The mythologems of Russian people in 21st century mass western cinema

Aim. To justify the thesis that the Western construction of the cinematic image of a Russian person directly depends on its geopolitical relations with Russia.

Methodology. The study’s primary methodological foundation is the concept of network-centric warfare, according to which the media content produced by the collective West serves as a tool for the formation of a social stratum within the society of the political opponent that positively relates to the ideologemes and mythologemes broadcast by the invading state. The study also applies a Westernological approach, which suggests regarding Western discourse not as a universal cultural phenomenon but rather as a product of a distinct civilisation, different from Russia. Through an analysis of the largest film platforms, the authors identified 103 film materials in which characters identified as Russian in origin are depicted. It is notable that the majority of these characters can be characterised by one of three predominant clichés: mafia, KGB, or scientists. Each of these clichés has specific historical roots and represents an inheritor of the stereotypical perception of the Russian person formed during the Cold War. To study the influence of geopolitical processes on the representation and mythologisation of the image of Russia in general and of the Russian people in particular, the authors carried out a content analysis and constructed graphs showing the results of the study and their a geopolitical interpretation.

Results. A content analysis of film materials has demonstrated a correlation between the explication of these clichés in contemporary Western mass cinema and the political relations between the Global West and Russia. Thus, during the period of the greatest geopolitical tension, negative images associated with espionage and totalitarian political systems prevail in contemporary Western mass cinema. Conversely, the détente of relations entails a decrease in the share of Russian actors in cinema and/or the construction of their neutral image. The observed dependence can be explained through the lens of the network-centric warfare concept and the view of cinema as an instrument of secondary mythologisation of politically and ideologically significant phenomena and a means of constructing memetic warfare.

Research implications. The study of contemporary Western mass cinema through the lens of the network-centric warfare revealed the primary mechanisms by which pro-Western citizens are formed within the population of the Russian Federation.

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