Historical information in the modern Russian press: Languages of representation

Abstract

The article examines the languages of media representation of history, which are understood as approaches to the presentation of historical information found in the modern Russian periodical press. An original classification of such approaches is proposed, including scientific, quasi-scientific, extra-scientific, pseudoscientific languages of representation. Each of them, as a set of means of expressing thought and its design in the media text, is subjected to a comprehensive analysis using linguistic, typological, intentional, comparative, contextual components in order to assess the degree of their reliance on a scientific and historical basis. The need for such an analysis is caused by the fact that the media discourse of history is not limited to the popularization of scientific historical knowledge, but the criterion for the reliability of historical information transmitted through the media is its scientific validity, regardless of the external form of representation. The objectives of the study were not to clarify the ideological positions or historiographical versions presented in the analyzed texts. The work focuses on the media presentation of historical information, primarily on the author’s intentions, style of presentation and the nature of argumentation in the comprehension and explanation of data. The material for the study was selected publications on the topic of history from the current Russian periodical press (February — April 2022). The dependence of the characteristics of the language of representation on the type of publication, the professional status of the author of the publication, the motives of his appeal to history and a number of other factors is shown. It is concluded that in practice a single approach in its full-scale format is rarely used. As a rule, in the media text it is possible to identify elements of various languages of the representation of history in various combinations with the dominance of the general journalistic style of presentation.