Making use of the Foreign ‘Others’: comparative analysis of representations of the USA and the PRC in the rhetoric of the Russian presidents (2000-2015)
Research Article
Acknowledgments
The research is supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities, grant No. 14-03-00490a
How to Cite
Malinova O.Y. Making use of the Foreign ‘Others’: comparative analysis of representations of the USA and the PRC in the rhetoric of the Russian presidents (2000-2015). Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 2015. Vol. 2. No. 2. P. 136-151. (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article presents the results of a study of the use of images of the United States and China, held on the material of the speeches of the Presidents of the Russian Federation from 2000 to 2015. The aim of the analysis was to identify and classify the main frames of representation of the American and Chinese Other and also to follow the dynamics of their use in the context of the legitimation of the political course. The analysis showed that the images of the American and Chinese Other - a symbolic resource that president of Russia actively used in this context. The author concludes that in spite of the obvious differences in evaluations (Chinese Other more often mentioned in a positive way, than the American), the image of the Chinese Other bears almost no “existential” load. Desecuritization strategy is actively used in his representation. In contrast, American Other, despite the fact that he is often represented with a negative evaluation, and as a threat to Our security, retains considerable “existential” potential.
Keywords:
Significant Other, the US, China, legitimation, President
References
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2. Vulf L. Izobretaya Vostochnuyu Evropu: Karta tsivilizatsii v soznanii epohi Prosvescheniya [Vulf L. Inventing Eastern Europe: Map of civilization in the minds of the Enlightenment], M.: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2003 (in Russian).
3. Diligenskiy G.G. Hochet li Rossiya druzhit s Zapadom? // Zapad i zapadnyie tsennosti v rossiyskom obschestvennom soznanii [Diligensky G.G. Does Russia want to be friends with the West? in: West and Western values in the Russian public consciousness], Moscow, IMEMO RAN, 2002 (in Russian).
4. Lukin A.V. Medved nablyudaet za drakonom. Obraz Kitaya v Rossii v XVII— XXI vekah [Lukin A.V. Bear watching dragon. The image of China in Russia in XVII-XXI centuries], M.: Vostok-Zapad: AST, 2007 (in Russian).
5. Malinova O.Yu. Kontsept «Drugogo» v issledovaniyah identichnosti: Analiz sovremennyih diskussiy // Politicheskaya nauka [Malinova O.Yu. The concept of “the Other” in identity studies: analysis of the current discussions, Political science], 2015(4) (in print) (in Russian).
6. Malinova O.Yu. Simvolicheskaya politika: Konturyi problemnogo polya // Simvolicheskaya politika: Sb. nauch. tr. / Otv. red.: Malinova O. Yu. Vyip. 1: Konstruirovanie predstavleniy o proshlom kak vlastnyiy resurs [Malinova O.Yu. Symbolic politics: The contours of the problem field, in: Symbolic policy: Collection of scientific papers, ed by Malinova O.Yu. Vol. 1: Construction of the representations of the past as a power resource], M.: INION RAN. Tsentr sotsial. nauch. inform. issled. otd. polit. nauki, 2012, pp. 5-16 (in Russian).
7. Morozov V. Rossiya i Drugie: identichnost i granitsyi politicheskogo soobschestva [Morozov V. Russia and Other: identity and boundaries of the political community], M.: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2009 (in Russian).
8. Noymann I. Ispolzovanie «Drugogo». Obrazyi Vostoka v formirovanii evropeyskih identichnostey [Neumann I. The use of “Other”. Images of the East in shaping European identities], M.: Novoe izdatelstvo, 2004 (in Russian).
9. Putin V.V. (a) Press-konferentsiya Vladimira Putina. [Putin V.V. (a) Press conference of Vladimir Putin], Portal “The Russian president.” Published on 20.12.2012. URL: http://kremlin.ru/news/17173 (available 10/07/2015) (in Russian).
10. Putin V.V. (b) Rossiya i menyayuschiysya mir [Putin V.V. (b) Russia and the changing world], Moskovskie novosti. February 27, 2012 URL: http://mn.ru/politics/20120227/312306749.html (available 10/07/2015) (in Russian).
11. Stenograficheskij otchyot o zasedanii Gosudarstvennogo soveta. 2012. 27 dekabrya [Stenographic report of the meeting of the State Council. December 27, 2012] // Portal “The Russian president.” Published on 27.12.2012. URL: http://www.kremlin.ru/transcripts/17232 (available 10/07/2015) (in Russian).
12. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. The Social Organization of Cultural Difference, F. Barth (ed.) L. etc.: George Alllen & Unwin, 1969.
13. Grammars of Identity/Alterity: A Structural Approach, Gerd Baumann and Andre Gingrich (ed.) New York etc.: Berghahn Books, 2004.
14. Hopf T. Social Construction of International Politics: Identities and Foreign Policies, Moscow, 1955 and 1999. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002.
15. Johnson C., Coleman A. The Internal Other: Exploring the Dialectical Relationship Between Regional Exclusion and the Construction of National Identity, Annals of the Association of American Geographer, 2012, 102 (4), pp. 863-880.
16. Malinova O. Russia and “the West” in the 2000s: Redefining Russian Identity in the Official Political Discourse, in: Russia’s Identity in International Relations: Images, Perceptions, Misperceptions, ed. by R. Taras. L., etc.: Routledge, 2013, pp. 73-90.
17. Said E. Orientalism. L.: Penguin Books, 2003 [1977].
18. Tekin B.C. Representations and Othering in Discourse: The Construction of Turkey in the EU context. Amsterdam etc.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2010.
19. Triandafyllidou A. National identity and the ‘other’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1998, 21(4), pp. 593-612.
Citation Formats
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[1]
Malinova, O.Y. 2015. Making use of the Foreign ‘Others’: comparative analysis of representations of the USA and the PRC in the rhetoric of the Russian presidents (2000-2015). Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 2, 2 (Nov. 2015), 136-151.
Section
Political Elites in the International Context
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