Specifics of Speech Behavior of Mayors during a Pandemic: Linguocultural and Cross-cultural Aspects

The article is devoted to identifying and analyzing speech behavior of mayors during a pandemic from the point of view of linguoculturology and intercultural communication. The aim of the article is to study the specifics of speech behavior of representatives of the executive branch in various linguocultures, to identify and systematize the features of mayor speech behavior based on the world’s largest megacities during the pandemic. To achieve the goal we turned to modern studies of political communication, both domestic and foreign, in particular: parliamentary discourse, government officer discourse (presidents, prime ministers), as well as public figure speech in the blogosphere. Studying the language strategies and tactics used by government officers reveals how they persuade people to follow rules and restrictions, explain complex concepts, and manage conflicts and contradictions. This study is focused on the problem of the mayor speech behavior; speeches of the mayors of London, Washington, and Moscow, in particular interviews, their video and text messages on municipal portals, personal pages, other information platforms (YouTube, VK, Telegram, TV news channels) are used as material. The novelty of this study lies in identifying and analyzing specific features of the mayors’ speech, which they recurrently use in their addressing the public. The study shows that the use of various linguistic means of expression by mayors contributes to the harmony between discourse and activation of certain emotions in listeners. Depending on the events in the political arena or city social sphere, mayors change their tone and use certain linguistic means to evoke sympathy or indignation with listeners. Moreover, the authors argue that speech behavior of mayors is, on the one hand, linked with cultural and social factors in their countries, and, on the other, is determined by the personality characteristics of the mayor himself/herself.

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