COGNITIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMUNIST LEADER MYTH Elena Brunova Tyumen State University Russia

Myth and Cognitive Linguistics Anything in common?

Evolution of Thinking Logical (rational) cognition, scientific worldview Pre-logical cognition: mythological (mythopoetic, irrational) worldview

Myth and a Communist Leader Anything in common? Why to study it now?

Myth 1) a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events 2) a widely held but false belief or idea

Myth and Reality. USSR Poster. 1980s

Communist Credo Materiya pervichna, soznanie vtorichno. (The matter is primary, the mind is secondary) Ucheniye Marksa vsesilno, potomu cho ono verno. (Marxs doctrine is all- powerful because it is true). (Note: Russian verny true derives from vera faith)

Substitution of Rituals red days of the calendar instead of Christian festivals oktyabriny (< Russ. oktyabr October) or zvezviny (< Russ. zvezda star) instead of baptism Komsomol weddings instead of church weddings Orchestra playing marches instead of a burial service Red star on the cemetery instead of a cross Burial at the Kremlin Wall instead of a burial near a church

Krasny Ugol and Krasny Ugolok Krasny Ugol (Red Corner) – in a peasant house: the corner of honor, where the icons are and the table stands, usually the South- East corner Krasny Ugolok (Little Red Corner) – the room for political and cultural work in Soviet organizations, initially a corner in the Read Army barrack-room

Faith Establishment Lenin umer, no delo ego zhivot (Lenin is dead, but his deed is alive) Zavetam Lenina verny (Faithful to Lenins testament) Lenin s nami (Lenin is with us)

Cultural Binary Code of the Communist Propaganda (fragment) KinAlien WeThey SocialismCapitalism EastWest FuturePast GrowthDecay EqualitySlavery LaborUnemployment

Metaphors of the Communist Leader Communist leader manLenin pilot Grandfather Lenin Stalin father of peoples Stalin teacher Stalin architect Stalin engine-driver Communist leader GodMarx, Lenin, Commune Holy Trinity Lenin ever-living Stalin Lenin today Communist leader animalLenin red deer Communist leader birdLenin eagle Stalin eagle Communist leader fishLenin sturgeon Communist leader lightLenin sun Kautsky stripe of dawn Communist leader instrumentLenin battery / lens Communist leader substanceIron communist / chekist / Felix Silicon communist Communist leader organLenin heart of Russia / liver of Russia

Trusty Driver of the Revolution Locomotive, Comrade Stalin. USSR Poster, 1930s

The Captain of Soviet Country Leads us from a Victory to a Victory. USSR Poster, 1933

Live Metaphor (V. Mayakovsky) Lenin – zhil. (Lenin was alive) Lenin – zhiv. (Lenin is alive) Lenin budet zhit. (Lenin will be alive)

Dead Metaphor (L. Oshanin) Lenin is always alive Lenin is always with you In sorrow, hope or joy, Lenin is in your spring, In every happy day, Lenin is in you and me.

Laughing at the myth mausoleum the place where there is always a queue (mainly the alcohol store) Lenin is with us king size bed from Ilich til Ilich Soviet period

Conclusion Clichéd metaphors were applied for the direct cognition of the world The image of a Communist leader is all- embracing (man, nature, instruments, etc.) For the community consolidated with a common faith, the myth is an absolute reality; for an outsider, it is a false story The Communist propaganda appealed to the ancient archetypes of human thinking

Thank you! Спасибо!

REFERENCES 1. Benveniste, E. (1970) Le vocabulaire des Indo-Europeénnes. Paris: Minuit. 2. Brunova, E. (2011). Mythopoetics in Communist Propaganda: Linguocultural and Cognitive Analysis. In: Politicheskaya Linguistika. Issue 2 (36). PP (in Russian) 3. Eliade, M. (1975). Aspects du mythe. Paris: Gallimard. 4. Eliade, M. (1979). Le sacré et le profane. Paris: Gallimard. 5. Oxford Dictionaries (2010). Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (accessed August 21, 2011). 6. Pavlovich N. (1999) Slovar poeticheskikh obrazov: Na materiale russkoy khudozhestvennoy literatury XVIII-XX vekov. Moscow: Editorial URSS. V.1. PP (In Russian). 7. Pleshakova, A. (2009) The Mythologized Concept of Enemy as a New Russian National Construal of Reality. In: SCLC The Slavic Cognitive Linguistics Conference. Book of Abstracts. PP