The problem of verbal aggression in modern linguistic discourse

Abstract

Complex socio-political processes on the global level, the Russian-Ukrainian war, changes due to the transfer of all types of communication - from politics to interpersonal relations - to social networks caused significant changes in the content and forms of communication. In the scientific literature, these changes have been studied from the viewpoints of psychology, sociology, and jurisprudence, in particular, the nature and forms of verbal aggression, the causes of its occurrence, and methods of prevention. Purpose. The article systematizes the main approaches to the analysis of speech aggression in linguistic discourse, in particular the concepts of communicative linguistics, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic theories; the specifics of research on verbal aggression in media texts and network discourse are determined. The main method of research was the analysis and synthesis of theoretical material to distinguish approaches to the analysis of verbal aggression, to determine the specifics of research on the manifestations of conflictogenic language strategies in media and network discourses. Results. From the standpoint of communicative linguistics, verbal aggression is a means of manipulation in communicative interaction or control over a communicative situation. In psycholinguistics, the problem of speech aggression is considered through the prism of the relationship between language and mental processes: how speech acts reflect the inner state of a person, their emotions, motivation and cognitive mechanisms. Sociolinguistics interprets the problem of verbal aggression taking into account social and cultural factors that affect the language behavior of individual speakers and social groups. The researchers singled out the dominant language strategies of modern media discourse and the specifics of their impact on the audience. The formation of social networks as an innovative communicative space is accompanied by an increase in manifestations of verbal aggression, which is caused by a decrease in the general level of development of human culture, wartime conditions, informal circumstances of communication (spontaneity, dialogicity, situationality, brevity, expressiveness). Originality. The relevance of the analysis of verbal aggression in the field of linguistics is determined by the number and diversity of research on communicative processes mediated by innovative technologies. Conclusion. A significant part of the research on conflictogenic speech behavior is focused on virtual communication and media texts. It is important to take into account the psychological prerequisites of verbal aggression, in particular interpersonal conflicts, stressful situations, social tension or emotional pressure, which increase the perception of speech acts as aggressive. Conflictogenic communication tactics are the result of emotional states (anger, frustration, envy, fear or a sense of injustice). Verbal negativity can be realized in open (insults, intimidation, threats, bullying) and hidden forms (jokes, mockery, remarks, veiled insults). Mass media are able to shape moods in society or individual communities, using conflict-generating language strategies, therefore, they are platforms for the spread of verbal aggression and a place for its manifestation. In media texts, various means of speech aggression are used depending on the genre, the purpose of the publication and the context. Verbal aggression in network discourse quantitatively and qualitatively prevails over the use of conflict-generating communicative tactics in traditional forms of communication.