THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE 'GRAY ZONE' IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MILITARY-POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND WAYS OF DISCURSIVE COUNTERACTION

Su Liwei

The article shifts the issue of the 'gray zone' from military-political description to philological analysis. The object of the research is English-language military-political discourse, in which the expression gray zone has gradually changed from a metaphor of an uncertain space into a stable term of strategic communication. The article examines the stages of the conceptual evolution of the term, its metaphorical structure, evaluative meaning and translation difficulties. It argues that countering gray-zone practices requires not only political and military measures but also discursive counteraction: terminological clarification, exposure of euphemisms, construction of an alternative interpretive frame and development of critical media literacy.

Keywords:gray zone, English-language discourse, military-political terminology, concept, metaphor, critical discourse analysis, translation.