Analysing the language of political conflict: a study of war rhetoric of Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky

Abstract

This study applies textual analysis and CDA to examine linguistic or discursive structures of war rhetoric with samples selected from war speeches of Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. In selecting to analyze the current war in Ukraine as a case study, the research results highlight the implications of war rhetoric by the two leaders for global peace, especially by analyzing the structures and transformations of language use broadly conceptualized as ‘discourse’ to serve historical, cultural and political purposes and their implications for future relations of Russia and Ukraine, and its broader consequences in Eastern Europe.