“POWER” AS AN IDENTITY CATEGORY IN THE RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE POLITICAL DISCOURSE: THE CASE OF BELARUS

Anton Dinerstein; Todd Sandel

doi:10.23858/ethp.2025.46.4052

Published: 2025-12-23

Vol. 46 (2025)

“POWER” AS AN IDENTITY CATEGORY IN THE RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Anton Dinerstein , Todd Sandel

Ethnologia Polona

Section: Main topic of the issue

https://doi.org/10.23858/ethp.2025.46.4052

Abstract

This paper analyses ways of speaking about politics in Russian-language political discourse by focusing on key cultural terms that describe political relationships and positionality. Data were collected from articles on Russian-language news sites and Russian-language comments on “Facebook”. The analysis shows how “power” is constructed as an identity category through oppositional codes and metonymic substitution in public political discourse. Agonistic relationships are political entities reflected in political discourse and a cornerstone for constructing and maintaining the status quo among participants in public political discussions. This analysis shows how discursive oppositions in the Belarusian context are central to the reproduction of populist rhetoric. In sum, this study advances a cultural mode of thinking about political events.

Keywords:

Political Discourse, Cultural Discourse Analysis, Identity, Power, Belarus

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Dinerstein, A., & Sandel, T. (2025). “POWER” AS AN IDENTITY CATEGORY IN THE RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE POLITICAL DISCOURSE: THE CASE OF BELARUS. Ethnologia Polona, 46. https://doi.org/10.23858/ethp.2025.46.4052

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