Running Around the Vicious Circle: Cold War Images in the Contemporary Russian and American Print Media

Authors

  • Elena Plakhina
  • Irina Belyakova

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2016.2.164

Abstract

The article presents a comparative stylistic analysis of the political narrative of Russia and the United States during two historical periods: the Cold War (1950–1980) and the year 2015. The authors choose the cognitive theory of narrative analysis as their research methodology. Political narrative is understood as a single story uniting multiple journalistic materials over a certain historical period of up to several decades, reflecting the state ideologywith an arbitrary name, permanent positive or negative characters, and verbally presented via recurrent lexical units, stylistic and manipulation techniques. It is established that the Soviet narrative of the Cold War period had clearly defined villains – capitalists, while the role of victims belonged to ordinary citizens of the capitalist countries, and Communists were their saviors. The following specific features characterized the narrative: the formation of a clear opposition “us – them”; selective coverage of events occurring in the “hostile” countries, a tendency to the exclusion of anything positive; a one-sided, strongly biased view of the political, economic and cultural events (promoting the positive sides in this country and greatly exaggerating the negative ones in Western countries); an emotionally loaded image of “them” created by employing appropriate linguistic and non-linguistic means; the formation of a persistent negative image of “them” by the use of initially false causality (innuendo, false presuppositions, provocation); reframing cognitive representations of world events, when the same event is interpreted differently in different countries by the virtue of the existing ideology; declaration of one’s own values as moral, and “their” values as immoral. The Russian political narrative of last year supports a script called “We don’t care – we are not afraid of ‘the sanction masters’”, that is, the US President and leaders of European countries – “puppets, powerless heads of their states”. The scenario of the narrative, which is now being created in the English-language media concerning relations with Russia, is that Putin/ Russia is aggressive, hostile to the United States; it is a source of military conflicts, uncompromising and unpredictable. The US defends democratic values, seeks de-escalation of the existing armed confrontations, and fears the wild unpredictability of Putin/Russia. The Russian narrative is dominated by the methods of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, and direct use of obscene language against its opponents; in the English narrative intimidation dominates, when the notion of “them” is referred to as an aggressor and unpredictable barbarian.

References

Baygarova, K. (2015). V Baltimore vspykhnuli massovye besporyadki iz-za smerti afroamerikantsa [Civil Unrest in Baltimore after the Death of an African American]. In Kommersant, Apr. 28. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2718511 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Budaev, E. V. & Chudinov, A. P. (n. d.). Evolyutsiya lingvisticheskoy sovetologii [The Evolution of Linguistic Sovietology]. In Russky filologichesky portal Philology.ru. URL: http://www.philology.ru/linguistics1/budaev-chudinov-07c.htm# (mode of access:20.01.2016).
Chernenko, E. (2015). Sanktsiyam tyanut vremya [Sanctions: Playing for Time]. In Kommersant, Dec. 25. URL: http://kommersant.ru/doc/2884698 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Chernenko, E. (2014). Ni Kongress, ni Rossiya ne postradali [Neither the Congress, nor Russia suffered]. In Kommersant, Dec. 20. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/Doc/2638144 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Chernenko, E. & Solov′ev, V. (2015). Rossiyu obvinyayut v nepravil′nom tselepolaganii [Russia Blamed for Wrong Goal-Setting]. In Kommersant, Oct. 2. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2824647 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Corpus of Contemporary American English. URL: http://www.corpus.byu.edu/coca (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Cusimano, M. L. (2015). Building a Better Peace. In America, March 8, Vol. 213, Iss. 3, pp. 15–18.
Dagdeverenis, D. (2014). Are We Entering an Era of a New Cold War? In One Europe, December 4. URL: http://one-europe.info/are-we-entering-an-era-of-a-new-cold-war (mode of access:20.01.2016).
Dudina, G., Sokolovskaya, Ya. & Tarasenko, P (2015). Chetyre derzhavy reshili osobo ne minskovat [The Four Countries Decided not to Minsk Much]. In Kommersant, November 7. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2849367 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Dudina, G. (2016). SShA – samaya vliyatelnaya strana na zemle i tochka [The US is the Most Influential Country on Earth and That Is It!]. In Kommersant, January 13. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2890440 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Online Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by M. Vasmer. URL: http://vasmer.info/нн/новороссия/ (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Hollander, G. D. (1972). Soviet political indoctrination: Mass media and propaganda in the post-Stalin period. N. Y., Praeger Publ. URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85125 (mode of access: 20.04.2016).
Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv obshchestvennykh i politicheskikh ob’edineny Tyumenskoy oblasti [The State Archive of the Social and political Unions of Tyumen Region].
In The website of the Journalism Department of the Tyumen State University. URL: http://media.utmn.ru/library_view_book.php?bid=840&chapter_num=26 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Il′insky, I. M. (2015). Kholodnaya voyna: novyy etap [The Cold War: A New Stage]. In Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, 3, pp. 5–17. DOI: 10.17805/zpu.2015.3.1 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Jensen, D. N. (2014). A cold peace. In Institute of Modern Russia, October 30. URL: http://imrussia.org/en/analysis/world/2069-a-cold-peace (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Khvostik, E. (2015). Medlennyy Internet tormozit britanskyuy ekonomiku na £11 mlrd v god [Slow Internet Hampers British Economy by £1 bln a Year]. In Kommersant, March 20.URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2824647 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Kolesnikov, А. (2015). ”Chetverka” otrabotala na “troiku” [The Group of Four Got a C]. In Kommersant, October 2. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2824662 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Kramer, D. J. (2015). The Ukrainian Invasion: One Year Later. In World Affairs, March/April. URL: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/ukraine-invasion-one-year-later (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Kupina, N. A. (1995). Totalitarnyy yazyk – slovar′ i rechevye reaktsii [Totalitarian Language – Dictionary and Speech Reactions]. 144 s. Yekaterinburg ; Perm, Izdatel′stvo Ural′skogo universiteta.
Kupina, N. A. (2009). Sovietizmy: k opredeliniyu ponyatiya [Sovietisms: On the Definition of the Notion]. In Politicheskaya lingvistika, Iss. 2(28), pp. 35–40. Yekaterinburg. URL: http://philology.ru/linguistics2/kupina-09.htm (mode of access: 29.05.2016).
McNair, B. (1991). Glasnost, Perestroika and the Soviet Media. 212 p. Routledge, L., N. Y. URL: https://monoskop.org/images/5/55/McNair_Brian_Glasnost_Perestroika_and_the_Soviet_Media.pdf (mode of access: 20.04.2016).
Medvedev, E. (2015). Kandidaty v prezidenty SShA berutsya za oruzhie [US Presidential Candidates Take up Arms]. In Nezavisimaya gazeta, October 7. URL: http://www.ng.ru/world/2015-10-07/8_usa.html (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Mokienko, V. M. & Nikitina, T. G. (1998). Tolkovyy slovar′ yazyka sovdepii [An Explanatory Dictionary of the Language of Sovdepia]. 701 p. Sankt Petersburg, Folio-press. Natsional′nyy korpus russkogo yazyka [The National Corpus of the Russian Language]. URL: http://www.ruscorpora.ru/ (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
National Security Strategy (2015). URL: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2015_national_security_strategy.pdf (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
O’Brien, B. (2015). Empire Versus Tribe. In Military History, Jan., Vol. 31, Iss. 5, pp.44–51.
Odnokolenko, O. (2015). Sanktsionnyy smotritel′ [The Sanction Master]. In Nezavisimaya gazeta, December 24. URL: http://www.ng.ru/world/2015-12-24/3_kartblansh.html (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Oxford Dictionaries: Language Matters. URL: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/invade (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Ozhegov, S. I. (1974). Osnovnye cherty razvitiya russkogo yazyka v sovetskuyu epokhu [The Main Features of the Development of the Russian Language during the Soviet Epoch]. In Leksikologiya. Leksikografiya. Kul′tura rechi (pp. 20–36). Moscow, Vysshaya shkola. URL: http://www.philology.ru/linguistics2/ozhegov-74d.htm (mode of access: 20.04.2016).
Pavlov, A. (2014). Barak Obama ob′′yavil ob ekonomicheskoy blokade Kryma [Barack Obama Announces an Economic Blockade of Crimea]. In Kommersant.ru, December 20. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/Doc/2638348 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Pavlova, S. V. (2011). Otsenochnye sovetizmy v sovremennom publitsisticheskom tekste [Evaluative Sovietisms in the Contemporary Journalistic Text]. (Dissertation Abstract).Moscow. URL: http://www.dissercat.com/content/otsenochnye-sovetizmy-v-sovremennom-publitsisticheskom-tekste (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Pavlovsky, G. (2015). Vladimir Putin reshal problemu smyagcheniya izolyatsii Rossii [Vladimir Putin to Solve the Problem of Mitigation of Russia’s Isolation]. In Kommersant FM, December 17. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2879497 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Panov, A. (2015). Amerikansky tyl Blizhnego Vostoka [The American Rear of the Middle East]. In Novaya gazeta, December 4 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Smith, M. G. (1998). Language and Power in the Creation of the USSR 1917–1953. 294 p. Berlin, N. Y., Mouton de Gruyter. URL: https://books.google.ru/books/about/Language_and_Power_in_the_Creation_of_th.html?id=stqV47DuteoC&redir_esc=y (mode of access: 20.04.2016).
Sommer, T. (2015). Cold War? Cold Peace? War? In The Atlantic Times, February 9.URL: http://www.the-atlantic-times.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2350%3Acold-war-cold-peace-war&catid=115%3Afebruary-2015&Itemid=2 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Stockley, N. (2011). Political narratives: a few basics. URL: http://neilstockley.blogspot.ru/2011/05/political-narratives-few-basics.html (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Strokan′, S. (2015a). Otnosheniya Rossii i SShA v perevode s yazyka zhestov [The Relations between Russia and US as Translated from Body Language]. In Kommersant, December 25. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2872548 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Strokan′ S. (2015b). Al′ternativa v mode [Alternative in Fashion]. In Kommersant, December 25. URL: http://kommersant.ru/doc/2872547 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Strokan′ S. (2016). Vse shto smogli [Everything They Managed]. In Kommersant, January 14. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2890643 (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Taroshchina, S. (2015). Kak Obama kival golovoy Putinu [How Obama Nodded to Putin]. In Novaya gazeta, November 30. URL: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/columns/70936.html. (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Trukhachev, V. (2006). A New Stage in the Cold War between Russia and the US Has Begun. In Pravda.Ru, March 30. URL: http://www.pravdareport.com/russia/politics/30-03-2006/78082-usrussia-0/#sthash.hm7i4e9F.dpuf (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Tsirulik-Franz, D. (2015). Obama zaglyanul na ogonek k Baidenu i Yatsenyuku [Obama Called in on Baiden and Yatsenyuk]. In Nezavisimaya gazeta, July 15. URL: http://www.ng.ru/world/2015-07-15/7_obama.html (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
O strategii natsional′noy bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii : Ukaz Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii ot 31.12.2015 № 683 [ On the Strategy of the National Security of the Russian Federation: Decree 683 of the President of the Russian Federation as of 31.12.2015]. (2015). In Rossiyskaya gazeta, Dec. 31. URL: http://www.rg.ru/2015/12/31/nac-bezopasnost-site-dok.html (mode of access: 20.01.2016).
Yurchak, A. (2005). Everything was forever, Until it was no more (Ch. 1–3, pp. 1–77).Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. URL: https://books.google.ru/books/about/Everything_was_Forever_Until_it_was_No_M.html?id=bZtOWYnwkSgC&redir_esc=y (mode of access: 20.01.2016).

Published

2016-07-04

How to Cite

Plakhina, E., & Belyakova, I. (2016). Running Around the Vicious Circle: Cold War Images in the Contemporary Russian and American Print Media. Quaestio Rossica, 4(2), 159–180. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2016.2.164

Issue

Section

Vox redactoris