Political discourse in the digital age Speeches in foreign parliaments of the president of Ukraine Volodimir Zelenski

Abstract

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, President Volodimir Zelensky has developed an enormous discursive activity that has contributed to neutralizing the defeatist narrative of Russian propaganda regarding the evolution of the military campaign on Ukrainian soil. In this article we analyze president Zelensky’s speeches in numerous parliaments around the world. The results show that both the context and the affective or emotional nature of the speeches are determining aspects for the achievement of objectives in political discourse. Some conclusions are drawn from the case study. Among them: 1) the validity of political discourse as a tool capable of provoking concrete responses planned by the speaker in the audience; 2) its effectiveness as a propaganda tool, exponentially amplified in the digital age; 3) the diplomatic and formal character of its language, as well as some intentional notes of closeness and universality, necessary to connect with the majority; and, lastly, 4) its complex nature (identity of the speaker, context, transmission channel, etc.) and, consequently, the thorough approach that its analysis requires.