Stereotyping about Russia in the English-Language Electronic Media (on the Material of Publications of the Beginning of Russian-Ukrainian Conflict, November 2013)

Abstract

The article discusses political stereotyping about Russia that was formed in the English-language media. The authors analyzed the publications of the World column of websites The Guardian and The Washington Post. Special attention is paid to the articles covering the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis (November 2013). The sample of e-publications (The Guardian and The Washington Post) with the words Ukraine and Russia covered the period from 11/01/2013 to 05/31/2014. The authors described the lexical composition of publications, as well as some language tools used to form stereotypes about Russia among the English-language audience. The conducted content analysis revealed political stereotypes which were formed by means of lexical tools presented in the sample. The analysis revealed the following political stereotypes formed by English and US media: “Russia is a snob, which should be given a good lesson”; “Ukraine is a toy in the hands of the Russian Federation and the EU”; “Russia is an aggressor and invader”; “The choice between Russia and Europe is the choice between the inert, on the one hand, and the progressive, the healthy, on the other.” The authors make to following conclusion that the political media discourse is still undergoing an active process of not only maintaining the old anti-Soviet stereotypes, but also forming of the new ones associated with Russia as the legal successor of the USSR imperial ambitions. The sample showed that the English-speaking audience considered Russia as an aggressive, dangerous and cruel opponent who is closely connected to the Soviet imperial past and therefore the Kremlin policy is doomed

Keywords

• electronic media
• political stereotype
• political linguistics
• ukraine
• russia