STYLISTIC AND COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF LITOTES IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH MEDIA
Abstract
This study investigates the stylistic and cognitive effects of litotes in contemporary English media discourse. Drawing on functional stylistics and cognitive pragmatics, the research examines how negative constructions expressing affirmative meanings operate as discursive strategies in political and social news reporting. A corpus of English-language news articles (2015-2025) was analyzed to identify structural patterns, evaluative functions, and interpretative implications of litotes. The findings suggest that litotes functions not merely as a mitigating device but as a subtle evaluative and ideological framing strategy. From a cognitive perspective, litotic constructions trigger implicature generation and increased processing effort, contributing to nuanced audience interpretation. The study highlights the interplay between stylistic choice and cognitive impact in media communication.
References
1.Galperin, I. R. (1977). Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School.
2.van Dijk, T. A. (2008). Discourse and context: A sociocognitive approach. Cambridge University Press.
3.Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (1995). Relevance: Communication and cognition (2nd ed.). Blackwell.
4.Leech, G. (2014). The pragmatics of politeness (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
5.Crystal, D. (2019). English as a global language (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
6.Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (2nd ed.). Routledge.
7. Саидова, М. С. М., & Расулова, Н. (2021). “THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF LITERARY TERMS” ЛУҒАТИДАГИ ДРАМА АДАБИЙ ТУРИГА ХОС ТЕРМИНЛАРИНИНГ МАЗМУНИЙ ТАҲЛИЛИ. Scientific journal of the Fergana State University, (5), 31-31. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=w-pR1LIAAAAJ&citation_for_view=w-pR1LIAAAAJ:edDO8Oi4QzsC
