“DISPLACED PERSON” AS A “SUBJECT OF THE WAY”: ON THE ISSUE OF THE CONCEPT “WAY” IN THE NEWS MEDIA AND ONLINE DISCOURSE RELATED TO INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

Abstract

The article presents a cognitive-discursive analysis of the basic characteristics and features of functioning the concept «way» and the subconcept «displaced person» as a «subject of the way» in two varieties of Ukrainian discourse about internally displaced persons: in the news discourse, represented by publications on all-Ukrainian news media, and in the internally displaced persons’ discourse within online communities (Telegram channels and Facebook groups for information exchange and support among IDPs). In order to achieve the set goal, the author analyzes the frequency contexts of objectification of the subconcept «displaced person»/«IDP» and concept «way» in selected sources; describes the main frames with which these concepts are associated in media and informal communication; identifies typical metaphors and comparisons that reveal the symbolic aspects of the concept «way» in the speech of the internally displaced persons; characterizes the discursive strategies and pragmatic functions with which the aforementioned concepts are verbalized. It was found that the concept of «displaced person» is represented in the media predominantly through an official-institutional frame (with «internally displaced persons» viewed as beneficiaries of aid or as a statistical category), whereas in IDPs’ own community communication this concept is imbued with personal content (identity, shared experience of losing one’s home and adapting to new circumstances). The concept of «way» in the analyzed discourse appears not only in the literal sense (evacuation routes, the path of return home), but also as an important metaphorical image symbolizing life’s journey, the search for safety, and hope for return.Linguistic analysis confirmed that almost every message about displaced persons implicitly contains the «way» (as a route of evacuation or migration), and discussions of different ways (routes, corridors) always refer to those who move along them, that is, displaced persons. It has been shown that a generalized image of a «displaced persons on the way» has been formed that is a person who is between the past and the future, in a state of transit.