Semantic Category of Otherness in American Military-Political Media Discourse

Political discourse uses the category of otherness to legitimize the actions of the government and shape collective identity. The article examines the lexical representation of the semantic category of otherness in American socio-political media texts covering the military conflict in Iraq in 2014–2017. The analysis involved 30 media texts (33,960 words) from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. As a result of processing 508 unique nouns (3,590 uses), eight lexical-semantic groups were identified as part of the category of otherness: forces opposing the Other; opposition to the Other; influence of the Other, strategies and tactics of the Other; names for the Other (opponents, enemies); objects and phenomena of the Other; victims of the conflict; psychology and perception of the Other; economic and social manifestations of the Other and their consequences. American media employ linguistic means to contrast Us and Them by selecting particular lexemes, their contexts, emotive meaning, and connotations. The semantics of otherness is manifested through the description of the conflicting sides and their actions, with an emphasis on threats, fears, and consequences for civilians. The model provides a deeper understanding of the linguistic mechanisms that form the image of the Other in media discourse and its role in shaping public opinions and political strategies.