Abstract
The paper focuses on diachronic framing analysis of Russias images in British media discourse. The importance of the research is determined by a need to work out adequate linguistic foundations to counteract information war, generated by some foreign media and aimed at distorting Russias history and eroding its spiritual values. Few scholars have drawn on any systematic research into analysis of Russias images in foreign media discourses of different historical spans. The major objective is to compare Russias images and their emotional charge in the British media in chronologically divided periods of war and peace under the influence of changing historical and ideological factors. The authors account for the mechanisms by which Russias images are framed and transformed in the contexts of the largest war of the XX century and the information war of the XXI century. The material comprises 500 samples per period. The data covering two historical spans are investigated through a framing approach. The criteria for diachronic analysis are dominant diagnostic and prognostic frames, constituting the macroframe WAR. The significant difference in Russias images in war- and peacetime consists in their emotive load: Russias contemporary negative images are contrasted to positive images activated in the retrospective period. The findings support the idea that British media discourse focusing on Russia is subject-centered: Russias image is determined by the geopolitical situation, Great Britains political priorities and objectives, and the bilateral relationship between the countries. The results can be used to further develop the linguistic basics of war theory.
Highlights
May, 8, 1945 marks the end of World War II in Europe, May, 9, 1945 – in Russia
The objectives of the paper are threefold: 1) to reveal the most conspicuous frames, organizing and determining public opinion about war in general, encompassing the past and the present perspectives; 2) to deepen understanding of how the semantics of war has changed since WWII and what media reality is projected to communicate the image of Russia at present; 3) to highlight the image of Russia as represented in the British media of the WWII period
As we focus on media representation of war and the discourse portrayal of Russia in two historically separate periods, the identification of a macroframe WAR seems relevant
Summary
8, 1945 marks the end of World War II in Europe, May, 9, 1945 – in Russia. As mankind approached the important remembrance year of 2020, which marks 75 years after the end of World War II, the notion of war gave much food for reconsideration of global conflicts, determining a drastic change of the essence of war. Arguing that Russia contributed much to the collapse of the Nazi regime and prevented many crimes against humanity, the authors try to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of war and its transformation on the time axis. The major objective is to reveal discursive aspects of the image construal of Russia in the British media during the six-year-lasting conflict of World War II and compare them with the current representations, labelled as information war. Under information war the authors mean a media-related aspect of reporting and distribution of information in order to manipulate readers’ opinion
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