Communist-era Vocabulary and Terminology in Balkan and Slavic Context

Totalitarian discourse is a main tool of the communist regime, which to a large extent "plants" and maintains this regime. Historical reviews show that the language of communism is highly formalized and completely detached from reality. Totalitarian discourse has been widely analyzed by historians, sociologists, political scientists, philosophers, etc., and has been defined as a special type of language, similar to that of propaganda, war, violence and political discourse in general. The impact of totalitarian regimes manifests itself differently in different genres, styles and registers. The language of the communist party is most clearly reflected, outside of official documents, in the media in the period 1944–1989 – newspapers, radio and television. Regardless of the other two forms of information transmission, newspapers are the main means of manipulation, and the other two media simply supplement by speaking what has already been written. The language of communism in Bulgaria, and in the other countries of the communist bloc, can be defined as a “wooden language” because of its artificial nature. It contains clichés, allegories and metaphors, along with the images characteristic of propaganda, the purpose of which is to praise communism and condemn capitalism. The discourse of propaganda appears as a necessary means of manipulation and politicization of the masses. It is used in fundamental spheres of human life – press, education, art, science, etc., all of which fall under party control and censorship.

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  • Pages: 74-78

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