How did the Cold War Enemy Sound?: Linguistic Means of Constructing the Cinematic Images of American and Soviet Enemies

• In Event: Constructing and Deconstructing the Images of Soviet and American Enemies in Cinematic Cold War

Abstract

The use of linguistic means in constructing enemy images in American and Soviet cinema during the Cold War remains understudied. The paper focuses on pragmatic and stylistic functions of using the contaminated speech (imitating a foreigner’s speech) in feature films and what binary oppositions are created through this speech. The author analyses how linguistic means on different language levels (phonetic, morphological and syntactic) are involved in achieving the goals of film makers, what social-stratification markers of speech from a linguistic point of view are used and what role they play in dehumanisation of the enemy.

Author

• Marina Kulikova, St Petersburg State U (Russia)