Analysis of Impoliteness Strategies Used in Putin's Speech at Annexation Ceremony

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the types of impoliteness strategies used in Putin's speech at the annexation ceremony. All of Putin's speeches were intentionally delivered to cause damage to the hearers' negative and positive faces. Culpeper's (2011) classifications of impoliteness, which consist of five strategies that are the opposite of politeness, were adopted. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses have been used to accomplish the study objectives. Putin mostly used the negative impoliteness strategy, directly attacking the West and their policies. Furthermore, he considered his authority to be higher than Kyiv and the West, and for this reason, he insulted, belittled, blamed, and accused them. In several texts, he used "bald on record" in a direct, concise, and clear tone when he talked to the President of Ukraine and his elites. The two remaining strategies, positive impoliteness and mock impoliteness, were rarely used. This work contributes to understanding the messages that Putin tried to convey and analyzes them politically.