Publisher of war

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Бондар Ю. В. № 2 (86) 185-193 Image Image

Meanings encoded in book texts serve as unique communication codes that can be activated and used to manipulate communicants and communicative social groups. Ukrainian-Russian “informational” relations, which later escalated into armed conflict, exemplify such manipulations, confirming John Milton’s thesis that ideas expressed in books and scattered everywhere can materialize into armed individuals. Recent events necessitate a review and analysis of the use of literary works as a means of propagating ideas and exercising intentional semantic influence on consumers of publishing content.

An aggressive Russia is conducting a powerful offensive on the information front. One of the means of targeted influence on the mass consciousness of Ukrainians is the deliberate creation of literary works by publishers, including books and brochures, exploiting ideological clichés and images from the Soviet era. The purpose of these works is to transfer ingrained judgments of the past to contemporary events or to juxtapose different interpretations of the past to enhance conflict and to divide Ukrainian society. Manipulative information and propaganda technologies, utilizing publications by Russians, have been employed for the preparation of armed invasions, the seizure of parts of Ukrainian territories, and are also used in the occupied territories to justify armed aggression.

The article explores publishing activities in the context of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. It analyses the practices of publishing, including book publications, as tools of mass propaganda, preparation and execution of aggression, and information manipulation to shape worldviews and control human behaviour and society as a whole. The creation of Russian propagandist literature and the thematic-genre peculiarities of propagandist book works are traced. The activities of Ukrainian publishers, organizations, and writers in countering Russian aggression and covering war events are examined. Conclusions are drawn on the necessity of society’s consolidation and the de­velopment of coordinated policies to protect the national information space, including in the realm of publishing.

Keywords: Russian-Ukrainian war, publishing production, book publishing, information influence, propaganda, social communications.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2023-2-86-185-193


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