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Author
Name Eltsova, Ksenia
Research field Media Studies, Cultural Studies
Career stage postdoc
Home university/institution Russian State University for the Humanities
Department/Research unit at home university/institution Faculty for Studies of Culture
Chair/Working group at home institution Higher School for European Cultures

International activity
Country Germany
Location Bochum
University Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB)
Fund Research School VIP
Type of activity workshop/summer school
Period starts 13-01-2022
ends 30-11-2022
Keywords media studies, media representations, in/equality, post-Soviet culture, discourse, discourse analysis, discursive construction
Report CULTURAL REPRESENTATION AND DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL HIERARCHY AND DISTINCTION IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA (1990s – 2020s)

Ksenia K. Eltsova, PhD
Associate Professor, Higher School for European Cultures,
Faculty for Studies of Culture, Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow, Russia)


Follow-up report
Workshop # 1 “Social distinction in today’s Russian culture: languages of description and practices of media representation”
Jan 13 – 15, 2022 || Lotman Institut | Slavistic Faculty | Ruhr University Bochum


The originally planned program of the seminar assumed the following work flow:

Jan 13, 2022 (Thursday, 16.00 - 19.00: with a break)
• introductory lecture-conversation about the problems of (media) representations of social/status differences in contemporary Russian culture;
• a brief discussion of the research literature on the problem (the bibliography for a preliminary review was announced in advance);

Jan 14, 2022 (Friday, 14.00 - 19.00: with a break)
• close reading of research literature on the problem;
• work with potential sources: rules for selecting sources, principles for determining the theoretical and methodological base, selection of analytical tools, techniques for using the selected analytical tools;
• "sighting" case-studies; the work supposed be carried out in mini-groups. At this stage, I was supposed join each group for some time, sharing, if necessary, my research experience on the issue. Also, there was a list of sources preliminary suggested to potentially facilitate the phase of choosing a source (media text) to work with.

Jan 15, 2022 (Saturday, 13.00 - 17.00: with a break)
• ppt-presentation (3-7 ppt slides + talk) by participants of their case-studies;
• general discussion of reports/results of mini-studies;
• drawing up a “map” summarizing the results obtained;
• analysis and discussion of the “map”.


 
The conceptual framework of the session was as follows:

1. How does the idea of social status distinction ‘work’ in today’s Russian culture, which somehow unites a country where the political system and social structure have changed radically twice over the past century – and each time, in many ways, abolishing the social hierarchy of the previous era?
2. How are such concepts constructed in a culture that contains both the memory of the class system in the Russian Empire, the idea of equality and the corresponding practices of ‘equalization’ in the Soviet Union, and the post-Soviet socially encouraged demonstration of inequality?
3. What role does the media play in shaping perceptions of status differences in contemporary Russia?

These questions served as the start of reflection, which involved not only acquaintance with the key theoretical categories, but also the work of participants on their own analytical mini projects within the framework of the seminar’s main issue. During the research sessions, we analyzed and discussed how the languages of describing and constructing “elitism” and “marginality”, “prestige” and its absence, “success” and “failure”, “wealth” and “poverty” were arranged in the Russian media space, and at various parts of it: in publications devoted to fashion and lifestyle, in business and socio-political media, in the yellow press.

Issues proposed for further analysis and discussion
• discursive strategies addressed to construct the ideas of “success” and “failure”, “power” and “lawlessness”, “wealth” and “poverty”, “elitism” and “social bottom” in the realm of different media outlets;
• differences in the observed discursive work and its specifics, depending on the format of the selected media (radio, television, digital media: institutionalized media outlets, social networks, applications, etc.), as well as on their political position, funding resources, and forms of ownership;
• reconstruction of the logics and external conditions behind the observed processes and their differences: interpretations and generalizations opportunities and difficulties.


Adjustments to the plan

The work proceeded generally according to the planned scenario. At the same time, since the proposed issues and analytical methods aroused keen interest of the participants, a number of adjustments were made to the original plan.

First, all the participants briefly presented their current PhD projects and reflected on how the proposed research literature, theoretical grounds, and methods could be applied to specifically their researches. On the next step in course of the general discussion we identified possible areas and directions for further work in the framework of the participants’ real dissertation projects. Eventually, all the participants – individually or as in mini-groups, and referring to the proposed theoretical and methodological framework – conducted (the first steps of) the analytical work with the selected sources directly within the framework of the seminar (the sources were either already included in the dissertation research or were as close as possible to those analyzed in the dissertation) and presented their first drafts for the general discussion and Q&A sessions at the end of the workshop.
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