(Neo) revolutionary messages : an analysis of the impact of counter-narratives versus state narratives during the 1991 Coup D'etat in the former Soviet Union

<p>On August 19, 1991, government hard-liners overthrew the Soviet Union for a period of 72 hours. Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, staged a protest on the steps of the Russian White House, where he gave speeches against the coup d'etat, releasing these speeches for dissemination between the hard-liners and the masses gathered to support Yeltsin. Yeltsin 's protest created a constituted identity amongst the people gathered who became part of the protest against the government. This created a confrontation between the two publics, where the state message developed a narrative involving a glorified past to which they wished to return, while the counter-public created a counter-narrative that argued a future of continued reforms would benefit the people of Russia and the Soviet Union. In the end, the counter-narrative achieved stronger approval from the masses, essentially replacing the state's narrative with its own. As a result, the hard-liners lost their grab for power, and Yeltsin emerged the winner in an ideological struggle for the future of the Russia and the Soviet Union.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication

Year dc:date.available

2008

Author dc:creator

• Gundrum, Duane A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Marlin Bates

• Gorbachev
• Mikhail Sergeevich
• 1931-
• Communication in politics Russia (Federation)
• Soviet Union Politics and government 1985-1991
• Soviet Union History Coup d'├⌐tat
• 1991
• Communication
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/685

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1684