Religious Conceptual Sphere in the Modern Political Discourse of Latin America

Abstract

This article analyses the use of religious connotations in the political discourse of Latin America. The study of such cases confirms the hypothesis that two simultaneous processes are taking place: politicization of the Catholic Church and clericalization of politics in the region. The paper aimed to scrutinize the use of elements of religious discourse as a tool for suggestive and manipulative influence on the voters within the political discourse. Empathy and speech manipulation in the considered examples are based on the use of presuppositional knowledge, which includes the religious aspect. Appeals to the religious feelings of the addressees of a discursive message through biblical metaphors, allusions and quotations are explained by the religious and ethnic specificity of the region. Linguistic and, more broadly, discursive means, together with the extralinguistic design of political speeches, change the authorship of the statement, assigning it to higher powers, thereby making the voter vulnerable to political suggestion. There is a growing interest in the study of verbal and extralinguistic means of manipulation used during election campaigns today. Due to the large amount of information, circumstances of communication and characteristics of its participants, we need to turn to the discourse approach determining the vector of speech development of a political figure.