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Umberto Eco as a foreign agent

Quantitative Analysis of signs of Fascism in Russian Mass Media (2011–2024)

Published onDec 20, 2024
Umberto Eco as a foreign agent

Abstract: This study explores the transformation of the Russian political regime from 2011 to 2024 by examining whether it has adopted characteristics of fascism, as described by Umberto Eco in his essay “Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt.” We used the Integrum Worldwide database to conduct a sociolinguistic analysis, tracking the rise of 14 signs of fascism in Russian mass media over this period. All collected and included data, tables, and observed trends indicate an increasing resemblance of the Russian regime to fascism in Umberto Eco’s terms. 


Introduction

The question of whether Russia’s current political regime bears similarities to the fascist regimes of the 20th century has been a topic of growing interest. This research aims to investigate this hypothesis through a sociolinguistic analysis, guided by the 14 characteristics of fascism outlined by Umberto Eco and the characteristics offered by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), which define fascism as the ideology and practice asserting the superiority and exclusivity of a particular nation or race, denying democracy, establishing a cult of leadership, and using violence and terror against political opponents and dissent. 

Research Objective

To investigate the hypothesis of the similarities between the current Russian regime and European fascist regimes, primarily based on Eco’s and RAS’s frameworks. 

A Brief Description of the Research

Methodology: Sociolinguistic analysis of the frequency of words and expressions specific to the 14 signs of fascism in Russian mass media.

Research Period: 2011–2024. 

Research Tool: Integrum Worldwide databases. 

Research Tools of Integrum Worldwide

The research utilized the Integrum Worldwide database, the world’s largest archive of mass media from Russia and the former USSR, containing 120,000 databases with over 3 billion documents and 700,000 new documents added daily.

The table below provides detailed statistics on 23,308 databases of Russian mass media used specifically in this study:

Table 1

Category of Mass Media

Number of Mass Media Titles (Databases)

Total

23,308

Moscow Newspapers and Magazines

429

Federal News Agencies

97

Federal Internet Publications

5,737

Federal TV and Radio

133

Regional Newspapers and Magazines

1,784

Regional News Agencies

238

Regional Internet Publications

14,401

Regional TV and Radio

489

Theoretical Framework

Umberto Eco’s 14 signs of fascism outlined in 2015:

  1. The cult of tradition 2. Irrationality and rejection of modernity 3. Action without reflection 4. Treating doubt as betrayal 5. Xenophobia and racism 6. Reliance on the middle class 7. Obsession with conspiracy theories 8. Portraying the enemy as both powerful and weak 9. Viewing life as a continuous war 10. Contempt for the weak 11. The cult of heroes and death 12. Machismo and sexism 13. Rejection of parliamentarism 14. The use of Newspeak

Description of Fascism by the Russian Academy of Sciences outlined in 1995

According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, fascism is defined as an ideology and practice that: - Asserts the superiority and exclusivity of a nation or race - Incites national intolerance - Justifies discrimination against other peoples - Denies democracy - Establishes a cult of a leader - Uses violence and terror to suppress political opponents and dissent - Justifies war as a means of solving interstate problems

As we can see, all the signs of fascism defined by the Russian Academy of Sciences correspond to one or another sign of fascism formulated by Umberto Eco.

Methodology

The number of documents in the analyzed databases is constantly increasing. This is the reason why, in addition to examining the absolute number of relevant documents, their relative frequency—the ratio of the relevant documents to the total number of documents in the databases in the respective year—serves a particular interest. In fact, that parameter represents the share of each concept under study in the Russian media space.

A relevant document is counted only once in the statistics, even if the keywords are mentioned in the document more than once.

A small number of relevant documents contain keywords in non-relevant contexts. Still, we assume that the percentage of irrelevant contexts does not change much from year to year and, therefore, does not significantly affect the dynamics of relative statistics.

Three search queries and corresponding graphs illustrate each of Eco’s characteristics of fascism. The result of each query is illustrated by one mass media document. The exceptions are Sign 12 and Sign 14, where it was necessary to make not three but four illustrations for the analyzed signs of fascism.

The results of the 2024 survey are extrapolated from data from the first half of the year.

Statistics of fascist signs in Russian media

Here are the results of the study of the Sign 1. The cult of tradition / Культ традиции.

Statistics and graphs of all characteristics of fascism are in Appendix 1

Sign 1. The cult of tradition / Культ традиции

Table 2

Concept

Search query

traditional values / традиционные ценности

“традиционные ценности” (россия или российский) /п

spiritual and moral values/духовно-нравственные ценности

(“духовные ценности” или “духовно-нравственные ценности” или “нравственные ценности”) (россия или российский) /п

Ancestral heritage/наследие предков

((отцы или деды или предки) (“завещали нам” или “оставили в наследство” или “оставили нам в наследство” или наследие или традиция) /п) или “наши отцы” или “наши деды” или “наши предки”

Table 3. Frequency of concepts “traditional values”, “spiritual and moral values”, and “ancestral heritage” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Traditional values

Spiritual and moral values

Ancestral heritage

2011

483

1907

37318

2012

1286

3039

45779

2013

1952

3426

54310

2014

3245

3550

63811

2015

2674

3807

80108

2016

2496

3886

70579

2017

2471

4098

71172

2018

2627

4180

94058

2019

3106

4360

107476

2020

3310

5367

124788

2021

3939

6109

111245

2022

9413

14579

137782

2023

11131

21839

129284

2024

16966

20983

136687

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 1
Pic. 2
Pic. 3
Relative frequency of concepts 
Diag. 1. Traditional values
Diag. 2. Spiritual and moral values
Diag. 3. Ancestral heritage

Commentary

1. Absolute number of relevant documents

It is essential to pay attention to the dynamics of the relative frequency of mentioning the studied concepts and also to the absolute number of their references in mass media.

A good illustration is the number of references to the concept of respect for civil rights.

In 2011, this word combination was mentioned only 24 times in all Russian mass media (i.e., in more than 20 million documents analyzed in this study). That is, the concept was mentioned on average only twice a month. In 2024, it was mentioned even less frequently: only 7 times, i.e., approximately once every two months.

Table 4. Respect for civil rights (number of relevant documents)

Year

Number of Relevant Documents

2011

24

2012

5

2013

9

2014

34

2015

7

2016

6

2017

7

2018

21

2019

9

2020

16

2021

26

2022

7

2023

8

2024

7

2. Increase in the absolute and relative frequency of all analyzed signs of fascism over the 2011–2024 period

Absolute and relative frequencies of almost all analyzed signs increased from 2011 to 2024.

The frequencies of the following signs have grown significantly, suggesting that they are particularly characteristic of the Russian regime in the period under study: - traditional values (see diag. 1) - spiritual and moral values (see diag. 2) - doubt and liberalism as treason (see diag. 10) - traitors to the motherland (see diag. 12) - Western masters (see diag. 20) - Russophobia (see diag. 21) - the pursuit of peace as betrayal (see diag. 26) - heroic death (see diag. 33)

3. A noticeable decrease in frequency is demonstrated by concepts traditionally regarded as suspicious by fascist regimes:
  • sex and erotica (see later diag. 37)

  • independence from the state (see later diag. 5)

  • support for culture (see later diag. 8)

4. Newspeak

The detailed statistics and graphs related to Newspeak are presented in Appendix 1 as Sign 14. Usage of Newspeak / Использование Новояза.

Using Newspeak often does not create new meanings of reality but increases confusion, i.e., the act of speaking becomes more important than its meaning.

The frequency of the passive voice’s usage has significantly increased over the years (see later Table 31, Diag. 44).

5. Correlation between the frequency of signs of fascism in the media space and in real life

Statistics of the signs and their dynamics are quite distinctly linked to political and economic events, as seen in the list of “Main Events of the Year” chosen by the official news agency RIA NOVOSTI (see Appendix 2).

The similarity between patriotic Z-art and fascist art of the 20th century

A fictional Russian poet, Gennady Rakitin, created by an anti-war activist, has been publishing “patriotic” poems about war, Russia, and the “people’s leader” on his VKontakte page for about a year.

His poems have entered contests, been awarded prizes at festivals, and were reposted in Z-poetry channels. Nearly a hundred Russian Duma deputies and senators have subscribed to Rakitin’s page. Later, it turned out that Rakitin’s verses were translations of poems published in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.  

Almost verbatim similarities between Russian and Nazi propaganda

A good example is the commentary of the Tsargrad TV channel on the Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, OHMATDET, published on July 8, 2024 (https://tsargrad.tv/articles/detskaja-bolnica-v-kieve-ne-sluchajnost-pora-jeto-priznat-i-perestat-bojatsja_1025063):

You must realize — simple and scary: there are no humans on the other side. Not a single human being. Our missiles do not kill people. Not a single human being. There are no people there. 

You do not have to make excuses for hitting a children’s hospital. We need to say, do you want it to stop? Surrender. Capitulate

Conclusion

If we use Umberto Eco’s signs and characteristics of fascism, the study results suggest that between 2011 and 2024, the Russian regime has increasingly resembled a fascist one.

Umberto Eco argues that the presence of even one of these 14 characteristics of fascism is enough for the fascist nebula to start condensing.

There is good reason to believe that if Umberto Eco published his signs of fascism today, he would be recognized as a foreign agent in modern Russia.

Appendix 1. Statistics and graphs of all 14 signs of fascism

Sign 1 is discussed above in the text of the article.

Sign 2. Irrationality: admiration for technology but rejection of modernity / Иррациональность: восхищение техникой, но неприятие модерна

Table 5

Concept

Search query

our scientific and technological achievements / наши научно-технические достижения

(наши или российские или отечественные) (научные или технические или научно-технические) (достижения или успехи) /п

Independence from the state / независимость от государства

“независимость от государства” или “независимый от государства”

respect for civil rights / уважение гражданских прав

“уважение гражданских прав”

Table 6. Frequency of concepts “our scientific and technological achievements”, “independence from the state”, and “respect for civil rights” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Our Scientific and Technological Achievements

Independence from the State

Respect for Civil Rights

2011

4431

1050

24

2012

5536

1320

5

2013

5723

988

9

2014

5613

727

34

2015

5907

771

7

2016

5538

894

6

2017

6571

791

7

2018

10343

1201

21

2019

8711

956

9

2020

7463

1010

16

2021

13787

776

26

2022

11217

533

7

2023

12443

465

8

2024

11827

360

7

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 4
Pic. 5
Pic. 6
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 4. Our scientific and technological achievements
Diag. 5. Independence from the state
Diag. 6. Respect of civil rights

Sign 3. Action without reflection, suspicious view of culture / Действие без рефлексии, подозрительное отношение к культуре

Table 7

Concept

Search query

you should talk less / болтать надо меньше 

“меньше надо болтать” или “болтать надо меньше” или говорильня или “пустые разговоры”

support for culture / поддержка культуры

“поддержка культуры”

art experiments / эксперименты в искусстве 

“эксперименты в искусстве” или “экспериментальное искусство”

 Table 8. Frequency of concepts “you should talk less”, “support for culture”, and “art experiments” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

You Should Talk Less

Support for Culture

Art Experiments

2011

2478

1640

197

2012

2838

2096

196

2013

3074

1895

241

2014

2668

2069

164

2015

2927

1833

250

2016

3205

1965

136

2017

3249

2402

201

2018

3373

2730

348

2019

4815

2307

515

2020

4782

2763

216

2021

4937

2978

2022

3934

2515

193

2023

3994

2306

98

2024

3509

1780

125

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 7
Pic. 8
Pic. 9
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 7. You should talk less
Diag. 8. Support for culture
Diag. 9. Art experiments

 

Sign 4. Doubt is viewed as betrayal or treason / Cомнение трактуется как предательство или измена

Table 9.

Concept

Search query

doubt and liberalism as treason / сомнения и либерализм  как предательство

(нацпредатели или национал-предатели или “национальные предатели” или “предатели родины” или изменники или иноагенты или “иностранные агенты” или “иностранная агентура” или “западная агентура” или “предатель России” или “предатель своей страны” или “предать свою страну” или “предать родину” или “предать нашу страну”) (болтать или болтовня или колебания или интеллигентский или “пустые разговоры” или либерал* или либерасты) /п

one must love the Motherland / надо Родину любить 

“надо родину любить” или “надо любить свою родину” или “надо любить свою страну” или “надо любить Россию” или “надо любить отечество” или “надо любить свое отечество”

traitors to the motherland / предатели Родины

(предать или предатель) (родина или росси* или “наша страна”) /п

Table 10. Frequency of concepts “doubt and liberalism”, “one must love the Motherland”, and “traitors to the Motherland” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Doubt and Liberalism as Treason

One Must Love the Motherland

Traitors to the Motherland

2011

35

120

8441

2012

211

181

9787

2013

218

163

10664

2014

351

192

18359

2015

1799

241

15687

2016

418

195

16876

2017

286

218

15140

2018

392

368

22888

2019

477

276

20511

2020

600

199

19682

2021

1284

207

21145

2022

1105

386

36151

2023

11679

514

32515

2024

16800

463

31690

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 10
Pic. 11
Pic. 12
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 10. Doubt and liberalism as treason
Diag. 11. One must love the Motherland
Diag. 12. Traitors to the Motherland

Sign 5. Xenophobia, racism / Ксенофобия, расизм** 

Table 11

Concept

Search query

Asian visitors / приезжие азиаты

(выходцы или мигранты или приезжие или гастарбайтеры или понаехавшие) (“Средняя Азия” или азиаты)/п

Khohly (a disparaging name for Ukrainians) /хохлы

(хохлы или хохляцкий или хохляндия) не Хохлов

Ukrainian fascists / украинские фашисты

укрофашисты или укронацисты или “украинские фашисты” или “украинские нацисты” или “украинские нацики” или “украинские бандиты”

Table 12. Frequency of concepts “Asian visitors”, “Khohly”, and “traitors to the motherland” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Asian Visitors

Khohly

Traitors to the Motherland

2011

4635

1156

212

2012

6893

1291

169

2013

15960

1826

360

2014

8138

6548

7225

2015

7802

5594

5390

2016

10084

4057

4213

2017

10607

3302

3518

2018

6290

3865

4915

2019

9371

4716

5489

2020

6658

3088

3796

2021

8416

3128

4223

2022

4723

7601

54925

2023

7495

8809

34198

2024

11009

8662

24547

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 13
Pic. 14
Pic. 16
Relative frequency of concepts  
Diag. 13. Asian visitors
Diag.14. Khohly
Diag. 15. Ukranian fascists

Sign 6. Reliance on the middle class / Опора на средний класс

Table 13

Concept

Search query

stability and confidence for the future / стабильность и уверенность в будущем

(стабильность или “уверенность в завтрашнем дне” или “уверенность в будущем”) и (русский или росси*)/п

salary increase for government employees / повышение зарплат госслужащим

(госслужащие или бюджетники или “государственные служащие”) (зарплата или “социальные выплаты” или “оплата труда” или доходы) (повышение или увеличение или рост) /п

middle class income growth / рост доходов среднего класса

“средний класс” ( зарплата или “социальные выплаты” или “оплата труда” или доходы) (повышение или увеличение или рост) /п

Table 14. Frequency of concepts “stability and confidence for the future”, “salary increase for government employees”, and “middle-class income growth” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Stability and Confidence for the Future

Salary Increase for Government Employees

Middle-Class Income Growth

2011

25401

8093

455

2012

29500

8954

588

2013

24687

13080

536

2014

39565

10643

441

2015

43867

7009

516

2016

40106

6544

435

2017

36207

9359

497

2018

45978

13315

503

2019

40225

10711

526

2020

55770

5622

370

2021

65469

5775

485

2022

70281

8310

314

2023

47823

8193

256

2024

43065

4222

338

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 17
Pic. 18
Pic. 19.
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 16. Stability and confidence for the future
Diag. 17. Salary increase for government employees
Diag. 18. Middle class income growth

Sign 7. Obsession with conspiracy theories, cultivating a sense of being under siege / Одержимость теориями заговора, культивация чувства нахождения в осаде

Table 15

Concept

Search query

agents of the West / агенты запада

“агенты влияния” или “под иностранным влиянием” или “под западным влиянием”

Western masters / западные хозяева

(западные или зарубежные или иностранные или заокеанские или американские или натовские) (кураторы или хозяева или кукловоды) /п

Russophobia / русофобия

русофоб*

Table 16. Frequency of concepts “agents of the West”, “Western masters”, and “russophobia” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Agents of the West

Western Masters

Russophobia

2011

2151

3821

7717

2012

2947

5437

10005

2013

2372

5531

10949

2014

3671

11735

31082

2015

3606

12034

28761

2016

3983

11673

34209

2017

3847

12853

43392

2018

5507

19420

63010

2019

5267

20284

69824

2020

5000

19509

52878

2021

6317

24119

62483

2022

9548

42815

134490

2023

5832

42430

83090

2024

8148

33103

76939

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 20
Pic. 21
Pic. 22
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 19. Agents of the West
Diag. 20. Western masters
Diag. 21. Russophobia

Sign 8. The enemy is portrayed as powerful to inspire fear and as weak to be defeated / Враг изображается как мощный, чтобы внушать страх, и как слабый, чтобы его можно было победить

Table 17

Concept

Search query

weakness of the west / слабость запада

«бессилие запада» или “слабость запада” или “бессилие нато” или ”слабость нато” или “упадок запада” или “деградация запада”

U.S. and Western hegemony / гегемония США и запада

“американская гегемония” или “гегемония США” или “западная гегемония” или “гегемония запада”

threat for Russia / угроза для России

“разрушение россии” или “разрушение нашей страны” или “распад нашей страны” или “распад России” или “угроза россии” или “угроза нашей стране” или “угроза нашей безопасности” или “угроза безопасности России” или “угрожать России” или “угрожать нашей стране” или “угроза нашему государству” или “угроза нашей государственности”

Table 18. Frequency of concepts “weakness of the West”, “U.S. and Western hegemony”, and “threat for Russia” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Weakness of the West

U.S. and Western Hegemony

Threat for Russia

2011

89

766

5075

2012

94

980

4467

2013

148

1239

4309

2014

471

3569

11423

2015

313

3539

10445

2016

316

2664

9330

2017

217

2259

7273

2018

364

4350

9575

2019

279

4184

9455

2020

353

3317

6943

2021

554

4611

14633

2022

1036

12208

28001

2023

895

10506

14392

2024

898

6566

11258

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 23
Pic. 24
Pic. 25
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 22. Weakness of the West
Diag. 23. Western hegemony
Diag. 24. Threat for Russia

Sign 9. Life is regarded as a continuous war, and the pursuit of peace as cooperation with the enemy / Жизнь понимается как непрерывная война, а стремление к миру — как сотрудничество с врагом

Table 19

Concept

Search query

holy war / священная война

“священная война” или “воин-освободитель” или “воинский долг” или “российский солдат-освободитель” или “наш солдат-освободитель”

the pursuit of peace as betrayal / стремление к миру как предательство

(пацифизм или пацифист или “выступать за мир” или “против войны” или антивоенный или “борец за мир” или “призыв* к миру” или перемирие или “мирный договор” или “остановить войну” или “остановить военные действия”) (предатель* или “агенты влияния” или “под иностранным влиянием” или “под западным влиянием” или “иностранные агенты” или иноагенты или “на руку врагам”)/п

a real man should serve  / настоящий мужик должен служить

(“настоящий мужик” или “настоящий мужчина”) (военный или армия или офицер или отслужить или воевать) /п

Table 20. Frequency of concepts “holy war”, “the pursuit of peace as a betrayal”, and “a real man should serve” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Holy War

The Pursuit of Peace as a Betrayal

A Real Man Should Serve

2011

12188

41

712

2012

14837

39

950

2013

17585

51

1081

2014

21702

463

1246

2015

29925

205

996

2016

23940

122

1095

2017

21192

75

1070

2018

27948

174

1276

2019

31411

123

1596

2020

34401

229

1118

2021

33455

119

1426

2022

99677

944

1544

2023

111454

3491

2725

2024

122028

5976

2378

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 26
Pic. 27
Pic. 28
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 25. Holy war
Diag. 26. The pursuit of peace as betrayal
Diag. 27. A real man should serve

Sign 10. Contempt for the weak / Презрение к слабым

Table 21

Concept

Search query

wimp / слабак

слабак или размазня или слюнтяй или хлюпик

weakness and lack of will / слабость и безволие

слабость или слабак или безвольный или малодуш* или слабовол* или мягкотел* или бесхребетн* или слабохарактер* или бесхарактерн* или трусость или трусить

contempt for the weak / презрение к слабому

(слабость или слабак или слабый или безвольный или малодуш* или слабовол* или мягкотел* или бесхребетн* или слабохарактер* или бесхарактерн* или трусость или трусить) (презирать или презрение или “не уважать”) /п

Table 22. Frequency of concepts “wimp”, “weakness and lack of will”, and “contempt for the weak” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Wimp

Weakness and Lack of Will

Contempt for the Weak

2011

3261

69440

323

2012

4119

84834

463

2013

4663

91324

521

2014

6146

109361

542

2015

4832

104160

694

2016

5462

105749

673

2017

6343

105898

525

2018

6701

131823

766

2019

8716

161012

855

2020

8970

208642

779

2021

7108

196736

680

2022

5263

171932

538

2023

4385

155020

487

2024

5244

141747

494

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 29
Pic. 30
Pic. 31
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 28. Wimp
Diag. 29. Weakness and lack of will
Diag. 30. Contempt for the weak

Sign 11. The cult of heroes and the cult of death / Культ героизма и культ смерти

Table 23

Concept

Search query

our heroism / наш героизм

“российские герои” или “наш героизм” или “героизм русских” или “русский героизм” или “героизм наших”

fallen heroes / павшие герои

“павшие герои” или “павшие воины” или “павшие солдаты” или “павшие защитники”

heroic death / геройская смерть

“смертью храбрых” или “геройская смерть” или “героическая смерть”

Table 24. Frequency of concepts “our heroism”, “fallen heroes”, and “heroic death” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Our Heroism

Fallen Heroes

Heroic Death

2011

1136

5226

1836

2012

1838

6138

2068

2013

2349

8414

2441

2014

2986

10291

3107

2015

4337

18877

4590

2016

2923

11427

3524

2017

2836

10846

2835

2018

3852

15294

4142

2019

3901

4459

2020

6004

20254

6321

2021

4368

17920

3801

2022

8300

19975

6756

2023

6866

23107

6980

2024

9302

26458

26458

Examples of the relevant documents

Pic. 32
Pic. 33
Pic. 34
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 31. Our heroism
Diag. 32. Fallen heroes
Diag. 33. Heroic death

Sign 12. Machismo, sexism, rejection of a non-standard sexual behavior / Мачизм, сексизм, неприятие нестандартного сексуального поведения

Table 25

Concept

Search query

LGBT /ЛГБТ

лгбт*

stronger sex / сильный пол

stronger sex / сильный пол

weaker sex / слабый пол

“слабый пол”

sex and erotica / секс и эротика

секс* или эроти*

Table 26. Frequency of concepts “LGBT”, “stronger sex”, “weaker sex”, and “sex and erotica” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

LGBT

Stronger Sex

Weaker Sex

Sex and Erotica

2011

3024

10163

9065

203046

2012

13305

11371

10945

226024

2013

27560

14216

12566

272987

2014

14955

13763

11545

240393

2015

17772

13916

12429

227614

2016

16907

14146

12120

258412

2017

20812

15177

11632

284870

2018

20783

17858

14140

364636

2019

27167

22282

15212

374261

2020

33528

21664

14927

378611

2021

46684

17300

11734

340419

2022

51208

16130

9509

279839

2023

57241

13300

8033

232161

2024

82018

11467

6634

207636

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 35
Pic. 36
Pic. 37
Pic. 38
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 34. LGBT
Diag. 35. Stronger sex
 Diag. 36. Weaker sex
Diag. 37. Sex and erotica

Sign 13. Individuals are treated as a single nation whose will is expressed by a supreme leader; rejection of parliamentarism / Индивидуумы воспринимаются как единый народ, чью волю выражает верховный лидер; неприятие парламентаризма

Table 27

Concept

Search query

national leader  / национальный лидер

(“национальный лидер” или “наш лидер” или вождь или “лидер нации”) (путин или “наш президент” или “российский президент” или “президент России”) /п

unity of Russians / единство россиян

“все россияне” или “все жители Росси*” или “все граждане Росси*” или “все жители нашей страны” или “все граждане нашей страны”

Imitative parliamentarism — parliamentary unanimity / имитационный парламентаризм — парламентское единодушие

(“российский парламент” или Дума или думский или “Совет Федерации”) (единодуш* или “большинство голосов”) (проголосовал или одобрил или поддержал или “высказался за”) /п

Table 28. Frequency of concepts “national leader”, “unity of Russians”, and “imitative parliamentarism — parliamentary unanimity” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

National Leader

Unity of Russians

Imitative Parliamentarism

2011

3895

14037

1136

2012

3530

15130

2114

2013

1751

18805

1671

2014

3225

22397

3748

2015

2976

24091

3407

2016

3469

23490

1531

2017

3376

23346

1520

2018

4186

36347

1872

2019

2766

36365

1835

2020

2581

61592

2233

2021

2442

52793

1995

2022

3436

50308

4379

2023

4601

41657

2708

2024

8350

43615

2856

Examples of the relevant documents

Pic. 39
Pic. 40
Pic. 41
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 38. National leader
Diag. 39. Unity of Russians
Diag. 40. Imitative parliamentarism

Sign 14. Usage of Newspeak / Использование новояза

Table 29

Concept

Search query

negative growth (decrease) / отрицательный рост (снижение)

“отрицательный рост”

clap (explosion ) / хлопок (взрыв)

хлопки (слышать или услышать или “сообщить о” или фиксировать или зафиксировать или слышны) /п

Smoke (fire) / задымление

задымление (пожар)

Table 30. Frequency of concepts “negative growth (decrease)”, “clap / explosion”, and “smoke (fire)” by year (number of relevant documents)

Year

Negative Growth (Decrease)

Clap / Explosion

Smoke (Fire)

2011

298

3994

17189

2012

472

4616

19886

2013

593

6212

34686

2014

1248

6734

31607

2015

907

7361

32327

2016

692

8752

37505

2017

380

9512

35982

2018

465

11627

59407

2019

743

7955

54923

2020

1741

11660

45927

2021

1033

10667

70159

2022

1671

13259

54654

2023

1218

14880

48177

2024

991

15739

50448

Examples of the relevant documents
Pic. 42
Pic. 43
Pic. 44
Relative frequency of concepts
Diag. 41. Negative growth (decrease)
Diag. 42. Clap (explosion)
Diag. 43. Smoke (fire)

Words related to Newspeak have been increasingly used in the passive voice.

Table 31. Number of relative documents and relative frequency of found documents with passive voice (“зафиксированы прилеты”)

Year

Number of Relevant Documents

Relative Frequency

2021

44

0.08459

2022

2128

4.444457

2023

1853

4.101147

2024

3384

10.98757

Diag. 44. Passive voice: зафиксированы прилеты

Appendix 2. Main events 2011–2023 according to RIA Novosti

Table 32

Year

Events

2011

Announcement of the future “castling” of Putin and Medvedev (September)

Duma elections (December)

Demonstrations on Bolotnaya Square (December)

2012

Presidential elections in Russia (March)

Opposition rallies (February, March, May, June, September, October)

Pussy Riot trial (Summer)

2013

Slowdown in the Russian economy

Civil servants and deputies in elected bodies must get rid of foreign assets (May)

Law banning gay propaganda among children (June)

Snowden’s theft of classified files and escape (Summer)

2014

Crimea joins Russia

Western sanctions against Russia and Russian counter-sanctions

Sochi Olympics (February)

Minsk agreements (September)

Change of power and special operations in Ukraine (February-May)

Falling ruble due to falling global oil prices

2015

Countries of the Normandy Four reach an agreement on settlement in Ukraine (February)

Migration crisis in Europe (May)

Celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (May)

Patriotic “stop list” of 12 foreign and international organizations whose activities are undesirable in Russia (Summer)

V. Putin signed a law limiting the maximum possible share of foreign shareholders in the capital of Russian mass media to 20% (October)

2016

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk resigns (April)

UK referendum on BREXIT (June)

Yarovaya Act obliging telecom operators to store information about users’ conversations and correspondence (June)

Creation of Rosgvardia (July)

State Duma elections (September)

Installation of a monument to Prince Vladimir in Moscow (November)

Trump’s election (November)

2017

Transfer of St. Isaac’s Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church (January)

Investigation of Russia’s “interference” in the U.S. election (March)

Visa-free entry to the EU for citizens of Georgia and Ukraine (April)

Ban on anonymizers in Russia (July)

Seventh Studio case and arrest of director K. Serebrennikov (August)

V. Putin signed the law on foreign media agents (November)

2018

V. Putin presented the latest Russian military innovations (March)

UK accused Moscow of poisoning the Skripals (March)

President Putin’s re-election (March)

Construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline begins (May)

Opening of the Crimean Bridge (May)

Raising the retirement age in Russia (October)

2019

New Russian laws on Internet regulation (May)

V. Zelensky wins the presidential election in Ukraine (Spring)

Opposition rallies in Moscow (Summer)

Fadeev replaces Fedotov as head of the Presidential Human Rights Council (October)

Suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions (December)

2020

COVID-19

Elections in Belarus and opposition protests (August)

Joe Biden’s victory (November)

Military action in Nagorno-Karabakh (fall)

2021

Storming of the Capitol splits the U.S. (January)

Putin argues that moderate conservatism is the most sensible course of action (October)

Americans flee Afghanistan (August)

Western media published articles attributing plans for Russia to “invade Ukraine” (November)

2022

Suppression of a coup attempt in Kazakhstan (January)

Launch of a “special military operation” in Ukraine (February)

Partial mobilization in Russia (September)

Russia adds four new regions (September)

Russia’s reflection on Western sanctions

2023

Heroic capture of Bakhmut and Maryinka

Overcoming sanctions and record growth of the Russian economy

BRICS expansion

Russia becomes a leader in drone production

Wagner mutiny and Prigozhin’s death (summer)

Changes in Russian schools: withdrawal from the Bologna system, new history textbook, schools required to sing the anthem

Nagorno-Karabakh became fully Azerbaijani (fall)

DOI: 10.55167/77a2df541ae0

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