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In:Thinking Politically: Cognitive linguistic insights into political discourse
Edited by Anastasios Vogiatzis
[Figurative Thought and Language 22] 2027
► pp. 42–69

Chapter 3
A critical discourse analysis of Putin’s political speeches in times of war or how metaphors are used to legitimize Russia’s war on Ukraine

 | University of Savoie Mont Blanc | University of Turin
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale war on Ukrainian lands under the pretext of ‘denazifying’ Ukraine. The outbreak of the war called Western security into question and, despite the unfolding events gaining significant relevance in international media, little has been said about the Russian leader’s rhetoric, with the exception of Chiluwa & Ruzaite (2024). This study applies a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis (Gillings et al., 2023) to explore how metaphors in Putin’s public speeches function as a mechanism for construing and legitimizing the conflict (Charteris-Black, 2004). The findings show that the Russian president metaphorically frames it as a geopolitical and ideological war against the West, thereby deliberately downplaying Ukraine’s active involvement.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Contextualization of the Russo-Ukrainian war
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Method
  • 4.Analysis and discussion
    • 4.1The inversion of roles: ‘A battering ram against Russia.’
    • 4.2The comeback of national traumas: ‘The 1990s hungry, cold, and hopeless.’
    • 4.3The never-ending geopolitical blocs: ‘And then, they collide.’
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
References (67)
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