Beyond Analogy: Historical Framing Analysis of Russian Political Discourse

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter examines “historical framing” both as a form of discourse analysis and as a conceptualisation of how political and media actors conflate the past and present. Drawing on studies of framing analysis, this chapter defines historical framing as the detailed conflation of a current event with a historical precedent. It then examines the methods used to analyse Russian state-affiliated media and politicians’ uses of the past. In so doing, this chapter will not only detail historical framing analysis, positioning it within the wider framing literature, but also explain how it was used to identify the conflation of past with present in three case studies of Russian political discourse: the 2014 Ukraine Crisis, the EU and USA’s imposition of third-wave sanctions on Russia in 2014, and Russian intervention in Syria in 2015. These case studies are then cited to inform a paradigm of historical framing that can be applied beyond the Russian context. Finally, this chapter considers not only the uses but also the limitations of historical framing analysis and how any methods discussed could be enhanced to improve reproducibility.