Analysis of Proximization in Russia Public Discourse

A Case Study of President Putin’s speech on the Russia-Ukrainian conflict

Abstract

Based on President Putin’s over 10,000—words speech on the Russia-Ukraine conflict which was delivered on February 21, 2022, this study analyzes the construction of legitimacy in Russia public discourse from the perspective of Proximization Theory. The results of the present study are as follows. First, Putin used spatial proximization to identify the elements of the deictic of the DS(IDCs) and the elements outside the deictic center of the DS(ODCs) to highlight the process and influence of proximization of ODCs to IDCs in order to create fear among the audience and to prove the legalization of military operations. Second, in terms of temporal proximization, he used lots of the past simple tenses and present perfect tenses to generate contrasting discourse so as to construct threats from past events to the future, as well as the use of modal verb phrases to build the continuous influence of ODCs on the present and the future to reflect the urgency of the current situation. Finally, in light of axiological proximization, it underlined Russia's positive values in response to external threats. contrasting with the antitheses’ negative values. The defense of national interests and the necessity of the waging war were emphasized. The present study provides insights into the application of Proximization Theory in Russian-Ukrainian discourse, as well as the characteristics of Russian political language styles.