RUSSIA VERSUS “HITLER-GERMANY” AND “GAY-WEST”. Cultural History and Political Technology in Defence of a Besieged Fortress

Abstract

Against the background of deteriorated relations between Russia and the West, this study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis on the Russian nation-building project, facilitated by official rhetoric and state-controlled television. The essay starts with an examination of the cultural roots of a Russian ‘national idea’ and shows how these are present in today’s context. Further, it aims to determine characteristics of the inter-discourse communication between the elites and the majority. In an interdisciplinary approach, the study draws from literature on Russian cultural and political history, media and propaganda studies, and political science. The findings of the study demonstrate that the Russian national idea can be viewed to comprise of a horizontal and a vertical dichotomy, i.e. of Russia’s oftentimes-problematic relationship to its surroundings and a special bond between Russian rulers and the Russian population. Both dichotomies feature strongly in both official rhetoric and state-television. What regards specific characteristics of the inter-discourse communication, the findings point to a specific vanguard mentality of the elites, the prevalence of state-propaganda, and, lastly, a ‘typical Russian’ practice of shaping one’s worldview with reference to past events. In conclusion, Russia is imagined as a besieged fortress defending itself against, primarily, the Western Other.