Communicative dynamism of Muslim stereotypes and the war in Ukraine

Abstract

The article explores communicative dynamism of stereotypical ideas about Muslims in predominantly Christian Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to analyze the current substitution features of Islamic values objectified by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The research methodology is based on the modern scientific media linguistic approaches to religion communication and religious ideologemes. In particular, attention is paid to the ideologeme of Jihad, which is used in the motivational practice of international recruiting as media technique. The research also reveals and examines semantic components of the media conceptualization of OWN and ALIEN Muslim. The results show that negative stereotypes of Muslims are used in the hybrid war as a cognitive tool of psychological pressure on and intimidation of Ukrainians. Stereotypes can also acquire the forms of power and control used by religious leaders and political institutions in mass media. The communicative specificity of stereotypical representations of Ukrainians is analyzed within the framework of religious marketing research.