Language and political functions of Catherine II's letters to Voltaire

The author of the article examines the letters of Catherine II to Voltaire, indicates that the empress successfully used the denotative, axiological, voluntarily communicative, emotionally expressive, aesthetic functions of the language. Ivanova clearly demonstrates that the letters of Catherine II to the French Enlightener were teleological: they fulfilled the goal of raising Russia's prestige in the eyes of Europe, creating the image of the enlightened and humane ruler of Russia. The author believes that the texts addressed to Voltaire have a value not only for history, but also for rhetoric, speech culture, psychology, as they present a set of tropes and rhetorical figures that Catherine II used, and give examples of effective communication with the addressee.