CBEES Advanced Seminar with Yuliya Krylova-Grek, Professor at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", and Researcher at Uppsala University

Speaker: Yuliya Krylova-Grek, Professor at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", Researcher at Uppsala University, and director of NGO “Institute of Psycholinguistic Research” (UA)

Discussant: Göran Bolin, Professor at the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Södertörn University.

Chair: Alyona Hurkivska, PhD-Candidate in Political Science at the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Guest Researcher at Södertörn University.

Abstract:

The research will showcase the evolution of ideological narratives disseminated by Russian media from 2010 to the present. During the seminar I consider the specifics of Russian media's narratives about Ukraine, examining the transition from the traditional narrative "we are brothers" to "liberating Ukraine from fascists" and "denazification, deUkrainisation and demonisation". As a psycholinguist I use interdisciplinary approach and pay special attention on the methods and techniques that journalists employ to propagate and effectively convey ideological narratives.

During the seminar, the speaker will outline the research findings, including: 1) the dissemination of ideological narratives of hate speech by Russian media prior to the invasion, and 2) the present-day narratives being propagated in the media, including content that spreads hate speech, incites genocide, and promotes crimes against humanity. The expert conclusion results (forensic psycholinguistics) are intended for use as supplementary evidence in both Ukrainian and international government institutions.

The research results indicated that narrative analysis not only helps in understanding reality but also assists in making predictions, as seen in the indications from hate speech narratives in 2014-2021, which suggested society's preparation for future acts of aggression and crimes in Ukraine.

Yuliya Krylova-Grek, PhD, Professor at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", the director of NGO “Institute of Psycholinguistic Research” (UA). Her research focuses on analysing media communication, narratives and the influence of mass media on people’s consciousness and behaviour. Prof. Yuliya Krylova-Grek is also an author of a methodology of psycholinguistic text analysis which is applied for analysing media content and identifying methods and tools used by journalist to influence the auditory worldview. She collaborates with The Crimean Human Rights Group as an expert psycholinguist of media content.