Navigating emotions: a study of Zelensky's populist communication in wartime : master's thesis

Sionova, Sofija (author), Pajnik, Mojca (mentor), Ivanovska Hadjievska, Milka (comentor)

This research examines how Volodymyr Zelensky mobilises emotions and populist rhetoric to communicate with politicians and Ukrainians. The thesis aims to answer two key questions: (1) how Zelensky’s emotional messaging differ between targetaudiences of politicians and Ukrainians and time points (first vs second year of war) (2) what characterises populist communication in wartime on the case of Zelensky. A theoretical framework on emotional appeals in populist communication (hate, anger, fear, love, and hope) is developed followed by providing a historical context on the Russo-Ukrainian war. To address the RQs, 80 speeches delivered by Zelensky between February 2022 and April 2023 were selected via purposive sampling. The speeches were analysed through an automated NRC lexicon and an LDA analysis. The conclusions reveal results contrary to existing populist communication research: (1) Zelensky prioritises positive sentiment in opposition to a more negative stance often found in populist communication; (2) he opts for a more emotionally charged tone when addressing politicians compared to Ukrainians. (3) Trust and fear are the most prominent emotions. However, fear dominates in Ukrainians in the first year and is replaced by trust in the second year of the war. Conversely, trust is consistent in politicians. These novel findings are particularly important as they fill a gap in the literature on populist communication in wartime. This research bridges the gap between populism and crisis communication, demonstrating how Zelensky’s communication strategies aid in achieving his goals whether it is to rally citizens or gain material support from politicians.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Zelensky, emotions, populism, communication, war
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Publisher: S. Sionova
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (88 str.))
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-155956
• UDC: 316.77:32(043.2)
• COBISS.SI-ID: 195145987
• Publication date in RUL: 25.04.2024

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Navigacija čustev: študija populističnega komuniciranja Zelenskega v času vojne : magistrsko delo

Abstract

To je raziskava, ki preučuje, kako Volodimir Zelenski mobilizira emocije in populistično retoriko za komuniciranje s politiki in s prebivalci in prebivalkami Ukrajine. Teza si prizadeva odgovoriti na dve ključni vprašanji: (1) kako se emotivno sporočanje Zelenskega razlikuje med ciljnimi občinstvi politikov in Ukrajincev; in (2) kaj zaznamuje populistično komunikacijo v času vojne. Teoretični del dela raziskuje emotivne nagovore v populistični komunikaciji (sovraštvo, jeza, strah, ljubezen in upanje), hkrati pa zagotavlja zgodovinski kontekst rusko-ukrajinske vojne. Za odgovor nanje je bilo z namenskim vzorčenjem izbranih 80 govorov, ki jih je Zelenski izrekel med februarjem 2022 in aprilom 2023. Govore smo analizirali s pomočjo avtomatiziranega NRC leksikona in analize LDA. Zaključki razkrivajo rezultate, ki nasprotujejo obstoječim raziskavam populističnega komuniciranja: (1) Zelenski daje prednost pozitivnemu emotivnemu sentimentu, nasprotno negativnemu sentimentu, ki pogosto zaznamuje populistično komuniciranje; in (2) uporablja bolj emotivni ton pri nagovarjanju politikov v primerjavi z Ukrajinci. Te nove ugotovitve so še posebej pomembne, saj zapolnjujejo vrzel v literaturi o populističnem komuniciranju v času vojne. (3) Zaupanje in strah sta najbolj izraziti emociji. Vendar pa strah prevladuje pri naslavljanju Ukrajincev v prvem letu, zamenja ga zaupanje v drugem letu vojne. Nasprotno pa je zaupanje dosledno pri nagovarjanju politikov. Ta raziskava zapolnjuje vrzel med populizmom in komuniciranjem v kriznih razmerah, prikazuje, kako Zelenskijeva komunikacijska strategija prispeva k doseganju njegovih ciljev, bodisi da gre za združevanje državljanov ali pridobivanje materialne podpore politikov.

• Keywords: Zelenski, emocije, populizem, komuniciranje, vojna