The cultural space of the Cold War: The image of the enemy in Soviet and American journalism

Abstract

The subject field of the article is the historical-imagological spectrum and comparative perspective. The main actors that influenced the dynamics of the representation of the enemy/other image in the political discourse of the Cold War are investigated. The main type of sources were journalistic materials presented by Soviet and American literature of various levels, from newspaper publications to voluminous popular science publications. Conclusions are drawn about the ambivalence of cultural space, the coexistence of both stable imagological landmarks and constructs, and their adjustments, counter “drifts” of dehumanization or rehumanization emanating from the opposing sides and caused by the stages of the Cold War.

Keywords

• cold war
• image of the enemy
• soviet and american journalism
• cultural space
• ideological control
• political discourse