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Part of
Political Discourse in Central, Eastern and Balkan Europe
Edited by Martina Berrocal and Aleksandra Salamurović
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 84] 2019
► pp. 69–92

Chapter 4
Gay rights as a symbol of ideological struggles between Russia and the West

A socio-cognitive discourse analysis

This chapter will investigate how two news articles, from the British Guardian and from Russia Today, report on the issue of gay rights in Russia, as mentioned in a press conference given by Russian president Putin in the run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The analysis will employ a socio-cognitive approach to critical discourse studies. Similarities and differences in social actor representation and cohesion in the two texts will be explained as illustration that both Putin and the writers of the articles seek to engage in strategic ideological communication to effect social categorisation, construct in-groups and out-groups, and design their texts for particular audiences. The findings will be discussed against a background of increasing geopolitical and ideological tensions between Russia and some Western countries.
Keywords: cohesion, critical discourse studies, gay rights, ideology, media discourse, Russia, social actor representation, social categorisation, social cognition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Social cognition and critical discourse studies
    • 2.1Social cognition
    • 2.2A framework for socio-cognitive critical discourse studies
  • 3.Background to the analysed material
  • 4.Sample analysis
    • 4.1Data
    • 4.2Text analysis
      • 4.2.1Social actor representation
      • 4.2.2Cohesion
    • 4.3Context analysis
      • 4.3.1Discourse practice
      • 4.3.2Socio-political context
  • 5.Implications
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 23 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.84.04kol
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