Constructing the concept of "fear" in the discourse of information portals of the region with increased technogenic and sociogenic risks

Abstract

The paper considers the specifics of the organization of the anxiety-phobic information field in the media of the region with increased technogenic and sociogenic risks. These regions include the Chelyabinsk Region. The portal was chosen as the source 74.ru, which has a universal thematic focus, wide coverage of different types of target audience, interactivity. The empirical base consisted of 1917 texts that verbalize the concept of "fear" (all publications for 2020 were taken into account). The method of conceptual analysis is used in the work. The study was conducted in several stages. At the first stage, the general language model of the concept "fear"was reconstructed. At the second stage, a discursive model was built. At the third stage, the author compared both models and identified specific discursive strategies for conceptualizing fears: 1) institutional-pragmatic and socially constructive; 2) individual-constructive. This means the following: 1) fears are in the socio-economic domain, 2) are legitimized (recognized as an attribute of social reality), 3) are institutionalized (as a result of their recognition, specially created institutions manage the fears of the population, benefits are derived from them), 4) are minimized (the negative consequences of traumatic socio-economic events are reduced, social balance and social order are restored), 5) there is an appeal to the personal stories of ordinary residents of the region.

The research was funded by RFBR and Chelyabinsk Region, project number 20-412-740009