“Our Best for Four for Five”: Slogans as Party Propaganda in the Totalitarian State
“Our Best for Four for Five”: Slogans as Party Propaganda in the Totalitarian State
Author(s): Dafina GenovaSubject(s): Political history, Sociolinguistics, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), History of Communism, Stylistics
Published by: Krakowskie Towarzystwo Popularyzowania Wiedzy o Komunikacji Językowej Tertium
Keywords: communist ideology; communist propaganda; linguistic features of slogans; communicative function of slogans;
Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on how the Communist Party in Bulgaria used slogans in the physical environment as party propaganda. An account of the historical context in the country after the Second World War is provided that lead to the establishment of a Communist regime and the drastic changes it brought in all spheres of life. The books of two Bulgarian philosophers written before the democratic changes in 1989 are commented on – an inside criticism of the inherent flaws of the Communist ideology and its practices that countered the innumerable official laudatory appraisals of the system. In the text, a distinction is made between Marxist- Leninist ideology and ideologies in liberal democracies. Discussed are the repetitiveness, the omnipresence and the key signifiers used in the slogans. Structurally, slogans are viewed as single-sentence texts whose communicative function is explained in terms of speech acts. Analysed are their most frequent topics and linguistic features.
Journal: Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium
- Issue Year: 7/2022
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 1-20
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English