EXAGGERATION AND DRAMATIZATION IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

With the expansion of the means of communication today, setting an agenda by powerful groups is becoming increasingly comprehensive. As this trend unfolds, people become more susceptible to manipulation. Some events may be brought to the attention of people in a favourable light, while others, rather, may be presented negatively. As such, this study supports the notion that today people are more exposed to influence than ever before in history. Two instruments of persuasion which this paper addresses are exaggeration and dramatization. Hyperbole and metaphor are two non-literal uses of language, which this article takes as the primary tools of obtaining the effect of exaggeration and dramatization. Indeed, hyperboles and metaphors are constantly used in political messages, and reproduced by media, to play with people’s emotions, to create positive or negative images, to promote a system of ideas with its own “rights” and “wrongs”, ultimately, to modify people’s models of behaviour. Thus, exaggeration and dramatization can be considered as political resources aimed at acquiring political benefits.