The current paper deals with the sociolinguistic analysis of mass media discourse deployment and its gender specificity. It reveals sociocultural factors and psychological peculiarities affecting speech generating mental activity of male and female authors of British news texts as representatives of the native English-speaking community. The paper also touches upon the differences in male and female perception of events and their reflection in gender-neutral texts giving rise to feminine and masculine forms of writing. An attempt has been made to classify and describe linguistic parameters of newspaper texts written by male and female authors. The authors pay special attention to the gender analysis of structural, contents and stylistic aspects of news texts. The proposed matrix for identifying gender of a news text author has been validated by the results of the sociolinguistic experiment providing some insights into gender specificity of the mass media texts on various levels of language.

The current paper presents a comprehensive literature review of research into the phenomenon of Russian national identity and emphasizes the crucial role of discourse metaphor in narratives of national culture and identity. The latter, as a complex mental construct, encompasses common or similar beliefs or opinions internalized in the course of socialization as well as emotional attitudes, behavioural and linguistic dispositions. The paper claims that Russian patriotism-based national identity construction is directly related to the historical background, current political ideology, as well as objectives and tasks the state sets. Patriotic sentiments in Russia tend to boost due to some life-changing dramatic events or challenges the country has to face; this gives rise to employing a multitude of discursive practices, which rely heavily on discourse metaphors. The relevant point the paper proposes lies in the fact that discourse metaphors, being conceptually grounded, serve as a pervasive cognitive mechanism applied to explain a complex abstract concept of national identity. However, its meaning is still being shaped in relation to a particular period of time and the context where a debate is unfolding. Unlike conceptual metaphors that are considered to be universal, independent of time, discourse metaphors change or evolve within the ongoing discourse and are intended for specific purposes. The current paper seeks to demonstrate how particular metaphors can serve as discursive mechanisms of constructing the national identity to achieve both culturally and historically specific strategic purposes. The authors claim that a combination of co-occurring metaphors in the public discourse forms a holistic extended metaphorical narrative promoting a particular view of Russianness and focus on some of them.

Abstract-The current paper deals with the influence of metaphorical framing of events on public opinion from various scholarly perspectives. Treating cultural narratives employed in public discourse as an extended metaphorical frame, the paper argues that narratives make use of archetypical plots and the shared cognitive structures of human beliefs, motivations, goals, actions, events. Being systematically exposed to certain metaphorically framed narratives, people tend to change their views of events, situations and decisions affecting their lives. The authors claim that narratives serve as a powerful tool of political persuasion and present the generic model of a narrative structure.Keywords-metaphorical framing, narrative, event structure, image schema, plot, narrative dimensions and structure, political persuasion, public opinion.

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The paper reveals the key role of metaphor as a discursive pragmatic mechanism for promoting a positive image of Russia and substantiates the effectiveness of metaphorical framing as a method of constructing the country's image, which is still controversial. The author has demonstrated the explanatory and manipulative effect of metaphorical framing in political and mass media communication. The study postulates that in framing of political events, the figurative language has both linguistic and conceptual content, and the metaphorical frame is a powerful tool for the formation of beliefs and ideologies. The author points out to the need to expand the metaphorical repertoire applied to construct the image of Russia, and possible ways to activate alternative interpretations of current socio-political events. Possible directions of metaphorical reframing of the country's image are outlined by fixing complex figurative frames in the minds of target audience and their impact on it. These may consist in rejecting the excessively militarized discourse around the country and focusing on its cultural heritage, academic achievements, willingness of and openness to enhanced international interaction. The paper concludes that the discursive construction of the affirmative Russian image within and outside the country can be achieved through employing a positively charged metaphorical national narrative, reframed to draw particular attention to the merits and gains of Russia.