The Discursive Representation of the Past in the Text of a Political Party Program (Based on the Programs of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)

The article deals with the representation of the past in the text of the program of a political party based on the programs of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). The aim of the article is to identify the peculiarities of the representation of the past determined by (1) the general intention of the political discourse, (2) the genre of a party program, and (3) the political position of the party. Within the framework of the research, the analysis of the dictummodus structure of the program texts of the political parties was chosen as the main research method that fully contributes to the aim of the article. The analysis shows that the three above-mentioned factors configure the specific dictum-modus structure of the national past, form the discourse style of the program text and determine the use of a particular time model. The representation of the past in respect to the general intention of political discourse implies the choice of specific historical events that will be included in the dictum. However, the set of these events is different: the events of the Soviet past cover a significant part of the program of the CPRF. On the contrary, the past of the post-Soviet period is prevalent in the text of the program of the LDPR, and the Soviet past is mentioned very seldom. The representation of the past determined by the program genre can be considered in using different strategies of the party platform legitimation such as future modeling based on the interpretation of the past and 'rewriting' the past from the perspective of the present. The political position of the party is revealed in the use of different time models. The spiral model of time is implemented in the text of the CPRF's program (attitude of creating the future on the grounds of the Soviet model), and the linear time model is used in the LDPR's program (modelling of a unique future). The modus-dictum interpretation of the past determines the discourse style of the party programs. The program of the CPRF tends to the Soviet political discourse style that can be seen in a very high level (in comparison with the program of the LDPR's program) of language formality, use of Soviet cliches and specific political pathos. The discourse style of the LDPR's program is characterized by a lower level of language formality; it is close to more informal colloquial speech. This indicates the difference in the discourse style evaluation of the concept of the past in the texts of the CPRF's and LDPR's programs. While positive evaluation of the Soviet political conception is shown in 'copying' the related discourse style in the program of the CPRF, negative evaluation of the previous politicians' acts becomes evident in the language formality destruction in the program of the LDPR.