Language of Conflict

Discourses of the Ukrainian Crisis

Natalia Knoblock

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781350192881
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350098626
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Sociolinguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Exploring the ways in which language and conflict are intertwined and interrelated, this volume examines the patterns of public discourse in Ukraine and Russia since the beginning of the Ukrainian Crisis in 2014. It investigates the trends in language aggression, evaluation, persuasion and other elements of conflict communication related to the situation. Through the analysis of the linguistic features of salient discourses and prevalent narratives constructed by different social groups, Language of Conflict reflects competing worldviews of various stakeholders in this conflict and presents multiple, often contradictory, visions of the circumstances.

Contributors from Ukraine, Russia and beyond investigate discursive representations of the most important aspects of the crisis: its causes and goals, participants and the values and ideologies of the opposing factions. They focus on categorization, stance, framing, (de)legitimation, manipulation and coping strategies while analysing the ways in which the stress produced by social discord, economic hardship, and violence shapes public discourse. Primarily focusing on informal communication and material gathered from online sources, the collection provides insight into the ways people directly affected by the crisis think about and respond to it. The volume acknowledges the communicators' active role in constructing the (often incompatible) discursive images of the conflict and concentrates on the conscious and strategic use of linguistic resources in negative and aggressive communication.

1

Discourses of conflict

Cross-linguistic corpus-assisted comparative discourse study of Russian and Ukrainian parliamentary debates of 2014

Tatyana Karpenko-Seccombe

1 Introduction

The year 2014 was undeniably one of the most dramatic years in the history of Ukraine. It saw the annexation of Crimea by Russia; the proclamation of two pro-Russian republics – the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) – leading to full-scale armed conflict between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian forces; the failed attempt of a truce and a ceasefire; and continuing disputes between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies and prices.

Against the backdrop of these events, this study focuses on the parliamentary debates of the two countries in conflict, examining discourses surrounding these contentious events. The aim of this paper is to investigate how these events are framed in debates in the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments. In particular, the following questions are addressed:

(1) How different are linguistic features used in the parliamentary debates of countries in conflict when representing the same events?

(2) Whawt implications do language differences have for constructing the same events in two diffe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Contents
• List of illustration
• Notes on contributors
• Introduction
• 1 Discourses of conflict: Cross-linguistic corpus-assisted comparative discourse study of Russian and Ukrainian parliamentary debates of 2014
• 2 Metaphor, identity and conflict in political discourse: A case study of President Poroshenko and President Putin’s speeches
• 3 The image of the Ukrainian crisis in the Polish-language media in Ukraine
• 4 Blended names in the discussions of the Ukrainian crisis
• 5 The antagonistic discourses of the Euromaidan: Kolorady, Sovki and Vatniki versus Jumpers, Maidowns and Panheads
• 6 The Ukrainian nation – stepmother, younger sister or stillborn baby?: Evidence from Russian TV debates and related political sources (2013–15)
• 7 Who are ‘they’ for Ukrainians in Ukraine and in the diaspora?: Othering in political discourse
• 8 Discursive practices in online media: Language ideologies in Ukraine in a time of crisis
• 9 Unrecognized holidays: Old and new ‘state’ traditions in the self-proclaimed republics in the east of Ukraine
• 10 Andriy Biletsky’s Ukrainian order: Discourse, actions and prospects of democracy in Ukraine
• 11 The art of the insult: (Re)creating Zaporizhian Cossacks’ letter-writing on YouTube as collective creative insurgency
• 12 Fighting fear with humour: The linguistic-pragmatic aspects
• 13 Assimilative representations of Ukrainian refugees in the Russian and Ukrainian press: A ‘burden’ or a ‘gain’?
• Index
• Copyright