45Received 01.06.2023. Revised 09.07.2023. Accepted 27.09.2023.
Abstract. This article deals with the issue of the transformation of the image of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the largest Indian media. In order to determine the dynamics of the development of key narratives associated with his name, the author used discursive-historical approach based on a corpus of 2855 headlines since January till December 2022 collected in ten English and three Hindi language media-sources. The articles were chronologically divided by month of the publication and then were split into two categories: a) before the election b) after the election. Moreover, the publications were assigned to seven thematic groups. The transformation of the narratives within these groups was analyzed with special emphasis on the context and frequency of word use. The analysis of intertextual connections made it possible to identify key international political issues related to the Prime Minister, which are of interest to the Indian public. The topic of Prime-Minister’s Indian origin, much spoken about in October, has changed significantly and was mostly illuminated during several active political struggles for the post of Prime Minister. If at the beginning of the year he was perceived as one in the list of politicians with Indian roots, then in October he was called the “pride of the nation” and “a gift to the Indians on Diwali”. Notably, amid the increased role in Britain’s political game this topic was followed by the topic of his religious affiliation – the phrase “hindu PM” has become widely used since July. The Hindi-language media, characteristically, paid more attention to this issue than the English-language media. Apparently, the appeal to the Indian origin could cause inflated expectations regarding the strengthening of relations between India and the UK, however, the expert community takes a reserved position on this issue and acts as a source of counter-discursive narratives. Finally, the analysis showed that issues of British domestic politics get a lot of attention from Indian public at large. In this particular case, they triggered vigorous political debates about minority rights issues.
Keywords: India, Great Britain, Rishi Sunak, Media of India, discourse-analysis
REFERENCES
1. Lall M.C. India’s Missed Opportunity. India’s relationship with the Non Resident Indians. Routledge, London and New York, 2019. 478 p.
2. Gerasimov V.I., Ilyin M.V. Political discourse analysis. Political Science, 2002, no. 3, pp. 68-75. (In Russ.)
3. Chernyavskaya V.E. Discursive analysis and corpus methods: a necessary evidentiary link? Explanatory possibilities of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Issues of Cognitive Linguistics, 2018, no. 2 (55), pp. 31-37. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.20916/1812-3228-2018-2-31-37
4. Alekseeva T.A. “Cultural Turn” in IR Theory. International trends, 2012, no. 3–4 (30–31), pp. 4-19. (In Russ.)
5. Alekseeva T.A., Mineev A.P., Loshkarev I.D., Ananiev B.I. “Quantum approach” to international relations: scientific publication. Alekseeva T.A., ed. Moscow, ANO «Editorial office of the journal “Knowledge is Power”», 2018. 110 p. (In Russ.)
6. Deutsch K. The Nerves of Government. New York, Free Press, 1966. 316 p.
7. Deutsch K. Nationalism and Social Communication: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Nationality. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1966. 345 p.
8. McLuhan M., Fiore Q., Fairey S. The medium is the massage. Gingko Press, 1967. 160 p.
9. McLuhan M., Lapham L. Understanding media: The extensions of man. MIT Press, 1994. 389 p.
10. Butler D., Kavanagh D. The British General Election of 1992. Palgrave Macmillan, 1992. 402 p.
11. Kavanagh D., Butler D. The British General Election of 2005 (Nuffield Election). Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 287 p.
12. Gaman-Golutvina O.V., Nikitin A.I., eds. Contemporary political science. Methodology: Scientific publication. 2nd ed. Moscow, Aspect Press Publishing House, 2019. 776 p. (In Russ.)
13. Baker P., Gabrielatos C., Khosravinik M., Krzyzanowski M., McEnery T., Wodak R. A useful methodological synergy? Combining Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics to examine discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press. Discourse and Society, 2008, no. 19 (3), pp. 273-306. DOI: 10.1177/0957926508088962
14. Wodak R., De Cillia R., Reisigl M. The discursive construction of national identities. Discourse and Society, 1999, no. 10 (2), pp. 149-173. DOI: 10.1177/0957926599010002002
15. Wodak R. The discourse of politics in action: Politics as usual. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009. 252 p.
16. Fairclough N. New Labour, New Language? Routledge, New York, 2000. 188 p.
17. van Dijk T. Racism and the Press. Routledge, London, New York, 1991. 291 p.
18. Flowerdew J. The Discourse of Colonial Withdrawal: A Case Study in the Creation of Mythic Discourse. Discourse and Society, 1997, no. 8 (4), pp. 453-477.
19. Koller V., Mautner G. Computer applications in critical discourse analysis. Hewings A., O’Halloran K., eds. Coffin Applying English grammar: functional and corpus approaches. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 2004, pp. 216-228.
20. Mahajan G. India: Political Ideas and the Making of a Democratiñ Discource. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013. 194 p.
21. Kupriyanov A.V. Geopolitics of the Sea: the Idea of Ocean Control in the Political Discourse of Independent India. Vestnik RUDN. International Relations, 2019, no. 19 (2), pp. 234-246. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.22363/2313-0660-2019-19-2-234-246
22. Kupriyanov A.V. “Chinese Threat” in India’s Expert Discourse. Analysis and Forecasting. IMEMO Journal, 2019, no. 1, pp. 33-44. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.20542/afij-2019-1-33-44
23. Ahmed H. Muslim Political Discourse in Postcolonial India. Monuments, Memory, Contestation. Routledge India, 2019. 344 p.
24. Pankaj K.A. Engaging with Discourse on Caste, Class, and Politics in India. South Asia Research, 2007, no. 27 (3), pp. 333-353. DOI: 10.1177/026272800702700305
25. Bagga-Gupta S., Rao A. 2018. Languaging in digital global South–North spaces in the twenty-first century: media, language and identity in political discourse. Bandung, 2018, no. 5 (1), pp. 1-34. DOI: 10.1186/s40728-018-0047-z
26. Chopra R. Neoliberalism as Doxa: Bourdieu’s Theory of the State and the Contemporary Indian Discourse on Globalization and Liberalization. Cultural Studies, 2003, no. 17 (3–4), pp. 419-444. DOI: 10.1080/0950238032000083881
27. Chopra R. Global primordialities: Virtual identity politics in online Hindutva and online Dalit discourse. New Media & Society, 2006, no. 8 (2), pp. 187-206. DOI: 10.1177/1461444806061942
28. Billett S. Dividing climate change: global warming in the Indian mass media. Climatic Change, 2010, no. 99, pp. 1-16. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-009-9605-3
29. Sen A., Ghatak D., Khanuja G., Rekha K., Gupta M., Dhakate S., Sharma K., Seth A. Analysis of Media Bias in Policy Discourse in India. ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS) (COMPASS ‘22). New York, Association for Computing Machinery, 2022, pp. 57-77. DOI: 10.1145/3530190.3534798
30. Sharmita Kar. ‘Matter of pride for us in India’: Sonia Gandhi wishes Rishi Sunak as new UK PM. The Hindustan Times, 26.10.2022. Available at: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/matter-of-pride-for-us-in-india-sonia-gandhi-wishes-rishi-sunak-as-new-uk-pm-101666785037434.html (accessed 03.01.2023).
31. Sanjaya Baru. Can Sunak restore Britain to its lost great-ness? The Times of India, 25.10.2022. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/behind-10-browning-street/articleshow/95083901.cms (accessed 03.03.2023).
32. Navdeep Suri. Sunak as PM matters for UK, not India. ORF, 28.10.2022. Available at: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/sunak-as-pm-matters-for-uk-not-india-444977 (accessed 01.02.2023).
33. Sunil Bhat. ‘Mehbooba Mufti has lost it’: BJP hits out at J-K leader over tweet on Rishi Sunak. India Today, 25.10.2022. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mehbooba-mufti-remark-on-rishi-sunak-uk-prime-minister-bjp-reacts-minority-kashmir-2289265-2022-10-25 (accessed 03.03.2023).
34. Kumar Shakti Shekhar. Inspired by Rishi Sunak, Owaisi says hijab-clad woman should be Indian PM, gets roasted. Times of India, 26.10.2022. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/inspired-by-rishi-sunak-owaisi-says-hijab-clad-woman-should-be-indian-pm-gets-roasted/articleshow/95104178.cms (accessed 04.02.2023).
35. Kumar Shakti Shekhar. How Rishi Sunak as UK PM triggered row over minorities in India. Times of India, 26.10.2022. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-rishi-sunak-as-uk-pm-triggered-row-over-minorities-in-india/articleshow/95096916.cms (accessed 02.01.2023).
SOURCES
1. Indian diaspora serves as living bridge connecting India to world: MoS MEA. The Economic Times, 09.01.2022. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/indian-diaspora-serves-as-living-bridge-connecting-india-to-world-mos-mea/articleshow/88791937.cms?from=mdr (accessed 10.03.2022).
2. Charter 1. General Review. Office of Registrar of Newspapers for India. Government of India, 2021. Available at: http://rni.nic.in/pdf_file/pin2020_21/pin2020_21_eng/Chapter%201.pdf (accessed 01.02.2023).
3. The Highlights of the Indian Press in 2020–2021. Office of Registrar of Newspapers for India. Government of India, 2021. Available at: http://rni.nic.in/pdf_file/pin2020_21/pin2020_21_eng/Content.pdf (accessed 01.02.2023).
4. Indians delight in Rishi Sunak’s rise to UK PM on Diwali. The Economic Times, 24.10.2022. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/indians-delight-in-rishi-sunaks-rise-to-uk-pm-on-diwali/articleshow/95067524.cms (accessed 02.01.2023).
5. ‘Proud Hindu’ Rishi Sunak sports sacred thread during 1st speech as UK PM |5 times he displayed his roots. India Today, 25.10.2022. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-sacred-thread-first-speech-hindu-roots-indian-heritage-2289381-2022-10-25 (accessed 02.01.2023).
6. UK PM Rishi Sunak says he’s a ‘visual representation’ of links with India. Reuters, 27.10.2022. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-sunak-speaks-indias-modi-hopes-progress-trade-deal-2022-10-27/ (accessed 03.01.2023).
7. Britain Election 2022: Know everything about Rishi Sunak, who can become Britain’s first Hindu PM, richer than Britain’s Queen. ABP News, 17.07.2022. (In Hind.) Available at: https://www.abplive.com/news/world/britain-election-2022-know-everything-about-rishi-sunak-who-can-become-britains-first-hindu-pm-2170194 (accessed 03.03.2023).
8. Rishi Sunak hails Bhagavad Gita on Janmashtami as source of strength during Tory leadership. The Times of India, 20.08.2022. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/rishi-sunak-hails-bhagavad-gita-on-janmashtami-as-source-of-strength-during-tory-leadership-campaign/articleshow/93667755.cms (accessed 03.03.2023).
9. I won’t sacrifice quality for speed in trade deals: UK’s Rishi Sunak. The Economic Times, 15.11.2022. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/i-wont-sacrifice-quality-for-speed-in-trade-deals-uks-rishi-sunak/articleshow/95535309.cms (accessed 04.03.2023).
10. UK’s ‘golden era’ with China over, says Britain PM Rishi Sunak. India Today, 29.11.2022. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/britain-pm-rishi-sunak-golden-era-uk-china-ties-over-bbc-journalist-assaulted-2302964-2022-11-29 (accessed 01.02.2023).
11. India should have PM from minority community: Samajwadi Party MP. Times of India, 26.10.2022. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-should-have-pm-from-minority-community-samajwadi-party-mp/articleshow/95098037.cms (accessed 04.02.2023).
12. Congress Rebuffs P Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoors Posts On Rishi Sunak. NDTV, 25.10.2022. Available at: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/congress-plays-down-shashi-tharoor-p-chidambarams-remarks-on-rishi-sunak-3460860 (accessed 01.02.2023).
No comments