LINGUOPRAGMATIC FEATURES OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE IMAGE OF UKRAINE IN THE HEADLINES OF HUMOROUS FAKE NEWS (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF THE RESOURCE ‟DER POSTILLON”)

Abstract

The article explores the linguistic-pragmatic features underlying the portrayal of Ukraine in contemporary German humorous fake news headlines. Within the intricate framework of the infosphere, a realm both complex and multifaceted, societal narratives are constructed, reflecting individual priorities, norms, and concerns, thereby shaping predictions and conceptions of reality. Contemporary linguistics is characterized by a tendency for interpreting reality by examining its manifestation within human speech activity. Lexical, stylistic, and grammatical means serve as indicators of verbalized historical, sociopolitical, and cultural phenomena, as well as the cognitive and psychological traits inherent to specific ethnocultural groups. The language employed by mass media outlets serves as a conduit for understanding the foundations of existence, moral and psychological orientations, while simultaneously molding models of behavior and reactions to external reality. Humorous fake news presents a distinct amalgamation of genre traits, blending elements of conventional news reporting with parody. The incorporation of comedic elements serves as a distinguishing factor from more serious fake news: although such messages contain many elements of various genres of news text, the author of humorous fake news strives to ensure the reader's comprehension of his intention correctly by filling the text with appropriate markers. At the core of an informational message lies the headline. It is at this level of understanding that the full meaning of the informational content is conveyed in a succinct format, laying the groundwork for influence, persuasion, and potentially, manipulation of consciousness. The use of linguistic means of all levels is predicated upon their expressiveness, comprehensibility, representation of the author's perception of events.