Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Russian propaganda'

The thesis identifies and further examines the role of propaganda in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, more specifically in the period around the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation in March 2014. Critical discourse analysis is employed in order to analyse selected speeches of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, relevant to the topic and in the period under investigation. The first chapter introduces a theoretical framework on propaganda in international relations, its definition, history and research. The methodology is described in detail in the second chapter. The historical context of the conflict is provided at the beginning of the empirical part of the thesis closely followed by a detailed analysis of the selected speeches. The findings support the prediction that there is a presence of propaganda identified within the speeches of both political leaders, thus in the conflict itself, and offer valuable insights into the hidden meanings and possible motives behind its use. The study advances our understanding of the phenomenon and helps us to expose and confront propaganda further.

The adoption of laws in the Russian Federation prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality and “non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors at the regional and federal levels, respectively, has raised questions regarding the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in politics. This project shall evaluate public statements by clerics and other figures serving in the Orthodox Church from 2011 through 2013, as well as interviews conducted with clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate in order to analyze the strategies employed when arguing against public expressions of homosexuality. Drawing upon the concepts of framing and morality policy, I will argue that secular, rational-instrumental arguments have prevailed over moral-religious and procedural appeals. In addition, I will show that transformative framing by some Church figures points to ambitions for more comprehensive moral and religious changes at the individual level, and religious, societal, and legislative changes at the national level in Russia.

The Parliamentary election in Russia held in December, 2011 caused vote fraud scandal and resulted in a wide-scale protest movement which spread all over the country. The Western media repeatedly compared political situation in Russia to ‘Arab spring’. Russian media, in their turn, got divided in two opposite camps regarding their reporting on the issue. This study examines news coverage of the political conflict in two Russian media outlets and interprets the findings within the framework of propaganda. The analysis incorporates two main levels: institutional and textual. In-depth interviews with the journalists were conducted in order to establish what internal and external factors, such as censorship or state control, shaped news reporting and promoted ideological bias. The comparative analysis of news coverage involved two media outlets Russia Today and Radio Liberty, which adhere to different ideological perspectives. The results show that both media represented contrasting versions of the situation and used information selectively in order to pursue certain goals. Nevertheless, the analysis allows to conclude that Russia Today explicitly supported the views of the Russian authorities and oppressed undesirable facts and opinions. Its news policy also evokes an idea of cold war, as it repeatedly appeals to the image of external enemy – the USA. Radio Liberty, in contrast, provided various opportunities to the discontent part of the Russian society to speak out, which can be considered as an attempt to represent the other side of the story, as it was excluded from the news agenda of the state owned media. However, news policy of Radio Liberty also implied certain propagandistic objectives. The study confirms the assumption that propaganda arguably exists within any political doctrine, but can take explicit and implicit forms which are difficult to detect without thorough scrutiny of overall news reportage of certain media. Further research should look at the role of social media in a series of political scandals and protest movement awakening in Russia, as many media experts link the political situation with emergence of new means of communication. It could also compare news representation of the current political conflict in several Russian domestic independent media to detect distinctions and similarities and try to evaluate what kind of an ideology they communicated to the audience.

This dissertation explores the development of Soviet photomontage from the second half of the 1930s to the end of the 1970s. Until now, the transformation of the modernist medium and its incorporation into the everyday practice of Soviet visual propaganda during and after the Second World War has not attracted much scholarly attention. The firm association of photomontage with the Russian Avant-garde in general, and with Constructivism in particular, has led art historians to disregard the fact that the medium was practised in the USSR until the final days of the Soviet system. The conservative government organisations in control of propaganda preserved satirical photomontage in its post-Dadaist phase and Heartfield-like form, finding it useful in the production of negative propaganda.

The current paper examines the dissimilarities that have occurred in news framing by state-sponsored news outlets in their different language versions. The comparative framing analysis is conducted on the news coverage of the Russian intervention in Syria (2016) in RT and Radio Liberty in Russian and English languages. The certain discrepancies in framing of this event are found in both news outlets. The strongest distinction between Russian and English versions occurred in framing of responsibility and humanitarian crisis in Syria. The study attempts to explain the identified differences in a framework of public diplomacy and propaganda studies. The existing theories explain that political ideology and foreign policy orientation influences principles of state propaganda and state-sponsored international broadcasting. However, the current findings suggest that other influence factors may exist in the field – such as the local news discourse and the journalistic principles. This conclusion is preliminary, as there are not many studies with the comparable research design, which could support the current discussion. The studies of localized strategies of the international media (whether private networks or state-funded channels) can refine the current conclusions and bring a new perspective to global media studies.

This thesis was supported by the Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet) 

Abstract

 

Title: Krig och fred - 080808. Freds-, krigsjournalistik och propaganda i mediernas rapportering om Georgienkriget: en komparativ studie av Sveriges, Rysslands och USA:s press. (War and peace – 080808. Peace Journalism, War Journalism and Propaganda in the Media´s Reporting on the Georgia War: a Comparative Study of the Swedish, Russian and American Press.)

 

Authors: Daniel Lövgren & Tatiana Makarova

 

Tutor: Anna Roosvall

 

Course: Bachelor Thesis: Media and Communication, PR

 

Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to compare how the press in Sweden, Russia and the USA reported on the war in Georgia 2008. Focus is put on identifying the extent to which the reporting is governed by war journalism or peace journalism and, to which degree propaganda, that is one of the aspects of war journalism, is present in the different countries press.

 

Methodology: Quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis

 

Theoretical perspectives: The essay leans on the theoretical foundation of peace journalism and war journalism proposed by the Norwegian peace researcher Johan Galtung, further elaborated by the journalists Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick. This essay also uses a theoretical framework on propaganda, among other the “Propaganda model” by Herman and Chomsky, the research of Kempf and Loustarinen and journalistic observations of Lynch and McGoldrick.

 

Conclusions: The study reveals both similarities and differences between the reporting on the Georgia war in the analyzed countries. The quantitative content analysis of 600 articles in nine different newspapers (three in each country) shows that it is the war journalistic framework that is dominating in all the three countries. The results also show that there is a difference between the support given to the parties involved in the war. In the USA and Sweden the majority of the articles are pro-Georgian and in Russia the majority of the articles take pro-South Ossetian/Russian stance. The critical discourse analysis of eight articles have shown similarities and differences in scale, design, content and the presence of propaganda. Indicators of propaganda in the analyzed material include a breakdown of the actors in the war to two opposing parties, a polarization between “us” and “them” where the first is humanized and the later demonized, a wide use of elite sources.  

 

Keywords: Peace journalism, war journalism, propaganda, Georgia war, South Ossetia, Swedish press, Russian press, American press

The Caucasus Project

This is a multimodal discourse analytical study about national identity in russian film posters specifically in regards to four themes, posters that demonstrates wars, conflicts, violence or weapons. The aim of the study is to illustrate how national identity is portrayed in russian film posters, in relation to these four above themes from the start of the Soviet union 1922, until the end of the union 1991, plus four years ahead. This is studied by looking at how these four above themes are emphasized during different time periods, how the common history is described during different time periods, which similarities and differences that can be deduced from this, and how the question “who are we as a nation?” can be deduced from the pictures. The study also discusses the problem regarding media and its potential to influence, with a focus on the film media and the film poster, since these mediums have a huge potential to create a certain imagined community. For this reason it becomes important to understand who controls the media, since the one with control also beholds the power to decide what the nation identity should consist of, and how it should be portrayed. The study shows that the national identity in russian film posters is portrayed with a strong interconnection to wars, conflicts, violence and weapons during the whole investigation period, but how these themes are portrayed differs between the early/mid Soviet period and the late/post-Soviet period. The early/mid period puts a focus mainly on a strong patriotism where the soldier and the hero are frequently used motifs, which could be interpreted as motifs that are meant to eliminate questions about death in relation to wars. This could be seen as a result of an autocratic state controlled media. The late/post period instead emphasizes a criticism interconnected with conflicts with a focus on motifs like blood and dead bodies, that could be interpreted as motifs that demonstrate the tragic consequences of a violence. This could instead be seen as a result of a media that has been affected by a public sphere that has opened up, where the citizens are allowed to voice their opinions. The similarities is henceforth that the whole investigation period emphasizes a russian hegemony that puts a focus on the “russian” of the nation. The study recommends further studies in the area, either by investigating more themes in regards to film posters and national identity, or by investigating how another country portrays the national identity or the common history, there amongst war memories, in a media material.
Det här är en multimodal diskursanalytisk studie om gestaltning av nationell identitet i ryska filmaffischer, specifikt kopplat till fyra teman, affischer som gestaltar krig, konflikter, våld eller vapen. Studien har som syfte att illustrera hur nationell identitet uttrycks i ryska filmaffischer, kopplat till dessa fyra ovan teman från Sovjetunionens start 1922, till efter dess fall 1991, och fyra år framåt. Detta studeras genom att titta på hur dessa fyra ovan teman har betonats under olika tidsperioder, hur den gemensamma historieskrivningen har gestaltats under olika tidsperioder, vilka likheter och skillnader som går att utläsa från detta, samt hur frågan om “vem är vi som nation?” kan utläsas ur bilderna. Studien diskuterar även problematiken kring media och dess påverkanspotential i speciellt avseende till filmmediet och filmaffischen, då dessa medium har potential att skapa en viss föreställd gemenskap. Problematiken blir därmed vem som har kontroll över filmmediet, då den som har kontroll är den som besitter makten att bestämma vad nationsidentiteten ska bestå av och hur den ska gestaltas. Studien visar att den nationella identiteten uppvisar en stark koppling till krig, konflikter, våld och vapen under hela undersökningsperioden, men hur dessa teman gestaltas skiljer sig dock åt från tidiga/mitt Sovjettiden till sena/post-Sovjet tiden. Den tidiga/mitt perioden lägger främst fokus på en stark patriotism där soldaten och hjälten är vanligt förekommande motiv, som kan tolkas som motiv som ska eliminera frågor om död i samband med krig. Detta kan vidare tolkas som ett resultat av att en autokratisk stat har kontrollerat media. Den sena/post perioden betonar istället en kritik i samband med konflikter genom ett fokus på motiv som blod och döda kroppar, som kan tolkas demonstrera de tragiska konsekvenserna av ett våld. Detta kan istället tolkas som ett resultat av att media har påverkats av att en offentlig sfär har öppnats upp, där medborgare får lov att uttrycka sina åsikter. Likheterna är dock att hela undersökningsperioden betonar en rysk hegemoni som lägger fokus på det “ryska” i nationen. Studien rekommenderar fortsatt forskning av området, antingen genom att undersöka fler teman kopplat till nationell identitet i filmaffischerna, eller genom undersökning av hur andra länder länder gestaltar den nationella identiteten eller den gemensamma historien, däribland krigsminnen, i ett medialt material.

Nikita Khrouchtchev est surtout connu en Occident comme étant celui qui a permis le relatif soulagement de la déstalinisation. Cette image est d’ailleurs aussi persistante dans les anciens pays de l’URSS. Lorsque Khrouchtchev accède au pouvoir, il aspire en effet à des modifications ambitieuses dans des domaines extrêmement variés. La dénonciation des crimes de Staline lors du XXème Congrès du PCUS ouvre la voie à l’expression d’un certain pluralisme intellectuel et artistique qualifié de « dégel » dont les effets seront irréversibles pour la société soviétique dans son ensemble. Le volontarisme du premier secrétaire conduit à une politique de réformes économiques et politiques aussi impromptues que déstabilisatrices. Cependant la déstalinisation sera pour les peuples soviétiques (tout spécialement pour les ukrainiens) une ère de déceptions autant que d’espoirs. En effet, l’Ukraine, un des plus solides bastions de la vie religieuse en Union soviétique, tiendra une place particulière dans cette campagne. Entre autres, les régions de l’ouest de l’Ukraine avaient échappées à la répression des années trente et constituaient un phénomène singulier avec leur vie religieuse vivace et leur refus de rejoindre l’orthodoxie. Ainsi la campagne antireligieuse de Khrouchtchev est une facette méconnue de la politique du successeur de Staline. Le comportement du nouveau premier secrétaire va ainsi être encore plus dur que celui de Staline l’ancien séminariste à l’égard de la religion. Ce dernier avait fait des concessions aux Eglises après 1943, alors que dès 1958, quelques années après l’accession au pouvoir de Khrouchtchev, la propagande antireligieuse redevient virulente
Nikita Khrushchev is mainly known in the western countries as the one who has allowed a relative relief of the dictatorship thanks to the destalinization process. This opinion is also persistent in the former countries of the USSR. Indeed when Khrushchev seizes power, he wishes to proceed with many ambitious reforms in various areas. Nevertheless, he remains a convinced communist who tries this way to give a new start to the soviet ideological adventure. The denunciation of the crimes of Stalin during the XXth Congress of the Soviet Union Communist Party (SUCP) opens path to some intellectual and artistic pluralism often called « unfreezing ». Furthermore, the wills of the first secretary will lead to a policy of unexpected and unbalancing politic and economic reforms. But in fact the destalinization times will also be times of disappointments, especially for the Ukrainians. Indeed Ukraine will have a special place in the antireligious campaign, as one of the healthiest strongholds of the religious life of the Soviet Union. Since the western regions had not suffered the repression of the thirties, they were a singular phenomenon in the Soviet Union with their vivid religious life and their refusal to become uniformly orthodox. Thus the antireligious campaign of Khrushchev is one of the poorly known sides of the policy of Stalin’s successor. The behaviour of the new first secretary as regards the religions will be indeed even harsher than the one of Stalin (the former were-be priest). Stalin had made concessions to the churches after 1943; but as soon as 1958, few years after Khrushchev’s rise to power, the antireligious propaganda becomes strong and efficient again

This thesis explores to what extent Multinomial Naive Bayes (MNB) and Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifiers can be used to determine the polarity of news, specifically the news coverage of Sweden by the Russian state-funded news outlets RT and Sputnik. Three experiments are conducted.  In the first experiment, an MNB and an SVM classifier are trained with the Large Movie Review Dataset (Maas et al., 2011) with a varying number of samples to determine how training data size affects classifier performance.  In the second experiment, the classifiers are trained with 300 positive, negative, and neutral news articles (Agarwal et al., 2019) and tested on 95 RT and Sputnik news articles about Sweden (Bengtsson, 2019) to determine if the domain specificity of the training data outweighs its limited size.  In the third experiment, the movie-trained classifiers are put up against the domain-specific classifiers to determine if well-trained classifiers from another domain perform better than relatively untrained, domain-specific classifiers.  Four different types of feature sets (unigrams, unigrams without stop words removal, bigrams, trigrams) were used in the experiments. Some of the model parameters (TF-IDF vs. feature count and SVM’s C parameter) were optimized with 10-fold cross-validation.  Other than the superior performance of SVM, the results highlight the need for comprehensive and domain-specific training data when conducting machine learning tasks, as well as the benefits of feature engineering, and to a limited extent, the removal of stop words. Interestingly, the classifiers performed the best on the negative news articles, which made up most of the test set (and possibly of Russian news coverage of Sweden in general).

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005.
Thesis Advisor(s): Anne Clunan, Mikhail Tsypkin. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-91). Also available online.

Fulcro della tesi è la propaganda, in tutti i suoi aspetti e le sue sfaccettature. Il periodo analizzato nello specifico va dall'inizio del Novecento alla fine della Seconda guerra mondiale. Nel primo capitolo verrà trattata nello specifico l’etimologia e l'origine della parola propaganda, la sua nascita e la sua relazione con l'affermarsi della società di massa per poi analizzare gli aspetti psicologici utilizzati negli strumenti propagandistici. Successivamente l'attenzione si sposta sull’aspetto emotivo mosso dalla propaganda e nello specifico di una determinata tecnica della propaganda: la rappresentazione del nemico. Quest'ultimo svolge un ruolo fondamentale in quanto è in lui che la propaganda catalizza paure e angosce del popolo le quali vengono trasmesse attraverso i manifesti grafici, strumento propagandistico di estrema importanza. Una breve analisi del ruolo e della composizione dei manifesti all'interno della propaganda chiude il secondo capitolo. Il terzo ed ultimo capitolo rappresenta il cuore della tesi ovvero una comparazione dei manifesti grafici di Russia e Giappone nell’ambito dell’Occidentalismo e del Pericolo Giallo, fenomeni sociali, culturali, politici e psicologici che hanno caratterizzato i due Stati. Attraverso un'analisi, utilizzando le nozioni viste precedentemente, verranno messe in risalto le differenze grafiche e simboliche all'interno delle immagini prodotte da queste due nazioni all'interno dello stesso ambito, ovvero quello della “paura” e, rappresentazione di essa, del nemico.

L'exploration des rapports entre propagande, nationalismes et guerre fait émerger plus de problèmes que de réponses. De plus, au cours de la Grande Guerre, on assiste à une féroce guerre des images. Dans l'analyse qualitative (dépouillement des principaux organes de presse occidentaux) et quantitative (décompte d'articles, mesures de ces analyses et pourcentages), on sent trois grands courants. En premier lieu, les presses austro-allemandes adoptent la même attitude relativement optimiste par rapport à la situation sur le front oriental. La propagande austro-allemande souligne l'union contre-nature des démocraties occidentales avec l'autocratie qui va, à terme, développer des rivalités. Le second groupe est constitué par la presse de l'Entente qui se montre très confiante au début de la guerre. L'alliance avec l'Empire russe est indispensable, mais représente une gêne pour la propagande, puisqu'elle ne correspond pas à l'image que l'on veut donner de son camp. La censure va donc œuvrer afin de taire les fautes et les crises russes. Les sentiments de prudence, puis de doutes et enfin d'inquiétudes provoquent un véritable changement d'attitude et d'optique vis-à-vis de la Russie. La France qui se montrait la plus confiante pendant la période tsariste, se sent également la plus trahie sous le régime bolchevique Le dernier groupe est constitué par la presse suisse qui se montre divisée. La presse romande adopte un comportement proche de la presse de l'Entente, notamment sous la période bolchevique. Moins engagée dans le conflit, elle se montre plus prudente que ses confrères de l'Entente. Il en est un peu de même pour la presse alémanique. Si elle est proche des puissances centrales, son enthousiasme face aux réussites de ce camp n'est pas démonstratif. La réalité politique russe est finalement fort mal connue en Occident, ce qui explique également l'âpreté des débats et les dissensions à propos de la Russie d'autant plus que le pays n'est analysé qu'en fonction des intérêts propres de chaque pays. La défection russe entraîne rapidement de multiples conséquences pour le front occidental. La fin du front oriental démontre par omission l'importance de l'effort russe. Les Alliés doivent donc pallier cette " trahison " en essayant de maintenir un second front contre les puissances centrales car la victoire finale n'a pas encore choisi son camp.

La investigación ha abordado los contactos oficiales y extraoficiales entre España y la Unión Soviética durante el siglo XX, y, especialmente, se ha centrado en la proyección del modelo soviético desplegado por las Asociaciones de Amistad, tales como la Sección Española de los Amigos de la Unión Soviética y la Asociación España - URSS, como un medio de calibrar su impacto en España. Asimismo, se ha prestado atención a las asociaciones de amistad británicas para comparar el relativo éxito de estas asociaciones en los dos países. Las principales fuentes utilizadas han sido los fondos VOKS y SODD, procedentes de los archivos estatales rusos, documentos privados de las Asociaciones y testimonios, los cuales han sido cruciales para comprender estas asociaciones, los problemas que encararon así como sus éxitos y fracasos. Las Asociaciones de Amistad con la Unión Soviética fueron un medio de difundir ideales - el antifascismo y la coexistencia pacífica- defendidos por el gobierno Soviético. Así, estas asociaciones constituyeron un tipo de diplomacia popular. En términos generales, la gente que creía en un modelo diferente al capitalista se unió a estas asociaciones y proveyeron ejemplos de respecto en un mundo multicultural. Debido a ello, su mensaje no es obsoleto en el mundo de hoy.
The research deals with the official and unofficial contacts between Spain and the Soviet Union, focussing particularly on those perceptions of the latter disseminated through the various Friendship societies, such as the Spanish Friends of the Soviet Union and the Spain - USSR Society. As a way of assessing their impact in Spain, a chapter is dedicated to the British Friendship societies, which will compare the relative successes of these societies in the two countries. The main sources utilized have been the VOKS and SSOD files from the Russian Federation archives, private documents of the societies and testimonies, which have been crucial to understanding these associations, the problems they faced, as well as their successes and failures.The friendship societies with the Soviet Union were a way of spreading ideals -antifascism and peaceful coexistence - championed by the Soviet government. As such, these societies were a type of popular diplomacy. Broadly speaking, people who believed in a different model than capitalism joined these associations and they provided examples of respect in a multicultural world. Because of that, their message is not obsolete in today's world.

This research aims to explore the dissemination of strategic narratives around Lithuania through the set of news articles of the Russian state-funded media agency RT. As an international media platform, RT has been previously identified by scholars as an important structural element of Russian information warfare strategy. To identify the strategic narratives, this research follows the procedures of thematic analysis informed by the strategic narrative framework. The findings of this study indicate that RT, through the strategic narratives of Lithuania, seeks to criticize Western leadership and indirectly promote a positive image of Russia as an alternative to the West. While at the national level, the goals of RT’s strategic narratives on Lithuania include creating an image that Lithuanian governmental institutions are broken; showing the Lithuanian government as incompetent, and associating it with a fascist regime; presenting Lithuania not only as Russophobic but as a failing state as well. Further research could contribute to elaborating the strategical framework of the Russian information warfare effort in the post-Soviet countries.

Ces recherches portent sur les représentations du régime soviétique entre 1919 et 1936. Elles se fondent sur des archives inédites de l'excursus, les archives françaises et un corpus de publications concernant l’URSS parues en France. Apres une présentation de l'héritage des images de la Russie tsariste et des révolutions de 1917, le plan progresse en deux parties chronologiques (19191927 et 1927-1936). Chacune s'articule en trois grands thèmes : le premier est la construction de l'information sur l’URSS, en Russie (état soviétique, internationale communiste) et en France. Le deuxième thème est le contenu des débats sur la propagande soviétique et des représentations elles-mêmes (politique, économie, société). Le troisième thème est la diffusion et la réception de ces images. On a alors distingue une série de lectures qui lie attitude envers l’URSS et envers le PCF (pour ou contre), et une deuxième série philosovietique mais non communiste ou anti communiste. Avec le renouvellement de ce courant par l'antifascisme et le tournant de la ligne communiste vers le front populaire, l'image favorable de l’URSS atteint un apogée - complexe et sans hégémonie - en 1936
The thesis raises the question of representations of soviet Russian between 1919 and 1936. The documentation comes from the archives recently opened in Russia, French archives and books published about USSR. This work first traces the heritage of tsarist Russia and 1917 revolutions. Then it goes through two chronological phases (1919-1927 and 1927-1936). Inside each period, the thesis argues about three levels. The first level analyses the making of information about USSR in Russia (soviet state, communist international) and in France. The second level describes the French) debate around soviet propaganda and traces the representations (politics, economy, culture). The third level deals with diffusion and reception of these images. A great trend of analysis then links up the choices concerning USSR with the choices concerning French communism (for it or adverse to it). The other great trend is a philosovietism which is noncommunist or anticommunist. Image of soviet Russia is at a positive climax - thus complex and not prevailing - in 1936

For about a decade, the Russian opposition politician Aleksej Navalnyj has been a topic in the Swedish news media. Particularly since the end of august 2020, when suspected of having been poisoned with the neurotoxin novitjok. Often described as a freedom fighter in the Swedish press, Navalnyj, however, has a quite varied background in both liberal and nationalist groups. Since the poisoning, however, questions have been raised about Navalnyjs past, who he actually is, and what he wants to achieve. Yet, he tends to be described as a freedom fighter in most texts. In this essay we aim to examine not the narrative of Navalnyjs fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia, but how he is framed in the Swedish news press. To do so, we combine a quantitative digital text analysis with a qualitative frame analysis. By applying a theoretical framework based on acknowledged media theories such as framing and priming theory combined with earlier studies on the topic, we find that Navalnyj tends to be framed as a kind of antithesis to the Russian regime and Putin. Also, it seems the conflict is not limited to the borders of Russia, nor to the Russian people. The European Union is reported to take interest in the conflict, for example, taking Navalnyjs side. A logical explanation may be found in the view on Russia in the Swedish society, which is employed as a frame in the media and hence gets reproduced into society.

This thesis examines the relationship between the three artists' workshops Røde Mor (Red Mother), Folkets Ateljé (The People's Studio) and GRAS, who worked between 1968 and 1975 in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Røde Mor was from the outset an articulated Communist graphic workshop loosely organised around collective exhibitions. It developed into a highly productive and professionalised group of artists that made posters by commission for political and social movements. Its artists developed a familiar and popular artistic language characterised by imaginative realism and socialist imagery. Folkets Ateljé, which has never been studied before, was a close knit underground group which created quick and immediate responses to concurrent political issues. This group was founded on the example of Atelier Populaire in France and is strongly related to its practices. Within this comparative study it is the group that comes closest to collective practises around 1968 outside Scandinavia, namely the democratic assembly. The silkscreen workshop GRAS stemmed from the idea of economic and artistic freedom, although socially motivated and politically involved, the group never implemented any doctrine for participation. The aim of this transnational study is to reveal common denominators to the three groups' poster art as it was produced in connection with a Scandinavian experience of 1968. By ‘1968' it is meant the period from the late 1960s till the end of the 1970s. It examines the socio-political conditions under which the groups flourished and shows how these groups operated in conjunction with the political environment of 1968. The thesis explores the relationship between political movements and the collective art making process as it appeared in Scandinavia. To present a comprehensible picture of the impact of 1968 on these groups, their artworks, manifestos, and activities outside of the collective space have been discussed. The argument has presented itself that even though these groups had very similar ideological stances, their posters and techniques differ. This has impacted the artists involved to different degrees, yet made it possible to express the same political goals. It is suggested to be linked with the Scandinavian social democracies and common experience of the radicalisation that took place mostly in the aftermath of 1968 proper. By comparing these three groups' it has been uncovered that even with the same socio-political circumstances and ideological stance divergent styles did develop to embrace these issue.

Aujourd'hui, bien que la mafia russe soit officiellement démantelée, elle continue à influencer et à transformer l’identité de son «fidèle» spectateur par la voie cinématographique. Dans ce cas comme dans sans doute beaucoup d’autres, comme le rappelle à juste titre Valérie Pozner, « le cinéma doit être replacé au sein d’un vaste réseau de pratiques spectaculaires et de stratégies éducatives, politiques et informatives hétérogènes ».1Cette thèse revient en premier lieu sur les participants et les engagements de cette coopération entre la mafia et le cinéma. Avant de retracer les principaux traits de ce mariage ciné-mafia-politique, nous allons aborder les formes nouvelles qui apparaissent dans ce nouveau style de cinéma criminel très populaire et répandu dans la société russe. Pour cela faire, dans un premier temps, la recherche donnera certaines détaillées nécessaires pour illustrer les principaux acteurs et principaux événements de la véritable guerre sanglante des groupement criminelles pendant la Grande Révolution Criminelle Russe de 1988-1994. Dans un deuxième temps, nous analyserons les mécanismes de propagande, véhiculés par le cinéma du genre mafieux et criminel russe dont une partie appartient à l’héritage soviétique. Ces mécanismes de propagande, explicites ou masqués, mais surtout ayant un rôle de promotion pour la toute-puissance Russie, accompagnent cette brutalité d’un style de vie que les occidentaux étudient, afin de le comprendre, depuis des siècles. Un Etat « à part » ainsi que son cinéma, que l'on peut aimer ou détester, mais face auquel on ne peut rester indiffèrent !Ce travail de doctorat s'appuiera sur trois hypothèses :Hypothèse 1 : L'arrivée de la Mafia russe dans les circuits de financement du cinéma est aussi une médiation, une communication entre la vie de l'Organisation et le grand public. Elle s'exprime notamment par la mise en place de ce que nous pourrions appeler une « esthétique mafieuse ».Hypothèse 2 : Les attributs de cette esthétique mafieuse profitent des attributs de l'esthétique à laquelle elle succède : l’esthétique soviétique, le socialisme. La question de la conscientisation de ces transformations est une question cruciale.Hypothèse 3 : Cette esthétique mafieuse, cinématographique opère une communication publique et, donc, une évolution des représentations sociales des spectateurs. Nous allons faire l'évaluation de ces valeurs par le public
Today, although the Russian mafia and organized crime community is officially defeated, it continues to influence, transform the identity of his « faithful » viewers through by the way of cinema. It's necessary to understand the exchanges between the cinema said « criminal fiction » and its influence on the public reality. On the one hand the Russian mafia identity of cinema was built across the international market and international audiovisual film.The originality of Russian fictional crime genre, in particular, that it was in some cases produced, directed and performed by former criminals, who also faced historical changes, and were influenced by Hollywood mafia movies lived a period of transformation in « cinema professionals », as also the professionals in the field of other arts such as literature, publication, music, television. Such was the case of Vitaly Demochka 1, the former criminal, who became director, producer, actor and writer. The particularity of his case, that he directed and performed his own « life story » on the screen, as well the members of his former criminal team became the fictional heroes of his film « Spets ».In parallel, our work is focused on the study of “communicating objects”, such as a music, behavior, language, dress code, tattoos. Which have become representative as the 'weapon' of mafia propaganda, projected in the cinema and widely recycled in reality, and vice versa. It operates not only the mythification of public communication but therefore, the evolution of the social representations and even transformation of the spectators

L’URSS opère au milieu des années 1930 un changement dans sa manière d’envisager la performance sportive. La recherche du record et la quête des victoires deviennent des objectifs de l’action du gouvernement et du Parti à partir de 1934, ce qui entraîne la mise en place de dispositifs pour coordonner et guider la préparation des sportsmen. Cette recherche éclaire dans la longue durée le processus de fabrique de l’élite sportive soviétique dont les prouesses apparaissent au cours de la Guerre froide comme une incarnation des réussites du régime et un foyer d’attachement des Soviétiques au « soviétique ». Pour ce faire, cette thèse analyse, en s’appuyant sur les productions médiatiques et artistiques comme sur les sanctions internes à l’administration sportive, la construction des normes faisant du sportsman un modèle de citoyen soviétique. Elle observe leur assimilation graduelle par les membres de l’élite athlétique, ainsi que les différents accommodements et libertés que s’autorisent les sportifs. Ce travail s’attache ensuite à retracer, en analysant les échanges de délégations d’athlètes, comment le groupe des sportsmen s’est constitué en relation avec l’étranger, adoptant un ethos sportif et donnant une physionomie à l’ « homme soviétique ». Il montre enfin comment le secteur du sport de haut niveau a été progressivement pris en charge par l’administration de la culture physique et du sport qui, en associant gratifications, récompenses, contrôles tatillons, planification dense, entraînements intenses, a contribué à établir un « régime sportif », partagé par une grande partie des athlètes de haut niveau et hautement centralisé
In the mid-1930, the way sports performance changed in the Soviet Union. Since 1934, records and victories became governement goals and Party action. Consequently, these political bodies implemented measures to organize and coordinate the physical preparation of sportsmen. This research aimed to reveal the making of the Soviet sportsmen elite during the longue durée. First, this dissertation analyzes norms that build up the heroic image of sportsmen based on the study of artistic materials, media images and internal sanctions of sports administration. It observes their gradual assimilation by athletes but also how the same athletes accomodate, adopt a sports ethos, in helping them to progress but also in setting up an image of the Soviet man and woman. Finally, it moves to analyze the way in which sports performance became part of physical culture politics and how the sports administration centralized it to create a sports regime, involving gratification, control and carefully planned schedule

This dissertation is a quantitative study with elements of qualitative analysis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate WHAT was written about Ukraine's independence 1917 in Swedish press 1917–1918. The qualitative part of the survey was intended to answer the question if the newspaper's political attitude influenced the news reports during the chosen period. The exact periodization was determined to be between March 1, 1917 and June 30, 1918. This periodization was chosen because of the March Revolution in 1917, which triggered independence declarations in a number of countries oppressed by Moscow, who now saw their chance of freedom. June 1918 became the end of the investigation because it was just when the peace agreement between Ukraine and the Soviet Union was signed. The source material has been chosen to represent a multitude of ideological orientations. It was liberal, moderate, conservative, liberal and left-wing orientations. The source material consisted of newspaper articles from the following newspapers: Dagens Nyheter, Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Aftonblad, Svenska Dagbladet, Dalpilen, Kalmar Tidning and Norrskensflamman. Quantitative methodology was used on the source material. This method consisted of a reviewing of newspaper articles in searching of news reports from Ukraine or articles which had something to do with the events in Ukraine. Every newspaper was searched day after day. The crawled material was presented in two chapters representing different periods. The first chapter of the results presented the results from 1917, and more precisely from March to December 1917. The second chapter presented the results from 1918, but also from December 1917, that is, the result from December 1917 through June 1918. The whole result was then discussed in a separate chapter where the qualitative analysis was also discussed. The result of the quantitative analysis showed that it has been written relatively sparcely about Ukraine's independence although the volume of articles increased from December 1917 and even more in 1918. Sometimes there were articles on the first page. But for the most part, the articles with Ukraine issues were placed among other foreign articles. It was also found in the survey that it was the first World War that drew attention to the newspapers, even though the events in Petrograd and then in Ukraine took more space. This survey also showed that what was written about Ukraine's independence was also what appears in the reference literature. The news reports reported how Ukraine proclaimed independence in March 1917 and later on proclaimed an independent republic in November 1917 when the Bolsheviks conducted their coup d'état in Petrograd. The newspapers also wrote how the Russian Communists sent a declaration of war to Ukraine in December 1917 and about the war that followed. The articles also tell us how negotiations on Ukraine Peace went on in Brest-Litovsk, and how they ended up with alliance between Germany and Ukraine with the campaign against the communists. It was told how the German army marched into Ukraine to free it from the bolsheviks. Until May 1918 there were battles between the German-Ukrainian Army and the Communists. In June 1918 the peace agreement was signed and this survey’s investigation ended. The survey showed that it was written about Ukraine's independence in all newspapers. Dagens Nyheter had the most news articles linked to the survey. Although the number of articles was not subject for analysis in this survey. The qualitative analysis was based on using Höjelid's theoretical concepts "positive sound" and "negative sound" on the quantitative analysis material. The qualitative analysis’ result showed that it was almost impossible to see the differences between the newspapers because the articles were traded between the newspapers, i.e. the content was copied straight away. It should be noted that not all content was the subject of copying between the newspapers. Copying occurred to a greater extent, but there were still original articles derived from the respective newspaper. Most of the articles were also direct telegrams that were communicated abroad to the newspaper's editors. A lot of these telegrammic articles were sent with a purpose to mislead society. These angled articles were published without further examination in Swedish press. There were articles from, for example, Dagens Nyheter whose editors noted the "strange Petrograd reports" and informed about it for the purpose of enlightening the public. However, as most newspapers were occupied with World War I, as was shown in the source material, the newspaper editorial office was less interested in other foreign events. Therefore, such angled articles could be found in Swedish press on a larger scale.
Denna avhandling är en kvantitativ studie med inslag av kvalitativ analys. Syftet med denna kvantitativa studien var att undersöka VAD som skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet 1917 i svensk press 1917–1918. Den kvalitativa delen av undersökningen ämnade att besvara frågan om tidningens politiska hållningen påverkade nyhetsrapporteringen under den valda perioden. Den exakta periodiseringen fastställdes att vara mellan den 1 mars 1917 och den 30 juni 1918. Denna periodisering valdes på grund av marsrevolutionen 1917 som utlöste självständighets-förklaringar i en rad länder som var förtryckta av Moskovitien och som nu såg sin chans till frihet. Juni 1918 blev slutpunkten i undersökningen därför att det var just då som fredsavtalet mellan Ukrajina och Sovjet undertecknades. Källmaterialet har valts att representera en mångfald ideologiska inriktningar. Det var liberal, moderat, konservativ, frisinnad samt vänstersocial inriktningar. Källmaterialet bestod av tidningsartiklar från följande tidningar: Dagens Nyheter, Aftonbladet, Göteborgs Aftonblad, Svenska Dagbladet, Dalpilen, Kalmar tidning och Norrskensflamman. Det användes kvantitativ metod på källmaterialet som bestod i en genomsökning av tidningsartiklarna efter nyhetsrapporter från Ukrajina eller som hade något med händelserna i Ukrajina att göra. Varje tidning genomsöktes dag för dag. Det genomsökta materialet presenterades i två kapitel som representerade olika perioder. Det första resultatkapitlet presenterade resultatet från år 1917, och mer exakt från mars till december 1917. Det andra kapitlet presenterade resultatet från år 1918, men även från december 1917, det vill säga resultatet från och med december 1917 till och med juni 1918. Det hela resultatet diskuterades sedan i ett eget kapitel där även den kvalitativa analysen diskuterades. Resultatet från den kvantitativa analysen visade att det har skrivits relativt sparsmakat om Ukrajinas självständighet även om artikelmängden ökade från december 1917 och ännu mer under 1918. Ibland förekom det artiklar på första sidan. Men för det mesta placerades artiklarna med Ukrajina-frågor bland andra utlandsartiklar. Det framgick också i undersökningen att det var mest första världskriget som upptog tidningarnas uppmärksamhet, även om händelserna i Petrograd och sedan i Ukrajina tog allt mer plats allt eftersom. Denna undersökning visade också att det som skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet var också det som förekommer i referenslitteraturen. Nyhetsrapporterna berättade hur Ukrajina utropat sin självständighet i mars 1917 tills landet proklamerat en oberoende republik i november 1917 när bolsjevikerna genomförde sin statskupp i Petrograd. Tidningarna skrev också hur de ryska kommunisterna skickade krigsförklaring till Ukrajina i december 1917 och om det kriget som följde efter det. Artiklarna berättar även om hur förhandlingarna för Ukrajinafreden gick till i Brest-Litovsk samt hur dessa avslutades med att Tyskland allierade sig med Ukrajina i kampen mot kommunisterna. Det berättades hur den tyska armén marscherade in i Ukrajina för att befria det från bolsjevikerna. Fram till maj 1918 pågick det strider mellan tysk-ukrajinska armén och kommunisterna. I juni 1918 undertecknades fredsavtalet och där slutade undersökningen.  Undersökningen visade att det skrevs om Ukrajinas självständighet i samtliga tidningar. Dagens Nyheter hade flest nyhetsartiklar kopplade till undersökningen. Även om antalet artiklar ej var i syfte att analysera i denna undersökning. Den kvalitativa analysen gick ut på att använda Höjelids teoretiska begrepp ”positiv klang” och ”negativ klang” på den kvantitativa analysens resultatmaterial. Det kvalitativa resultatet visade att det var nästintill omöjligt att se skillnad mellan de olika tidningarna eftersom artiklarna traderades mellan tidningarna, det vill säga innehållet kopierades rakt av. Det bör påpekas att inte allt innehåll var ämne för kopiering mellan tidningarna. Kopieringen förekom i större utsträckning men det fanns ändå originella artiklar som härstammade från respektive tidning. De flesta av artiklarna var dessutom direkta telegram som kommunicerades i utlandet till tidningens redaktioner. En hel del av dessa telegraferade artiklar skickades med ett givet syfte att vilseleda samhällsopinionen. Dessa vinklade artiklar publicerades utan vidare granskning i svensk press. Det förekom artiklar från exempelvis Dagens Nyheter vars redaktion uppmärksammat de ”märkliga Petrogradrapporter” och informerat om det i möjligt syfte att upplysa allmänheten. Men eftersom de flesta tidningarna var upptagna med första världskriget, som det visades i källmaterialet, var tidningsredaktionerna mindre intresserade av andra utländska händelser. Därför kunde sådana vinklade artiklar förekomma i svensk press i en större omfattning.

Diploma Thesis Media in Hybrid War: Pro-Kremlin websites as tools of the Russian propaganda in the Czech Republic analyzes Pro-kremlin websites in the Czech Republic by the method of thematic discourse analysis. The spread of propaganda through the internet, currently the fastest growing media, has become one of the crucial elements of hybrid wars. The first part of the thesis represents the theoretical basis for the second, practically oriented part of the thesis. After a thorough analysis of the relevant theoretical background of hybrid wars and propaganda in the first chapter, the thesis focuses on the operation of Pro-Kremlin propaganda on the Internet, with a focus on the characteristics of this propaganda in the Czech Republic, in the second chapter. Consequently, the third chapter presents the methodology of the analytical part of the thesis, the selection of data for analysis and the definition of analytical categories. The following fourth chapter focuses on the thematic discourse analysis itself and interpretation of its findings. The analysis is a study of the discourse through which Pro-Kremlin websites construct an alternative world, where peaceful and at the same time militarily and economically strong Russia is the only alternative of the decomposing imperialist West. Besides, the...

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1988.
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This dissertation examines the image of the child as it appeared in the propaganda and public rhetoric of the Cold War from approximately 1950 to 1968. It focuses on how American and Soviet politicians, propagandists, and critics depicted children in film, television, radio, and print. It argues that these groups constructed a new lexicon of childhood images to meet the unique challenges of the Cold War. They portrayed the young as facing new threats both inside and outside their borders, while simultaneously envisioning their children as mobilized in novel ways to defend themselves and their countries from infiltration and attack. These new images of the next generation performed a number of important functions in conceptualizing what was at stake in the Cold War and what needed to be done to win it. Politicians, propagandists, and individuals in the Soviet Union and the United States used images of endangered and mobilized children in order to construct a particular vision of the Cold War that could support their political and ideological agendas, including the enforcement of order in the private sphere, the construction of domestic and international legitimacy, and the mobilization of populations at home and abroad. At the same time, these images were open to contestation by dissenting groups on both sides of the Iron Curtain who refashioned the child's image in order to contest their governments’ policies and the Cold War consensus. What these images looked like in Soviet and American domestic and international discourse, why propagandists and dissent movements used these images to promote their policies at home and abroad, and what visions of the Cold War they created are the subjects of this dissertation. This project argues that the domestic demands of the Cold War altered American and Soviet visions of childhood. It is common wisdom that the 1950s and 60s was a period when child rearing practices and ideas about children were changing. This dissertation supports current arguments that American and Soviet parents sought more permissive approaches in raising children who they perceived as innocent and in need of protection. Yet it also finds substantial documentation showing that American and Soviet citizens embraced a new vision of idealized youth that was not innocent, but instead was mobilized for a war that had no foreseeable end. In the United States, children became participants in defending the home and the country from communist infiltration. In the Soviet Union, the state created a new vision of idealized youth that could be seen actively working towards a Soviet-led peace around the world. By using the child’s image as a category for analysis, this project also provides a window into how the Cold War was conceptualized by politicians, propagandists, and private citizens in the Soviet Union and the United States. In contrast to current scholarship, this dissertation argues that the Soviet state worked hard to create a popular vision of the Cold War that was significantly different from the “Great Fear” that dominated American culture in the 1950s and 60s. While in the United States, the conflict was portrayed as a defensive struggle against outside invasion, in official Soviet rhetoric it was presented as an active, international crusade for peace. As the 1960s progressed, and as the official rhetoric of the state came under increasing criticism, the rigid sets of categories surrounding the figuration of the Cold War child that had been established in the 1950s began to break down. While Soviet filmmakers during the Thaw created images of youth that appeared abandoned and traumatized by the world around them, anti-nuclear activists took to the streets with their children in tow in order to contest the state’s professed ability to protect their young. In the late 1960s, both the Soviet Union and the United States struggled to contain rising domestic unrest, and took the first steps in moving towards détente. As a consequence, the struggle between East and West moved to the post-colonial world, where again, the image of the child played a vital role in articulating and justifying policy. Visual and rhetorical images like that of the child served as cultural currency for creating and undermining conceptual boundaries in the Cold War. The current prevalence of childhood images in the daily construction and contestation of public opinion are the legacies of this era.
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В роботі висвітлюється загальна характеристика Російсько-японської війни 1904-1905 років в сучасному російському політично-пропагандиському дискурсі. Зокрема, автор особливості, етапи та наслідки війни. Дипломна робота містить історичних аналіз розвитку воєнних дій, а також аналіз джерел в даній сфері і методологію дослідження. Також, робота містить аналіз зарубіжної позиції, щодо наслідків та причин війни. Важливим елементом дослідження є аналіз зарубіжних та міжнародних джерел. Автором сформовано ряд пропозицій та рекомендацій. Автором визначено основні дискусійні моменти, та визначено, що загалом, тема Російсько-японської війни 1904-1905 років в сучасному російському політично-пропагандиському дискурсі в науці розглядалася фрагментарно, в контексті перебігу подій безпеки.
The paper highlights the general characteristics of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 in modern Russian political and propaganda discourse. In particular, the author features, stages and consequences of the war. Thesis contains a historical analysis of the development of hostilities, as well as analysis of sources in this field and research methodology. Also, the work contains an analysis of the foreign position on the consequences and causes of the war. An important element of the study is the analysis of foreign and international sources. The author has formed a number of proposals and recommendations. The author identifies the main points of discussion, and determined that in general, the topic of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 in modern Russian political and propaganda discourse in science was considered in fragments, in the context of security events.

abstract: This dissertation presents a multifaceted examination of the complex sociopolitical contexts of contemporary popular and classical music in Russia. By attending to the competing expectations of Russian creators, government officials, impresarios, critics, and listeners, it examines how contemporary musical artists have navigated the shifting nationalistic and popular moods of the past two decades. I argue that popular music artists Olga Kormukhina and Polina Gagarina, composer Rodion Shchedrin, and the Mariinsky Theater have transformed the works of past artists, including Viktor Tsoi and Nikolai Leskov, updating them according to a popular demand for patriotic works that the Russian state has cultivated through its media outlets and official pronouncements on cultural policy. Other rock musicians (Konstantin Kinchev and the band Bi-2) have also transformed their political identities to match the present-day demands and expectations of either Russian officialdom or their particular Russian audiences. With the exception of Bi-2 (an ambiguous counterexample), all of these transformations have led to greater associations with nationalistic sentiments or fervent support for state agendas in the contemporary geopolitical arena. Exploring the wide variety of styles and genres in this dissertation required a methodological versatility involving archival research, reception history, the analysis of musical scores and sound recordings, an examination of prose and poetic texts, and close study of visual imagery in music videos and onstage. The approach to reception history is the most groundbreaking, for it considers a wide range of digital sources, including blogs and social media comment threads, and makes use of language partner apps to augment the pool of informants, allowing conversation with Russians living outside the limited geographical range (St. Petersburg and Moscow) considered by previous studies. This holistic approach to contemporary reception history helps us to better understand how Russian audiences from diverse regions perceive these ongoing transformations.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

of diploma thesis ‚Seek Russians behind everything: Critical research of "Russian disinformation campaign" discourse in the Czech republic'. Author: Bc. Adam Čech Supervised by: Dagmar Rychnovská, M.A., LL.M., Ph.D. Study programme: International relations Year of work defence: 2019 This study researches the "Russian disinformation campaign threat" discourse, that was established in the Czech republic since 2014. The study utilizes a method termed for the purpose of this work as "lesser discourse analysis". It explores the origins and influences that played a role in creation of a specific understanding of the topic. Subsequently it engages in a critical analysis of the discourse and assesses whether the understanding of the Russian hybrid threat, especially regarding the disinformation, is legitimate and based on known facts and correct interpretation of them, or whether it is not (partially) based on delusions, myths, logical shortcuts, misinformation (or possibly disinformation) on part of the creators and active participators of the discourse. The study also presents a set of recommendations to "straighten" the discourse on this important topic. The study engages in analysing of the process of the agenda-setting regarding the topic through the lenses of "securitization theory ". It identifies...

M.A.
The aim of this study is to determine the utilisation and effect of literature as instrument of patriotism in order to get the active support of the Soviet population for the war effort of the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1946. In the Soviet Union literature was well able to fulfil this role due to the fact that the Soviet leadership identified the propaganda value of literature, with the result that literature became the official expression of the government's policy. By making use of the different literary genres the inherent patriotism could be awakened and inspired. Literature was therefore mainly responsible for the change in the attitude of the Soviet population from indifference and uninterestedness to one of active support. It is, however, not possible to award to literature solely the responsibility for this change of attitude because other instruments were also used between 1941 and 1946. There is enough evidence that the reaction of the population was to a great extent influenced and determined by literature. Through literature the Soviet population wanted to act as the heroes of the literary works and save their Russian fatherland from the German onslaught.

The thesis entitled "Genesis of Russian propaganda as a serious security threat of the 21st century from the perspective of NATO and EU" examines the phenomenon of contemporary Russian propaganda. Russia commonly uses propaganda as a tool of promoting its interests. Russian propaganda is very sophisticated, aggressive, and massive. Mainly due to the effective use of the internet and social networks, Russian online actors are able, in a short space of time, to successfully generate an information chaos, which is difficult to navigate in. Contemporary Russian propaganda has several key aspects, namely the anti-American and anti-European orientation, attacks on Western democratic values, and the mixing of truth with fiction. Thus, propaganda becomes an effective weapon in the information war that the Kremlin has initiated. The West is aware of these alarming issues and tries to respond. The thesis analyzes the development of the perception of the Kremlin propaganda by the Western international security organizations NATO and EU. At the same time, it attempts to identify the moment when Russian propaganda began to be perceived as a serious security threat. Whereas the key of the analysis is to interpret the perception of Russian propaganda, the concept of securitization was chosen as the theoretical...

This dissertation considers films to be double-sided mirrors that absorb political and cultural content from one side, with filmmakers filtering and elaborating the content between the two surfaces, and then transmitting the elaborated points to the audience. The elaboration of political content can be performed in an educational and propagandistic way, depicting and supporting specific political ideas. This dissertation analyses the first two programs of a Russian government program, Patriotic Education for Russian Federation Citizens (2001- 2005 and 2006-2010) (hereinafter, 'Patriotic Education'), and identifies six political priorities that can be observed and analysed in eleven Russian war movies. It will first be explained how the movies serve as propagandistic and educational tools in the context of Patriotic Education, projecting its political priorities to the audience. Second, it will be explained how a continuity with the Soviet past is displayed in the content of war films and the way they depict some of the elements promoted by Patriotic Education.

Russian-American Relations and the Mass Media Securitization of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the American Press by Valeriia Alikina This thesis is focused on two issues relevant to Security Studies and Political Science: relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America, which are currently experiencing yet another decline, and problematics of political journalism. It reviews the process of securitization of Russia through speech acts in the mass media of its historical opponent, the United States. First, the thesis provides a theoretical framework, securitization theory, introducing its main principles. To prove that the process of securitization indeed occurs, the method of discourse analysis is employed. The third chapter provides background information on the relations between the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States since the end of the World War II; this information is completed by the role mass media had in their affairs. The next chapter frames the issue of propaganda, elaborating on the meaning behind this concept, the "fake news" narrative, and the idealistic idea of media objectivity. In the fifth chapter, the case study, two processes of securitization are reviewed. The first one is the American mainstream media, namely ​The New York Times​ and ​The...

La chute de l’URSS en 1991 a permis un renouvellement de l’historiographie occidentale sur l’histoire de ce pays durant la Guerre froide : avec l’accès à de nouvelles archives, les dimensions sociales et culturelles sont désormais prisées et la production culturelle soviétique est examinée avec un regard plus apaisé. À partir de 1967, un magazine à grand tirage soviétique fait son apparition dans plusieurs villes occidentales : le Spoutnik Digest. Son titre évoque à la fois le satellite soviétique, qui a fasciné la planète dix ans plus tôt, et le Reader’s Digest, le magazine américain agrégateur de contenu le plus vendu et le plus lu dans le monde à l’époque. La revue mensuelle, quoique similaire à son homologue américain au premier regard, contient des textes exclusivement issus d’Union soviétique et de ses journaux officiels. Comme le Reader’s Digest, le Spoutnik Digest est un objet de propagande, mais la revue offre un regard différent sur l’URSS durant la Guerre froide et sur les tensions mondiales de l’époque : dans le Spoutnik Digest, l’URSS est un pays pacifique, culturellement riche et où il fait bon vivre, la revue priorisant la valorisation du monde communiste plutôt que la critique du capitalisme et des États-Unis en particulier. En ce sens, le Spoutnik Digest se distingue clairement du Reader’s Digest, dont l’anticommunisme est agressif et omniprésent. Ce mémoire étudie le Spoutnik Digest en tant qu’objet historique et culturel entre les années 1968 et 1988. L’analyse de sa forme et de son contenu porte sur les origines de cette revue, son lectorat cible et les thèmes les plus couverts, révélant au final le message soviétique de paix et de bonne volonté politique que le magazine tentait de transmettre dans le monde durant la Guerre froide.
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed the Cold War historiography to renew itself: social and cultural dimensions are acknowledged and the outlook on the cultural material emanating from USSR can be analyzed with more scientific objectivity and an appeased perspective. In 1967, a new magazine appeared in many Western cities: the Sputnik Digest. Its name referred both to the Soviet satellite that fascinated the world ten years earlier and the Reader’s Digest, the famous American magazine specialized in content aggregating, the most read and sold internationally at the time. The Sputnik Digest, published on a monthly basis, even though looking similar to its American counterpart at first sight, contained texts directly extracted from official Soviet newspapers in USSR. Without doubt a propaganda tool, like its American counterpart, the magazine however offered a fresh insight of the USSR during the Cold War: from the Sputnik Digest point of view, the Soviet Union was a peaceful country, culturally rich and a great place to live in. The magazine prioritized the valorisation of the USSR as opposed to criticizing the capitalist Western powers and the United States. From that standpoint it radically diverged from the aggressive ideological tone of the Reader’s Digest. This master’s thesis, through this new perspective, will study the Sputnik Digest as a historical and cultural object between the years 1968 and 1988. By looking both at its format and content, it will examine the origins of this monthly journal, its targeted readership and the most covered themes, revealing the message of Soviet peace and goodwill that the magazine tried to spread worldwide during the Cold War.

Wojna między Gruzją a Rosją, która wybuchła w sierpniu 2008 r., była pierwszym, pozimnowojennym konfliktem zbrojnym, w którym w tak wielkiej skali, wzięła udział Federacja Rosyjska. Wydarzenie wpłynęło na globalny układ sił między państwami i pokazało, że światem nadal rządzą zasady rodem z XIX w. Stały się one udziałem nie tylko Rosji, o których stosowanie była najczęściej oskarżana, ale też i innych mocarstw. Każdy z „aktorów” konfliktu posiadał swoje partykularne interesy, które zamierzał zrealizować. A przedmiotem stały się dwa niewielkie terytoria – Osetia Południowa i Abchazja, które nie chciały uznać zwierzchności gruzińskiej, a których celem było uzyskanie prawa do podejmowania suwerennych decyzji. Celem omawianej pracy była rekonstrukcja i analiza sposobu relacjonowania wojny w polskiej prasie drukowanej oraz w przekazach internetowych – na różnych płaszczyznach. Autor postawił sześć hipotez badawczych: 1. Przekazy w polskiej prasie drukowanej i Internecie były mało wiarygodne i w istotnych punktach oraz ferowanych ocenach odbiegały od rzeczywistości. 2. Przekazy wpisywały się w mechanizmy wojny sieciowej (tzw. netwar), wykorzystującej splot licznych czynników polityczno-społeczno-ekonomicznych. 3. Jakość przekazów medialnych była niska, zmanipulowana i obarczona silnymi emocjami, zaś praca nadawców była ograniczona sztywnymi ramami przyzwyczajeń i nakazów redakcyjnych, co wpłynęło na sposób informowania. 4. Używany język był, przede wszystkim, językiem ocen, a nie faktów. 5. Wizerunek Federacji Rosyjskiej był tendencyjny, stronniczy i wynikał z uwarunkowań historycznych i stereotypów. 6. Pozytywny wizerunek Gruzji był przeciwieństwem obrazu Federacji Rosyjskiej i opierał się na naturalnej sympatii i do tego państwa i jego mieszkańców. Zakończenie W toku pracy autor przeanalizował łącznie 4172 teksty. Praca, w swojej podstawowej części, posiada charakter analizy źródłowej zawartości prasy drukowanej i Internetu w wymiarze ilościowym i jakościowym, jednak podejście do sposobu przedstawienia ma charakter problemowy. Wynika on z trudności problematyki pojęciowej, która wyłania się ze wskazania związku przyczynowo-skutkowego między zaistniałym dyskursem, a systemem medialnym, który ten dyskurs wytworzył. Należy jednak podkreślić, że wymienione na wstępie hipotezy odnoszą się do przedstawionego obrazu dyskursu, a nie do jego recepcji przez adresatów, na których bezpośrednio dyskurs miał oddziaływać. Badając zbiór materiałów prasowych zdecydowano się sięgnąć po kilka różnych metod badawczych, co w efekcie spowodowało, że praca zyskała charakter multidyscyplinarny. Prócz analizy dyskursu medialnego, autor skorzystał również z metod statystycznych i językoznawczych a także narzędzi stosowanych w innych dyscyplinach, jak politologia, prawo, socjologia, historia i wojskowość. Z racji własnych zainteresowań sięgnął też do geopolityki i cybernetyki społecznej. Zdaniem autora media w Polsce dość bezkrytycznie przejmowały tezy rządowe w dziedzinie polityki zagranicznej, co wynikało często z braku elementarnej wiedzy w danej dziedzinie. Ponadto, polska prasa pobieżnie potraktowała przyczyny i okoliczności wybuchu najostrzejszej fazy działań wojskowych na Kaukazie w 2008 r., a zwłaszcza nie zajęła się analizą oświadczenia gruzińskiego prezydenta o zamiarze „przywrócenia porządku konstytucyjnego”, co mogłoby wskazywać, że był on inicjatorem tych działań. Cały dyskurs różnił się wyraźnie od późniejszego, obszernego raportu unijnego w tej sprawie, autorstwa szwajcarskiej ambasador Heidi Tagliavini. Jego ustalenia dobrze oddały słabość polskiego przekazu, porównując go chociażby do przekazów zagranicznych. W postrzeganiu polskich mediów, wojna na Kaukazie w 2008 r. rozpoczęła się nagle. Nagle również zakończyła się. Nadawcy nie byli w stanie pojąć na bieżąco jej dynamiki i logiki następujących po sobie zdarzeń. W zamian, w swoim podejściu oparli się na własnych przekonaniach, które zostały szybko uwiarygodnione przez liderów opinii.
The war on Caucasus in 2008 was the first interstate conflict after the Cold War in which the Russian Federation took part. This short (only five days) incident have changed the global power balance between East and West, between world powers, and the rules of cooperation in the USA-EU-Russia triangle. One of the aspects of this conflict was propaganda war, better known under the modern term – “network-centric warfare”. Polish mass-media (both printed and on-line) took a part in this war. Unfortunately, they did not present the unbiased message, but were a tool in the hand of Georgian and Western propaganda in creating the image of this war. The Caucasian issues are crucial for the global security. My first interest in the following subject began a few years ago, when my association was making the scientific observation in South Ossetia. It was the beginning of the August, 2008. It was the traditional time of holiday tensions on the South Ossetian-Georgian border. We did not realize that tensions could turn into the regular war and we will find ourselves in the centre of it. In this time the members of our centre watched typical propaganda war between both sides of the conflict. Western mass-media were showing completely different view of this war than Russian mass-media. I also watched as the events of this war were shown in Polish mass-media and I had asked myself about the real root of those differences. Then I have decided to write my PhD thesis about it. During the research I had analyzed 4174 texts in both sort of media: printed and on-line. I have put six main thesis of my dissertation: 1. the reports in Polish press were not reliable and in the most important points of this conflict were different from the reality; 2. the reports were a part of the “network-centric warfare”, using the combination of political, social and economic factors; 3. the quality of reports was very low, and based on manipulations, strong emotions, and also strong occupational habits of the editorial staff; 4. the language used was mainly the language of estimations, not the language of facts. 5. the image of Russian Federation was biased, one-sided and based on stereotypes; 6. the image of Georgia was in the complete opposite of the image of Russian Federation, and it was based on the natural sympathy to this country and its inhabitants. In the course of research only the last thesis has not been fully confirmed. The image of Georgia was critical, but not as drastic as image of Russia. Georgian side was criticized, but this criticism emphasized rather stupidity or hastiness of Georgian leaders (especially of president Micheil Saakashvili), than conviction about their evil intentions. One the most important issues was that the low quality of reports and the lack of knowledge, which was the base of many manipulations. The majority of Polish journalists, which were writing about the war on Caucasus in 2008, did not even have basic knowledge about the Caucasus region. Those few journalists or reporters who wanted to present more detailed information or present the other side of the conflict, had a lot of difficulties with publishing their materials. One of them even had paid for making this kind of material by losing his job. The most blatant example of this kind of policy was the example of TV journalist Wiktor Bater, who was fired after making his report from the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali about the experiences of inhabitants of this city just after the Georgian attack. In the context described above, it seemed interesting to present opinions and standpoints of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, at least in a very little scale. Average Polish reader could learn practically only the fact that both unrecognised states were geographically lying on Caucasus and their authorities were supported by Russian Federation. It is important to stress that Polish media have presented the image of this conflict only in white and dark colours. Of course the dark side was the “aggressive” Russia led by former KGB officers, which was going to rebuild the Soviet empire. The lack of presenting the history background in the discourse and also the manner in informing about the bilateral relations between Russia and Georgia had very negative results, in the first place the stereotypic image of both sides. Especially Russia was presented in an unfavourable light. Another aspect of this kind of image in the discourse was the Polish history and education. Poles up to this time do not trust the Russian state, they treat it like a big threat to Polish nation and country. In fact, this stereotype is the result of lack of education and lack of knowledge of Russian language – especially in the field of the rules of international relations and geopolitics, as well as the negative propaganda in media. While analyzing the material, I used to expect that experts would maybe would look at those stereotypes in a critical way. Unfortunately, the Polish media presented only those analytics who fulfilled their expectations. Politicians - another group of influential leaders of opinion – based on experts’ judgements. The conservative side of Polish political scene used very aggressive rhetoric in this conflict. The former refers in the first place to the presidential centre, dominated by Law and Justice Party. Liberal government lead by Civic Platform were more balanced in their judgements, but only on the level of language. Their activity was absolutely the same. To recapitulate, the following dissertation have proved not only that the discourse about war on the Caucaus was manipulated, but also proved the weakness, lack of professionalism, ignorance, and low standards among Polish journalists and media companies.

碩士
輔仁大學
歷史研究所
96
On January 11th of 1938, Sin Xua Rhbao was published in Wuhan and moved to Chongqing in October. Sin Xua Rhbao was the first newspaper published to the public by Communist Party of China. Communist Party of China used Sin Xua Rhbao to publish its political activities, ideal of culture and cultural activities because Wuhan and Chongqing had become Kuomintang region’s center of politic, economic and culture. From 1938 to 1942, the literature propaganda of Communist Party of China, such as images, education, masses movement and anti fascists’ activities was learned from Soviet Union. After the outbreak of Great Patriotic War, articles about Soviet Union in Sin Xua Rhbao’s were mainly military issues. On the Contrary, articles related to Sino-Soviet Union cultural activities had decreased. After 1942, with the progression of Yan’an Rectification Movement and the dismissal of Communist International, Communist Party of China gradually developed its “the literature is at the service of politic” policy. This fact can be clearly seen from the change of contents of Sin Xua Rhbao, which is replaced by Communist Party of China’s cultural activities and literature propaganda. In this thesis, I have made an effort using Sin Xua Rhbao as the main resources to understand the new perspective of Sino-Soviet Union during the Sino-Japanese war. Moreover, I observed and analyzed how Communist Party of China learned and used the Soviet Union propaganda to establish its cultural system.

La présente thèse étudie la production et la consommation d’images par les révolutionnaires russes avant 1917. L’auteur soutient que l’iconographie révolutionnaire russe émane d’un long processus au cours duquel les révolutionnaires se sont appropriés et ont subverti certaines images et stratégies visuelles, ainsi que leurs moyens de production, déjà disponibles au sein de la culture qu’ils avaient entrepris de transformer. Cette appropriation est comprise comme une tentative d'insuffler une cohérence idéologique à un mouvement révolutionnaire en émergence et, ce faisant, en proie à une relative désorganisation. L’auteur montre comment l’usage de portraits et de stéréotypes visuels joua un rôle important dans la construction de l’identité et de la conscience révolutionnaires, d’une part, et comment un certain imaginaire révolutionnaire fut cristallisé dans la culture visuelle contemporaine, d’autre part.
This dissertation studies the production and consumption of images by Russian revolutionaries prior to 1917. The author argues that Russian revolutionary iconography emanates from a long-term process in which revolutionaries appropriated and subverted the images, means of production and visual strategies already available in their surrounding cultural context. This cultural borrowing is analyzed as an attempt of the revolutionaries to give an ideological coherence to an emerging but still disorganized political movement. The author shows how portraits and visual stereotypes have been fundamental in the construction of the revolutionary identity and consciousness, on one hand, and how a certain revolutionary imagination have been crystallized in the contemporary visual culture, on the other hand.

Le début du 20e siècle en Russie aura été une période de grands bouleversements politiques, économiques, sociaux et artistiques. De la première révolution de 1905 vers la Révolution d'octobre 1917 plusieurs changements se sont opérés mais le grand tournant dans l'histoire socio-politique de la Russie se fera surtout après 1917. Vladimir Maïakovski, l'un des fondateurs du futurisme russe, un poète révolutionnaire, artiste pluridisciplinaire de l'avant-garde, participera artistiquement au projet révolutionnaire entre 1917 et 1930. J'analyserai dans ce mémoire la figure de la masse que le poète projette dans l'œuvre de circonstance 150 000 000. Ceci, dans le but de saisir le rapport art/masses qui se dégage de cette œuvre. Pour ce faire, je tenterai de comprendre l'œuvre en la situant dans son contexte de production générale, soit la période socio-historique entourant l'année de sa publication, 1921. En lien avec son contexte de création, je présenterai une analyse littéraire du poème qui ciblera plus particulièrement les procédés stylistiques utilisés par Maïakovski. En m'appuyant sur les critiques manichéennes qui ont été adressées à Maïakovski concernant ce poème, je dresserai un portrait général des diverses positions préconisées par la critique ainsi que les hauts dirigeants bolchéviques, concernant l'art de masse et son public. Une œuvre que Lénine qualifiera de prétentieuse et stupide. De cette polémique entre Lénine et Maïakovski, il sera question de comprendre comment leur vision de la masse s'oppose. Le but premier de ce mémoire est donc de cerner la figure de la masse au travers l'épopée pathético-héroïque 150 000 000. De cette figure se dégage le regard que Maïakovski portait sur les masses russes. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Vladimir Maïakovski (1893-1930), avant-garde, futurisme russe, propagande, masse, révolution.

Defence date: 16 January 2009
Examining Board: Prof. Edward A. Rees (University of Birmingham, EUI) - supervisor Prof. Douglas T. Northrop (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) - external supervisor Prof. Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (European University Institute) Prof. Galina M. Yemelianova (University of Birmingham)
First made available online: 26 July 2021
The thesis examines four cases of sovietization (modernization) as realized in Central Asia and especially in Uzbekistan in the 1920s, with particular emphasis on the period between 1924 (the regionalization of Central Asia) and 1930 (the end of the last general purges of the 1920s). Showing how Moscow intended to transform the region along the lines of Soviet ideology with the idea of converting the Homo Islamicus speaking Muslim into Homo Sovieticus speaking Bolshevik, the cases embodied by the four main parts of the thesis represent the intersection of soft-line and hard-line policies and bureaucratic control. Women, as a surrogate of the proletariat and as communicators between the population and the establishment, are the central subjects that tie the four cases together. The first part focuses on visual propaganda and introduces the first level of soft-line control with state-sponsored posters being regarded as direct means for modifying the attitudes of Central Asians using images and slogans. The second part, devoted to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, represents the second level of soft-line bureaucracy with nuances of hard-line control, highlighting the interconnections between a supposedly neutral international (front) organization and party-state and Red Army institutions. The third part of the thesis is devoted to gender policy with particular emphasis on the hujum, the reactions among the indigenous population that emerged in the form of resistance in the second half of the 1920s, and the counter-reactions by the establishment through the first stage of purges, illustrating the transition from soft-line to hard-line policy, and leading both chronologically and conceptually to the fourth part dealing with the general purges of the 1929-1930, which represent the highest degree of hard-line policy and further confirm that the Soviets intended to sovietize the region beginning with its women.