The “Lost Generation” as a Discursive Outcome of Verbal Aggression

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of verbal aggression in contemporary public and youth communication and its role in shaping the notion of the so-called “lost generation.” The theoretical framework of the study is grounded in Mikhail Bakh-tin’s theory of speech genres, according to which language is realized through historically formed and socially conditioned communicative forms. The analysis demonstrates that aggressive discursive practices, widely disseminated in media, political discourse, and digital communication, are gradually normalized within primary, everyday speech genres and significantly influence the linguistic socialization of younger generations.
The study draws on key theoretical classifications of verbal aggression pro-posed by Arnold Buss and Yulia Shcherbinina, enabling the identification and functional interpretation of various forms of aggression, including active and passive, direct and indirect, as well as explicit and implicit manifestations. It is argued that verbal aggression can no longer be viewed as an individual or incidental deviation from communicative norms but rather as a socially legitimized communicative strategy employed for self-assertion, dominance, and emotional release.
The findings suggest that the normalization of aggressive speech leads to the erosion of dialogic communication, a decline in empathy and communicative responsibility, and the strengthening of conflict-oriented interactional models. Within this framework, the concept of the “lost generation” is interpreted not as a deterministic label but as a discursive warning that points to the potential erosion of linguistic culture and dialogic sensitivity. The article concludes that understanding verbal aggression as a social and pragmatic phenomenon is essential for critically assessing contemporary communicative practices and for developing alternative, ethically grounded, and dialogically oriented models of interaction.