Transformation of the media reception of the presidency institute in Ukraine (based on the materials of European newspapers)

Abstract

The research is dedicated to the study of the process of transformation of media reception of the Institute of the Presidency of Ukraine based on the articles published by the European newspapers on their websites during the year 2019. Particular attention was paid to the key substantive concepts that underpinned the media discourse of the British, French and German press during the election and post-election periods.In the process of study, the method of conceptual analysis, which allowed to reveal the core and peripheral meanings of the concepts under study as well as point to key concept compounds and capture the phenomenon of concept separation under conditions of changing reference situation was used. The phenomenon of content homogenization, which is now the characteristic of Western media discourse was also considered. We have confirmed its manifestations by almost complete convergence of conceptual representations presented in the media systems of Britain, Germany and France.
 In the article the concept of presidency in Ukraine, represented by the name of V. Zelensky, is under exploration. Carrying out the conceptual analysis, we first identified the reference situation that caused the actualization of the concept, and paid attention to the extra-linguistic factors of its change in the media discourse. In the process of study, the following frequently used concepts to denote President Zelensky, which represented the atypical character of the Ukrainian incumbent presidency, were found: “political newcomer,” “newcomer to politics who came from show business,” “politician newcomer,” “television clown,” “Ukrainian television comedian,” “cabaret artist,” “joker,” etc.We have also stated the process of transformation from personal, negatively connotated to institutional concepts with a neutral core sense. We particularly pointed to the separation of stereotypical conceptual connections of “president-comedian,” first by introducing the predicate “former” and actualization of the combination “president-former comedian” and later by approving new semantic connections. We also pointed to the negative role of the Ukrainegate concept, which manifested Ukraine’s minor role on the international arena.