CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Hrydziushka, Nelly |
|---|---|
| Title | Representation of the Eastern Bloc Countries in the Western Press in 1989-1990 and 2009-2010 and EU Integration |
| Summary | This thesis unfolds the problem of the representation of Eastern Bloc countries in the Western Press during transition of 1989-1990 and in 2009-2010 and its impact on these countries’ ultimate EU integration. In particular, this research reports on how Eastern Bloc countries were represented in Western, i.e., British press, and whether they became fully integrated in Western European minds. In order to carry out this research quantitative and qualitative analyses were used. The results of the quantitative study demonstrate the change in mostly thematized countries and topics over the twenty years – some of them were no longer discussed as non-existent or irrelevant for the 21st century. The results of the qualitative analysis reveal the existence of a clear boundary between the East and the West in 1989-1990 and show how the perception of who belongs to the East and who to the West changed in 2009-2010. The analysis of the geopolitical mapping suggests that while the West is fully aware of the political alliances between the former Soviet Bloc countries, their geographical details seem to be unimportant, which points to the stereotype of this area as “something out there” as a whole. The research also indicates active negative stereotyping of the ex Eastern Bloc countries; but at the same time, there is a potential for a change of the Eastern Bloc countries´ image. Finally, the thesis unveils the Western attempts towards hegemony over the former Eastern Bloc countries on their disintegration from the Soviet system. |
| Supervisor | Lea Sgier |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/hrydziushka_neli.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University