Deliberate distortions of the concepts of “West” and “East” in media discourse

Abstract

This article dedicated to identification distortions in the traditional interpretations of the concepts of “West” and “East” in modern Russian media discourse. The goal lies in outlining separate aspects of distortion of these concepts and determination of causes for the emergence of such distortions in mass media discourse. The object of this research is the modern Russian media discourse that takes place in the online space. The subject is the distortions of media discourse. The article employs the analysis of scientific literature, linguoculturological text analysis, comparison and systematization of research results, continuous sampling, and keyword search. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that that this article is first to examine distortions of the concepts of “West” and “East”. It is revealed that the content of the concept of “West”, namely such aspects as modernity, progressiveness, development of new technologies, wealth, etc., are exposed to distortions the most; while the concept of “East” and its components, such as tradition, ancient civilization, despotism of state power, vestige of the past, impairment of rights of the women, and specific mode of living remain virtually unchanged. The conclusion is made that distortions of the concept of “West” and consistency of the concept of “East” in media discourse may be associated with the orientation of modern Russia towards Eastern civilization, as well deliberate opposition of Russia and the West presented in media discourse.