Örebro University Field of Humanities 23 May 2014 A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Representation of Migrants in Russian Press MK 4037, Media and Communication Studies, Master of Global Journalism Supervisor: Prof. Michał Krzyżanowski Author: Alla Rybina Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge my university mentor Prof. Michał Krzyżanowski who helped me carry out this thesis. I appreciate his patience and the time he invested on me. Thanks to Michał, the whole new world of Critical Discourse Analysis opened to me. I also want to thank the Director of the Global Journalism programme Walid Al- Saqaf, whose skills, professionalism and a wide field of expertise keep on inspiring and motivating me. I would also like to express my gratitude to Örebro University, the professors, teachers and staff for giving me various opportunities in developing myself. I want to acknowledge my colleagues in class. Dear Eden, Irene, Aseel, Luise and Galyna you taught me a lot of life lessons and proved that friendship has never known geographical borders. Then I also want to thank my best friends Anastasia and Alyona. Dear friends, you were always encouraging and supporting me in my endeavors even though we were so far away from each other. Thank you for cheering me up in difficult situations and sharing joy with me. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, my father Viktor and my mother Olga. Without you, this paper would not appear. Thank you for trusting in me and giving me this chance. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................ VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................................... VII ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................ VIII 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 MOTIVATION ................................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 THESIS OUTLINE............................................................................................................................. 3 2. CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2.1 GENERAL CULTURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND OF RUSSIA ............................................................ 4 2.2 MODERN RUSSIAN MEDIA SYSTEM ..................................................................................................... 5 2.3 SENSITIVE ISSUES ........................................................................................................................... 6 2.4 THE HISTORY OF THE ANALYZED CONFLICT ............................................................................................ 8 2.4.1 The description of the Biryulyovo District ........................................................................... 8 2.5 A BRIEF OVERVIEW ON THE NORTH CAUCASUS REGION ............................................................................ 9 2.5.1 A brief overview on history of the conflict in the North Caucasus region ............................11 2.6 AN OVERVIEW OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN REGION ....................................................................................11 2.7 ESTIMATING THE AMOUNT OF MIGRANTS ............................................................................................12 3. PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................14 3.1 ETHNICITY AND ETHNIC CONFLICT .....................................................................................................16 3.1.1 Conceptualization of Ethnic Conflict ..................................................................................17 3.2 RUSSIAN DISCOURSES ON MIGRATION ...............................................................................................19 3.3 ETHNICIZATION OF MIGRATION ........................................................................................................20 3.4 CDA RESEARCH ON ETHNIC MINORITIES AND MIGRANTS .........................................................................25 4. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................28 4.1 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA) ...............................................................................................28 4.2 DISCOURSE-HISTORICAL APPROACH (DHA) ........................................................................................29 4.3 KEY CONCEPTS OF DHA .................................................................................................................30 4.4 LEVELS OF ANALYSIS IN DHA ...........................................................................................................33 4.4.1 Strategies of Self- and Other-Presentation ........................................................................34 5. EMPIRICAL MATERIAL ....................................................................................................................38 5.1 DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................................................38 iii 5.2 NOVAYA GAZETA ..........................................................................................................................39 5.3 ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA ....................................................................................................................39 6. ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................41 6.1 THEMATIC ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................41 6.2 IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................42 6.2.1 Analysis of the articles of Rossiyskaya Gazeta (RG) ............................................................42 6.2.1.1 General description of the events in Biryulyovo ........................................................................ 42 6.2.1.2 Representation of migrants in RG ............................................................................................ 44 6.2.1.3 Migration Policy ...................................................................................................................... 48 6.2.1.4 Comparison with other countries ............................................................................................. 50 6.2.1.5 Authority and the question of Responsibility ............................................................................ 50 6.2.1.6 National Issue.......................................................................................................................... 51 6.2.2 Analysis of the articles of Novaya Gazeta (NG) ..................................................................52 6.2.2.1 General description of the event in Biryulyovo ......................................................................... 52 6.2.2.2 Representation of migrants in NG ............................................................................................ 54 6.2.2.3 National issue: Separatism between people in Russia ............................................................... 58 6.2.2.4 National Idea/Ideology ............................................................................................................ 59 6.2.2.5 Comparison with other countries ............................................................................................. 60 6.2.2.6 Authority and the question of Responsibility ............................................................................ 60 6.2.3 Historical References ........................................................................................................61 7. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................63 7.1 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS ............................................................................................................63 7.2 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................67 7.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..............................................................................................68 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................70 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................75