Disruption and transformation in media events theory: The case of the Euromaidan Revolution in Ukraine

Abstract

Media events, Dayan and Katz argue, compose a narrative genre that follows specific structural principles and narrative tropes and that works toward societal integration. However, a specific subset of media events is labelled transformative, and these work towards societal change. In this article, we point to an unresolved tension between transformative events and what has subsequently been introduced as disruptive events. Our discussion builds on research on the developments in post-Soviet Ukraine, and we analyse, firstly, the transformative and disruptive relations related to the so-called Euromaidan Revolution, and secondly, how these events can be placed in a wider narrative of three Ukrainian revolutions. Our analysis concludes that narrative analysis can help explain the ways in which these events are understood by broader international audiences.

The return of propaganda: Historical legacies and contemporary conceptualisations

“…This concept opens up possibilities for some interesting observations about how various forms of discursive action are modelled or "scripted" on narrative principles, picked up from structuralist narratology and, for example, following ritualistic patterns. In such cases, social realities follow transformative patterns picked from anthropological rituals, for example, in the form of "media events" (Dayan & Katz, 1992; see also Bolin & Ståhlberg, 2022). The concept is, however, often used in a very loose sense, pointing to phenomena we would rather call discourses than narratives, since a narrative -if we follow narratologists such as Vladimir Propp (1928Propp ( /1968), Tzvetan Todorov (1969), Umberto Eco (1981), and others -has a temporal structure where events and actors are linked in causal relationships and where there are temporal developments that ultimately reach narrative closure.…”

The transformation of propaganda: The continuities and discontinuities of information operations, from Soviet to Russian active measures

“…Even organisationally, propaganda is no longer merely a state effort run from the governmental quarters. It is often dispersed and commercialised (see Bolin & Ståhlberg, 2023), to a large extent outsourced to privately owned organisations that make money on governmental propaganda commissions or to "people who claim to be Internet entrepreneurs" (Haigh & Haigh, 2020: 309). Such is the case of Yevgeni Prigozhyn, the owner of both PMC Wagner and the Internet Research Agency "troll farm".…”

The Other within: Reflections on fieldwork in Ukraine before the Russian full-scale invasion

“…The purpose has been to conduct interviews and collect material for a couple of research projects. The last one was about Ukrainian communication efforts during the drawn out war preceding the Russian full-scale invasion (Bolin and Ståhlberg 2023b). 1 The research team, consisting of scholars of media studies, history, journalism, and anthropology (me), have largely focused on people, organisations, and authorities that were managing information about the conflict for the benefit of an international audience.…”