№ 3 - 2006
Petrov K.Ye.
Domination of Conceptual Polysemy: “Strong State” in Russian Political Discourse

In continuation of the discussion on Russian style in politics and political science, which started in Polis, 2006, ? 1, in the present article the author substantiates efficacy of the discursive approach to the research of style distinctions. According to his hypothesis, the style constituent of the knowledge of politics is structurally conditioned and determined by the dominant discourse, and the style of Russian politics, which can be researched through language, consists in the pushing aside of alternative discourses by keeping the power’s monopoly of utterance of the sense and the polysemy amidst the disjointed nets of the happenings of daily occurrence. To verify this hypothesis, the author turns to the purpose-designating notion of “strong state”, trying, through its analysis, to disclose in the discourse just those peculiar, "stylish" characteristics that may be called “Russianism” in politics.