Mass Media and Ethnically Significant Symbols: Between Reinforcement and Influence (On the Example of the Kryashen Newspaper “Tuganaylar”)

Abstract

The article analyzesthe mutual influence of ethnic mass media and the national movement. The relevance of the research is determined by the peculiarities of modern individualized society, where due to the excessive dynamism of life and technological development, the experience of direct interpersonal communication is being lost. For ethnic groups, this can have extremely negative consequences, asthere is a threat of assimilation from a larger community. The author of the article believes that ethnic mass media are able to mitigate these trends. The ethnosymbolic approach serves as a theoretical and methodological basis of the research, so the key point in understanding the development of a nation is assigned to its symbolic projection. The article defines ethnically significant symbols as narratives around which the discourse within the community is formed. Their main goal is to build ethnic identity. The most important symbols of the Kryashen national movement are characterized. The models of their use in the newspaper "Tuganaylar" are highlighted in order to influence the self-consciousness of the Kryashen community and the development of the national movement as a whole. These are such models as identification, correlation and mobilization. The first two models are aimed at the formation of personal identity and group identity respectively. The third model has a different mechanism. Its symbols generate discussions within the community and thereby mobilize it. The article also reveals a correlation between publications in the newspaper "Tuganaylar" over the period 2018-2022 and models of the use of ethnically significant symbols.

Keywords

• mass media
• print capitalism
• ethnic newspaper
• identity
• kryashen parish
• kryashen language
• kryashens
• orthodoxy