«Red Berets»: A Metonymy in Carlist Political Discourse

Purpose of research . One of the symbols of the Carlist movement in Spain was the red beret, which turned into a vestimentary sign indicating the ideology of its owner. It is analyzed the metonymic use of the eimonim “red beret” in the Carlist political discourse in relation to the participants of the movement. Methods . Texts in Spanish, French, and Russian, authored by participants of the Carlist movement, were used as the material for the research. The methods of discursive and contextual content-semantic analysis as well as the method of cultural and historical interpretation of language material were used. Results . The analyzed materials allow us to conclude that already in the late 1830s, at the early stage of the development of the movement, the red beret began to turn into a vestimentary sign identified with Carlism. The metonymic name “red berets”, used in relation to Carlists, became widespread in the Spanish language only at the beginning of the 20th century, after the publication of R.M. del Valle-Inclán's novel “El resplandor de la hoguera”, in which this metonymy is registered eight times. In the 1930s, this lexical unit is recorded in the language of the White Russian emigres in Spain. Conclusion . The research is the first attempt in Russian and foreign linguistics to analyze the use of the metonym "red berets" in the political discourse of Spanish Carlism.