Specifics of War Journalism: the Problem of Camouflage
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Specifics of �ar journalism: the pro�lem of camouflage... 103 ность отражают разные уровни одного выска- Список литературы зывания и, соответственно, имеют идентичные средства выражения, имеют общую интен- 1. Печагина, Т. В. Категориальные концеп- цию – скрыть негативное отношение, добиться ты добро и зло в детской фэнтези : дис. … канд. от адресата необходимой реакции [1]. филол. наук. Челябинск, 2011. 206 с. Таким образом, динамичную толерантность 2. Южакова, Ю. В. Толерантность массово- можно рассматривать как весьма эффективный информационного дискурса идеологической способ создания англоязычного фэнтезийного направленности : автореф. дис. … канд. филол. дискурса. наук. Челябинск, 2007. 24 с. Вестник Челябинского государственного университета. 2013. № 22 (313). Филология. Искусствоведение. Вып. 81. С. 103–106. D. N. Polyakova SPECIFICS OF WAR JOURNALISM: THE PROBLEM OF CAMOUFLAGE AND THE LANGUAGE SPECIFICS OF USING COLOR NAMES FOR DENOTING CAMOUFLAGE UNIFORMS Рассматриваются некоторые особенности работы журналистов в условиях военных и социальных конфликтов, в частности, проблема безопасности военных корреспондентов и вопрос использования камуфляжной формы в процессе журналистской работы, а также особенности профессионального языка российских и американских военнослужащих, связанные с использованием цветовых наименований для обозначения номенклатуры камуфляжной формы. Ключевые слова: камуфляж, военный корреспондент, камуфляжные имена, названия цветов. Journalists have to work in various conditions, the use of camouflage at the beginning of her ca- including extreme situations of war and social reer was a mistake. During the so-called Batken conflicts. In such cases their work and life is at events in Kyrgystan and �zbekistan, she had her risk the same way as everyone else’s. Moreover, first experience of working with the military. Lei- the profession specifics create particular risks for la decided to visit the camp wearing camouflage, military correspondents. and, in her mind, it was not only dangerous, but Whether there are some universal rules that also caused some problems, as locals were reluc- guide journalists in war zones remains a question. tant to talk to a person in uniform, and she often In each case, reporters have to rely on their ex- had to explain that she was a journalist, but not a perience and intuition and thoroughly analyze the soldier [3]. environment to decide whether they should use the There is quite a common viewpoint that in no camouflage to mingle with the crowd. In this ar- case should journalists wear a military uniform, ticle we consider the problem of camouflage in the because it makes them a vulnerable target. It is work of journalists, along with the language pecu- not recommended to approach soldiers in the dark liarities of using color names to describe the range wearing dark monochromatic clothes that can be of camouflage uniforms in professional language taken for camouflage. In addition, problems may of Russian and American military. occur if a reporter was seen in uniform on either Should journalists use camouflage in combat side of the conflict. conditions or not? On the one hand, there are re- According to the opposite point of view it is porters who stand quite against it. For example, believed that uniformed journalists will gain more Leila Saralaeva in her feature Specifics of Journal- trust among the military, as they will be perceived ism in Extreme Conditions in Kyrgyzstan: Per- as insiders. In his handbook Journalism on the sonal Experience [hereinafter the references and Conflict, Alexander A. Knyazev writes that cam- quotations are translated by the author] writes that ouflage can be in fact more protective against snip- 104 D. N. Polyakova ers, as any person outstanding in the crowd shall Ur�an Camouflage Pattern Com�at, the latter be- instinctively attract more attention [2]. ing an experimental camouflage, a combination �owever, it must be remembered that in many of dark gray and blue-black geometric spots on a countries, such as Afghanistan, camouflage is of- gray background. ten available only to commanders, so a civilian 2) The forest area requires the use of Woodland wearing a uniform may be an attractive target for camouflage, which is a pattern of light green, dark snipers. There are countries where local police are green, brown and black spots. It has four options, ordered to ensure no civilian uses military cam- such as General, Temperate, Lo�land, featuring ouflage items. At the same time, in Russia and lots of green hues; Highland, with a predominance in many CIS countries civilians are often seen of brown spots; Transitional, also known as Delta, wearing camouflage without military insignia. masking soldiers both in the optical and in the in- Thus, according to Alexander A. Knyazev, a re- frared range. porter shall be guided by practical considerations. Modern American army started using experi- ‘Sometimes it is advisable to mix with the crowd, mental camouflage, for example, Multicam, or yet sometimes it helps to stand out. You shouldn’t Scorpion Camo Pattern, which has amoeboid play by the book, but be creative and evaluate the patches of dark green, light and dark brown, black situation...’ [2]. and beige on a light green background. It is well The issue of military camouflage and other pro- suited for woodland, but still remains a commer- fessional features of military service may also rise cial version produced by Crye Precision Company. in everyday communication. In such case, report- 3) For the flat, semi-desert terrain Khaki and ers have to be familiar with the military slang. Leila Olive camouflages are often used. Khaki (from Saralaeva, describing her experience, admits, ‘At Persian word ‘khak’ meaning ‘dirt, dust’) is a cult the beginning I had no idea of the army, so I had color for uniforms, which is still used in some to memorize the meaning of such commonly used modern armies and law enforcement agencies, de- words as squadron, troop, AK Rifle and so on’ [3]. spite the variety of camouflage patterns. It is be- �ow let us consider the concept of camouflage lieved that the color was introduced by Sir �arry and the language specifics of denoting the color Burnett Lumsden, who in 1847 raised the Corps of range of camouflage uniforms. This information �uides (intelligence and vanguard), acting within presents both scientific and practical interest, as it the framework of the British desert tactics. �ow- may be useful in the work of military correspon- ever, khaki was not officially introduced in the dents. Camouflage (French word meaning ‘mask- British forces until 1898. Even during the Anglo- ing’) is the use of any combination of materials, Boer War of 1899-1902 the British army refused coloration or illumination for concealment, either to use khaki uniforms on a wide scale and suffered by making animals or objects hard to see, or by heavy losses. One curious historical fact of that disguising them as something else [4]. time is worth mentioning: people from the �ether- Camouflage is based on a clear system of dif- lands, who made up most of the population of the ferent colors and color patterns adopted for vari- Transvaal Republic, nicknamed British soldiers as ous environments of combat and reconnaissance ‘lo�sters’ for their red uniform used in the Anglo- operations. Camouflage used by the �.S., �ATO, Boer Wars. After the British khaki color started Russian troops and armies of other countries de- to be used by the Russian and other troops, and pends on the landscape. For example, armies in it was widely spread during World War II. Olive the �orth use more winter camouflage, whereas in camouflage, which is a combination of green and countries with hot climate they tend to focus on drab colors, darker than khaki, was popular during summer options. In some countries they even wear the Korean and Vietnam wars. camouflage shorts. Each type of camouflage has 4) The desert terrain requires the use of Desert a range of particular patterns, colors and nomen- camouflage, which comes in two options: 3-Color clature names (nomens) respectively. The most Desert (sand, light green, and brown), widely used popular is Woodland which has long been used in after the �ulf War, and 6-Color Desert, which got many countries. a slang name chocolate chips among American English color nomens used to identify camou- soldiers. The latter, used during Operation Desert flage can be divided into groups depending on the Storm in Iraq, looked similar to the 3-Color Desert area where uniforms are used: camouflage, but had six colors (the base is wavy pale 1) In the urban area American troops use vari- green, light brown, dark brown, and beige patches ous Ur�an Patterns, such as Ur�an Tracks and coated with a white spots with a black outline). Specifics of �ar journalism: the pro�lem of camouflage... 105 5) For tropical forests and jungles American grey pattern being the basic. ACUPAT is based on troops use different types of camouflage, such as the digital MARPAT camouflage, without black the following: color (it was excluded due to its non-existence in – Tiger stripe, which is a combination of black, real-life environment). green and brown stripes on a beige background. �ow let us have a look at the camouflage of This pattern was used by different countries, for the Russian Army. Throughout the history of the example, the military of the �.S. Army in Viet- Soviet �nion and modern Russia, various types of nam, and the British troops in Burma. �ntil now, camouflage ammunition were used. this pattern is found in variations in many armies, The first camouflage clothing appeared in the including the Russian Armed Forces; Soviet Army in 1927. In 1935 a camouflage pattern – Bro�n ERDL (pattern of green, beige, brown was given an semiofficial name of Амёба (Eng. and black leave-shaped spots) and Lime ERDL ‘amoeba’), the 1942 model was called Листвен- (pattern of green, light green, brown and black ный лес (Eng.