AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
VALUE ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION IN THE MYTHOLOGICAL SPACE OF A
MULTIPOLAR WORLD
a
VIKTOR SIDOROV,
b
IGOR BLOKHIN,
c
SERGEY
KURUSHKIN,
d
SVETLANA SMETANINA
Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Emb., 7/9
Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russia
email:
a
vsidorov47@gmail.com
Abstract: The relevance of the present study is determined by the importance of
mythologization in modern global processes the formation of a multipolar world
presents an example of. Each of the forming "poles" requires a mythological basis
comprising and establishing its specific historical mission and worldview uniqueness.
The deployment of previous narratives and the creation of new ones spreading in the
media space and applying for mythological quality presents an important argument in
favor of the "pole". The axiological approach to the study of myths in modern media
involves referring to value analysis as a method of studying journalism. The study is
based on the world-systems methodology that includes cross-cultural analysis. A study
of relevant political mythology is carried out on the example of media coverage of the
help provided by Russia to Italy in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. To
obtain empirical data, the procedure of content analysis of media texts was used. The
analysis of the state of media was performed on the empirical basis of materials
provided by the InoSMI information and analytical portal and other leading Russian
media. The following points are substantiated in the article: mythogenesis occurs in
current political practice that can result in two mutually exclusive outcomes: further
development of the myth of European solidarity, the cultural and historical community
– the continuation of the historical myth, or its destruction – the realization of the
operational myth. The analyzed texts demonstrate an apparent polarization of the
forming mythological concepts fixating the images of Russia as an assistant selflessly
helping those in need and a political actor seeking to realize their geopolitical interests
at the expense of Italy. The semantic cluster groups of “Gratitude”, “Independence”,
“Cultural interaction and solidarity”, “Safety”, and “Welfare” were identified based on
mythological concepts. Materials of the present article present practical value to
political functionaries and journalism theorists.
Keywords: myth, mass communications, values, concepts, journalism, identity,
multipolarity
1 Introduction
A. Camus had an interesting assertion: "Myths are created to
draw our imagination" [1, p. 306]. Here we will reflect on the
content of that imagination. We will likely find there something
a person lacks in their life currently, what they want to dispose
of today and obtain tomorrow. In other words, the power of
imagination activates the world of a person’s values in mastering
cultural and political reality in the process of mythogenesis
based on personal mythological ideas. "These ideas create a
unique historical and national tone of political culture and, in a
sense. its peculiar internal quality" [2, p. 7]. In this way, a myth
reflects reality, but here we should also agree with Iu. Lotman,
"the world seen through the eyes of mythological consciousness
must be seeming" [3, p. 526]. Thus, mythological constructions
of an individual comprise two aspects one of which matches the
experience of everyday perception of reality and the other
corresponds to something imagined and even harmful to the
human mind. In this reasoning, we return to the long-known
interpretations of myth-making in human history. This appears
to be no coincidence since in everything "concerning modern
political mythology it becomes elusive as an object of analysis"
[2, p. 19].
Nevertheless, in our study, we aim to identify not only the
established facts of political mythology but also the process of
mythogenesis itself. We shall derive from M. Eliade’s formula –
"A myth is not inherently good or bad <…> Its function is to
<…> provide meaning to the world and human existence" [4,
p. 139]. In periods of social crises, the need to "give meaning to
the world" is particularly acute. This determines the fact that
"political interests guide the cultural processes and set the
version of humanity" [5, p. 17]. In turbulent times, a person
follows the mythological constructions of the past exclusively
instinctively, unconsciously, they do not go beyond the circle of
their culture and its values; in a rational sense, an individual
mostly reflects on the recently constructed political stereotypes
as a platform for contemporary myths: "Although the tendency
to consider the past as an important resource <...> can be
considered a constant in modern politics, we cannot but admit
that in the 20th century, especially in the second part of it, the
practices of handling this resource have significantly evolved.
Recent history has become a significant part of personal
experience for many people" [6, p. 12].
Modern mythogenesis have derived to a large extent from the
new state of mass communication channels that came as a result
of the technological revolution in mass information processes
that took place at the turn of the century. This revolution has
multiple sociocultural consequences. In this case, we will
highlight the primary one – the opportunity to preserve even the
smallest traces of media activity of a person in cultural memory.
This opportunity was ensured by the mass application of the
newest information carriers and the means of information
distribution, the network organization of the media interaction of
individuals, social groups, and communities, as well as the
opening of gateways for their global inclusion in the information
interaction in society as the subjects of mass communications.
"Once created, an political text becomes a part of an almost
infinite process of political communication <…> Due to the
fundamental features of social communication both the author
and the text recipients find themselves in a situation of constant
cognitive and interpretative uncertainty and various situational
factors not only do not distort but contribute in every way to the
construction of meaning and its further interpretation, create the
basis necessary for it" [7, p. 40]. In the logic of what has been
said, we shall imagine the idea of how the emergence and
functioning of a political myth in the current media field occurs.
When analyzed in the cultural space, a myth presents the point of
concentration of values and meanings. Value presents a
substantial component of the structure of a myth expressing a
certain constant. Meaning can be defined as a societal structure
that comprises values and determines the dynamics of culture
and evolution of the myth. The speculative idea of media space
as a separate phenomenon of modern culture also allows using
the notion of a myth as a core component participating in its
value structuring and impacting the dynamic processes of
meaning circulation.
The relevance of the present study is determined by the
significance of mythologization in modern global processes the
formation of a multipolar world presents an example of. Each of
the forming "poles" requires a mythological basis comprising
and establishing its specific historical mission and worldview
uniqueness. In relation to personality, the mythology of the
"pole" creates special forms of identity that require media
confirmations through corresponding means and channels and
media support via stimulating the communicative activity of the
carriers of such forms. The deployment of previous narratives
and the creation of new ones spreading in the media space and
applying for mythological quality presents an important
argument in favor of the "pole".
2 Methods
We must highlight that here we consider the modern state of the
information space, therefore, we will allow ourselves to indicate
two types of mythological constructions functioning in it:
1) historical myths rooted in social memory and having a high
cultural status due to its reproduction in the artistic environment
of an ethnos; 2) operational myths to relevant sociocultural
practice and primarily reflected in mass media and everyday
consciousness of society. We, therefore, highlight myth-making
related to the core of culture [8, p. 10-11] and the creation of
myths based on modern life. The levels of mythogenesis are
undoubtedly closely related to one another, however, the modern
construction of myths will be examined as transient.
The detection of contemporary mythogenesis requires either the
analysis of an extensive empirical field or the identification of a
political and media situation where the various characteristics of
the existence of political myths of the modern information space
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