in der Nähe von der Ukraine; mit hundert tausenden von Soldaten; mit schwerem Gerät und schwerer Bewaffnung; und das kombiniert mit einer bedrohlichen Rhetorik aus Russland). February 24, 2022 is personified with the power that changed the world and Europe. The image of Russia as a brutal destroyer (Russlands Panzer und Raketen bringen keinen Frieden und keine Freiheit, sondern Tod und Zerstörung über Städte, Häuser), which violates the European peaceful order appears before the eyes. However, against the background of such terrible events, Europe has rallied and stands side by side (Angesichts dieser schrecklichen Ereignisse steht Europa Seite an Seite). On the basis of the lexical and stylistic analysis, the content and value changes of the concept of EUROPE, which occurred in the minds of Europeans after the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, were deduced, such as: the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the beginning of a new era and a new Europe; Ukraine’s suffering is a moral challenge for Europe and the world; Russia’s unjustified aggression united Europe even more; European citizens are ready to pay the price for the protection of liberal European values; Europe is facing a test of sustainability; Europe demonstrates unity and openness in accepting refugees from Ukraine, and others. Thus, in the German mass media for 2022–2024, there emerges the image of a strong, victorious Europe in its joint struggle with Ukraine, as opposed to the defeated, demoralized and miserable version of its former self. European values are threatened, they are defended at the cost of own lives in Ukraine: Dann haben wir plötzlich gemerkt, dass diese grundlegenden europäischen Werte tatsächlich existieren. Und dass sie bedroht sind. Und dass die Europäer sie verteidigen. Mit ihrem Leben. In der Ukraine.