Representations of the Crimean Tatars in tne Ukrainian Media Discourse: doctoral thesis
Loading...
Date
2015-05
Authors
Bezverkha, Anastasia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Doctoral Thesis. Crimea is a unique, ethnically diverse region of Ukraine where the Crimean Tatars,
live within compact vicinity among the Slavic majority. In 1944 this ethnic group has
undergone deportation by the Soviet regime and since the late 1980s started to return
en masse to Crimea. Crimean Tatars constitute 14% of the Crimean population, and
they are a politically active ethnic group.
Research objectives. Current study seeks to explore the ways in which media
discourse reflects and shapes the popular image of the Crimean Tatars in the
Ukrainian society. The research is aimed to discuss the key discursive strategies
utilized by the media to construct the identity of the group, reflecting the power
inequality between the Crimean Tatars and dominant ethnic groups of Ukraine and
Crimea.
Methods. The dissertation provides an analysis of the media representation of the
Crimean Tatars in the Ukrainian media discourse by theoretical and methodological
means of the critical discourse analysis. The study shares the idea of the discursive
nature of the social reality and the statement that the collective identities are
constructed and constantly (re)negotiated in discursive interactions. In addition, 11
Crimean journalists and media experts were interviewed to contextualize the textual
analysis.
Chapter outline. The study comprises of the introduction, four chapters and the
conclusion. Chapter two outlines the features of the Ukrainian media landscape and
discusses the literature on the Crimean Tatars. Chapter three provides a detailed
account of the structure and features of the Crimean Tatars' representations by the
national and Crimean mainstream media during the 2010-2012. An additional sample
of media texts from 2007-2012 covering the Crimean Tatars' deportation is analyzed
in chapter four. The total number of media texts in both samples is 1429.
Research findings and conclusions. The research findings demonstrated that the
agency of the Crimean Tatars is mostly suppressed or passivated, they are represented
in the less powerful position, as recipients of the state concessions. But in the news
about conflicts or street confrontations, the Crimean Tatars are often positioned as an
active subject, which “demands” and “criticizes”, rather than “seeks dialogue”.
One of the dominant ideological frames of the media representation of the Crimean
Tatars is a frame showing the group “as a problem and burden” for the majority and a
sourse of a potential threat and disorder. The key argument of the study is that the
mentioned strategy used by the Ukrainian and Crimean media is part of the larger
discursive strategy of the 'positive-self' and 'negative-other' presentation, typical for
the discriminatory rhetoric of ethnicism, widely used in the European media against
minority groups and studied by the Western scholars (T. van Djik, N. Fairclough, S.
Riggins).
On the other hand, research demonstrated features of the Crimean Tatars' media
representation directly related to the post-Soviet political and cultural legacy, which
influences the Crimean public and media discourses. The Russian dominance is
manifested in the media representation of the commemoration of the Crimean Tatars'
deportation of 1944 (mostly by the indirect and subtle forms) and the Crimean
politics of memory remained under ideological influence of the Soviet historical
meta-narrative. The Crimean Tatars in turn constructed and promoted their own
version of memory of deportation in order to justify their return from exile and
reestablish their historical and cultural ties with their land. The research has revealed
the elements of the counter-discourse, which aims to undermine the dominant power
relations. In this regard, the Crimean Tatar national media put emphasis on
publication of the personal narratives of the deportation survivors in order to promote
their alternative meaning of deportation.
Description
Keywords
discourse analysis, media representation, national identity, the Crimean, кримські татари, дискурс-аналіз, медійний дискурс, національна ідентичність, міжетнічні стосунки, політика пам'яті