Enemies and Brothers: Nationalism in Russian Official Discourse Regarding Crimea

Abstract

This study focuses on nationalist language in Russian official discourse (political and media discourse) regarding Crimea. The discourse reveals two major trends: anti-Ukrainian sentiment and pro-Russian sentiment. While several studies outline the official narrative and document examples of nationalist language, no study analyzes this language through the lens of nationalist theory. This study aims to 1) outline the language and sentiments in Russian official discourse, 2) place this language within its social/historical context, and 3) explain the emotive power of such language through nationalist theory and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The researcher used Eric Hobsbawm’s instrumentalist theory of nationalism and Anthony Smith’s ethno-symbolist theory of nationalism, as well as Norman Fairclough’s and Teun van Dijk’s frameworks of CDA. The research suggests that through ideologically contested language, the discourse presents a narrative of the Ukrainian regime as a threat to Russians in Crimea and highlights Russia’s duty to defend its historic homeland.