Combat narratives in the system of modern geopolitical information wars

(experience of the Russian-Ukrainian hybrid information war of 2014–2021)

Abstract

The relevance of the research presented in the article lies in the features and specifics of the issue of working with content in modern media. These features are the use of multidisciplinary approaches that will provide an integrated effect. One such approach is the use of the concept of “narrative” in the processes of modern information wars, both in innovative social and traditional media. Narrative is a multidisciplinary phenomenon, it is the basic unit of text formation in literary criticism, the technology of meaning formation in philosophy, the bearer of key messages in online linguistics and the means of learning about the environment in psychology.
Based on the stated relevance, the main subject of the study are the processes of creating and using narratives used to exert destructive influence on Internet users. This problem is solved using such methods as: analysis and synthesis (based on the results of previous research), observation (media monitoring and identification of specific facts, trends and patterns), modeling (algorithms for the functioning of narratives). As a result of the study, the introduction of a new concept of “combat narratives” was proposed and substantiated, which is presented as destructive plots, which are divided into super narratives (main plot) and subnarratives (individual elements of the main plot). The main object of study, on the basis of which this concept is revealed, is the supernarrative “nostalgia for the USSR” and the subnarratives that accompany it. The main algorithm of penetration of destructive Russian narratives into the media space of Ukraine through three filters (Russian, pro-Russian, pro-Ukrainian mass media) was also presented.
As prospects for further study of the issues presented in the article, the need for in-depth study of mechanisms for managing information processes in the media and the development of mechanisms for protection against information attacks using combat narratives. One of the basic prerequisites for such decisions is the formation of critical thinking, information stability and media literacy in the Ukrainian media environment.