December 4. Opening session 5 pm, room 233

 

Keynote speaker

Andrew Wiget.             ‘Make Love Not War'”: Imagining and Building Peace in American Culture

 

Professor Emeritus, New Mexico State University, Albuquerque, USA

Adjunct Professor, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

 

 

Section 1. Journalism

Coordinator: Professor Irina Arkhangelskaya (Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia aib@sandy.ru)

 

1. Bouchev Alexander

Tver State University, Russia

American Mass Media on Interreligious Communication across the Globe

 The report illustrates the global media discourse on religious issues after event in Paris in the early 2015. Of interest is the approach of critical discourse analysis which is connected with interpretation of stereotyped and axiological elements in the discourse under scrutiny. The author discusses the problem of interreligious communication in the multicultural society. The analyzed example considers characteristics of global mass media political discourse describing Egyptian politics in 2013. Special attention is paid to the need of elaborating cognitive techniques of comprehension of global mass media discourse, and the peculiarities of political discourse shedding light upon nominations and assessments are being analyzed. The author shows stereotyped expressions, axiological connotations of terms and as generic features of political discourse. The paradigm approaches to discourse interpretation in politics are also studied. Of interest are the conclusions about the rhetoric and linguistics characteristics of analyzed discourse. The report suggests changes in the sphere of cultural education.

 2. Nikolai Zykov

Journalism Department

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Adaptation of immigrants into American society in the covering of the Voice of America

 One of the main tasks of the international broadcaster Voice of America is to inform the foreign audience about the social processes in the United States. Interethnic conflicts recently caused serious tensions in society. They were covered openly and frankly. But in in other areas, such as the adaption of immigrants, including the Russian-speaking, things were peaceful. There has been interesting trend.

3. Zagvozdkina Ekaterina

Journalism Department

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

The Times They Are A’Changing:

Collision of values in American society on the representation of

The Beat Generation in the US mainstream media of the 1950s – 1960s

 In the 1960s the American society underwent serious changes and became more liberal in its morals and values. The aim is to examine those changes through the representation of the Beat Generation subculture in the media: what Time and Life magazines wrote on the beats, including the most famous of them: poet Allen Ginsberg, writers Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, at the end of the 50s, when the movement became famous (after the release of Kerouac’s On the Road in 1957 and the birth of the term «beatnik». We have chosen Time and Life as our empirical basis as in that period they had the largest and widest audience in the USA. That is why, we suppose, these magazines expressed the opinion of the average American reader – therefore through the changes in Time and Life we can trace not only changes in journalists’ opinions, but in America itself throughout the decade. Texts are analyzed both directly through the epithets and comparisons, and via context, stories concerning them and attitude towards their works.

  4. Ksenia Omelchenko

Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia

American Propaganda During the War in Iraq

 During military conflicts media becomes a traditional way to implement the foreign policy of any state. This announcement leads to the term «propaganda», and includes spread of views, news, arguments, facts, and ‘fakes’ to form public opinion or idea.

We reviewed the techniques of American propaganda during the war in Iraq in the early years of the war.

During the first week of the war, American networks and British BBC or Canadian CBS showed two different wars. The United States news ignored the Arab victims, anti-war and anti-American protests, the discontent of citizens and the negative aspects of the war, while these topics were covered in Canada and the UK, and in the Arab countries the conflict was broadcast as the invasion in Iraq and the coup attempt.

In 2003, the brutality of the Iraqi people against the Pentagon was shown in the documentary drama “Saving Private Lynch” on NBS with the main character – Jessica Lynch – was tortured as one of the first prisoners of the war.

Direct propaganda has been broadcast on the television station «Al-Hurra», «Radio Sawa» in the magazine «Hai», which were created in 2004 by producer of «Voice of America» in opposition to «Al Jazeera».

The role of mass media in boosting as well as solving the conflict is under consideration.

5. Tarasevich Sophia

Publishing House «Kommersant», Moscow, Russia

Conciliatory Rhetoric: Hide-and-seek or Search for a Compromise?

 Nowadays attention of American and Russian politicians is attracted to three main world conflicts: Syria, Ukraine and Iran. Talking about the military operation against ISIS in Syria, the process of arrangement in Ukraine and searching for a compromise on Iranian nuclear program, they often use conciliatory rhetoric and encourage solving contradictions peacefully. We are interested in analysis of not just contemporary American and Russian politicians’ rhetoric, but also in the forms of communication with public they use. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs started to use actively the form of briefing, previously commonly used by the US State Department. Politicians, ambassadors, and diplomats in Moscow and Washington also do not forget about a powerful tool for promulgating their rhetoric in public – social networks, .Twitter being one of them. Conciliatory mood often recedes when politicians give a speech in front of the inner audience as candidates during election debates. The presentation is based on empirical data collected during April-October 2015: news messages from news agencies Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, RIA Novosti, Interfax and other media. It also includes the results of social media monitoring (Facebook and Twitter) and official data of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US State Department.

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Dear Colleagues,
The XLIst International conference of the Russian Society of American Culture Studies will be held December 4-11, 2015 at Lomonosov Moscow State University Journalism Department. It’s theme – “Imagining and Building Peace in American Culture”.

Sections: Journalism, American Culture of the 17-19th Centuries, Contemporary Literature and Culture, Drama, Ethnic Contribution, Gender, Fantastic in the Arts, Canadian perspectives. Besides a traditional Round Table discussion: Imprints – Image of America and Image of Russia will be held and two more – Arthur Miller’s Centennial (coordinator Dr. Maya Koreneva) and Herman Melville’s Literary Legacy (coordinator Dr. Luisa Bashmakova 888lpb@gmail.com).

Suggestions for additional sections and panel discussions are welcome with 300 words description and at least two other panelists’ names suggested until September 1st, 2015.

Official languages of the conference are English and Russian. All participants will understand papers given in English and will provide an English resume of their talk if given in Russian.

The deadline for abstracts – September 10, 2015 (half a page). Please send them to all to larmih@gmail.com
On the basis of delivered and discussed papers, an annual bilingual collection is published.
Conference fee $ 100 US, payable upon arrival, includes also an excursion to Kremlin and a farewell party.
Information about visa support: As it is a lengthy process – please send the needed materials [copy of two first pages of passport and info on place of birth (city and country), affiliation and position, office address, phone and fax numbers, place of visa application, dates of arrival and departure] to the address larmih@gmail.com no later than September 10, 2015.

See you at our conference!

Larisa Mikhaylova
RSACS Secretary