UDC

[81’42:81’38](045)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V512

Authors

Ibragim A. Kurbanov - Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics, Moscow, Russia,
email: ibragimkurbanov@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0081-5360

Abstract

This article carries out a comparative cognitive study of metaphorical models used in the Russian and English language media to shape the image of Russian entrepreneur and founder of the social platforms “VKontakte” and Telegram Pavel Durov. The aims of this study are to identify and describe metaphorical models used to conceptualize the image of Pavel Durov in Russian and foreign media discourse. This research is based on the provisions of the conceptual metaphor theory and includes the methods of continuous sampling, component and frame analysis, as well as comparative and statistical methods. The primary research material includes metaphors that depict the activities of Pavel Durov presented in foreign and Russian media texts published in RIA Novosti, Kommersant, The New York Times, The Guardian, Lenta.ru, CNN, Aljazeera.com, etc. from 2018 to 2025. The analysis conducted has shown the similar tendency of sociomorphic metaphors’ predominance in both media but with different connotations: Russian language media texts tend to depict a negative image of Pavel Durov while English language media reveal him as a contradictory image combining the elements of glorification and criticism. Metaphorical modelling of the image of Pavel Durov in the Russian and English language media represents itself as a powerful tool of shaping public opinion by reflecting not only Durov’s real deeds but also some cultural stereotypes, social expectations and media tendencies. The obtained results underline the importance of a critical approach towards metaphors interpretation in media discourse, their role in shaping public personalities’ images and may be useful in conducting further research of media images’ metaphorical modelling.

Keywords

conceptual metaphors, metaphorical modelling, Chinese media discourse, Pavel Durov, media image

References

1. Manaenko G.N. Diskurs v ego otnoshenii k rechi, tekstu i yazyku [Discourse in Relation to Speech, Text, and Language]. Stereotipnost’ i tvorchestvo v tekste, 2008, vol. 12., pp. 48–61.
2. Van Dijk T.A. Ideology. A Multidisciplinary Approach. London, 1998, 365 p.
3. Sazhina E.V. Mediadiskurs v sovremennoy lingvisticheskoy paradigme: sravnitel’no-sopostavitel’nyy aspect [Media Discourse in the Modern Linguistic Paradigm: a Comparative Aspect]. Gomel’, 2021. 165 p.
4. Gorbal’ D.E. Sovremennye podkhody k fenomenu mediaobraza [Modern Approaches to the Phenomenon of Media Image]. Nauka i obrazovanie segodnya, 2020, no. 11, pp. 72–75.
5. Galinskaya T.N. Ponyatie mediobraza i problema ego rekonstruktsii v sovremennoy lingvistike [The Concept of Media Image and the Problem of its Reconstructionn in Modern Linguistics]. Vestnik Orenburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2013, no. 11, pp. 91–94.
6. Dracheva Yu.N. Ponyatie mediobraza i ego opisaniye v yazykovedcheskom i neyazykovedcheskom aspektakh [The Concept of Media Image and its Description in Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Aspects]. Vestnik Cherepovetskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2019, no. 2, pp. 134–146.
7. Korzheneva O.V. Mediaobrazy v massovoy politicheskoy kommunikatsii [Media Images in Mass Political Communication]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Yazyk i literatura, 2013, no. 1, pp. 218–226.
8. Cotter C. Discourse and Media. The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. 2015. 821 p.
9. Gulagaev I.N., Kurbanov I.A. Sopostavitelny analiz obraza Turtsii v mediynom i khudozhestvennom diskursakh na russkom i angliyskom yazykakh [The Comparative Analysis of the Image of Turkey in the Russian and English Media and Literary Discourse]. Politicheskaya lingvistika, 2024, no. 4, pp. 156–166.
10. Kalantaryan G.A., Kurbanov I.A., Nakhimova E.A. Metaforicheskoe modelirovanie obraza prem’er-ministra Respubliki Armeniya Nikola Pashinyana v ruskoyazychnykh, armyanoyazychnykh i angloyazychnykh SMI: sopostavitelnyy aspekt [Metaphorical Modeling of the Image of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the Russian-, Armenian- and English-Language Media: a Comparative Study]. Politicheskaya lingvistika, 2025, no. 5, pp. 81–92.
11. Kurbanov I.A., Lamazaeva A.Zh. Metaforicheskoe modelirovanie obraza Evgeniya Kasperskogo v rossiyskikh i angloyazychnykh sredstvakh massovoy informatsii [Metaphorical Modeling of the Image of Evgeniy Kasperskiy in the Russian- and English-language media]. Politicheskaya lingvistika, 2025, no. 1, pp. 84–90.
12. Nguyen Vi-Thong. A Comparative Analysis on Metaphoric Strategies in Presidential Inaugurals of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Stud. Linguist., 2018, pp. 157–179.
13. Lakoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live by. Chicago, 1980. 242 p.
14. Budaev E.V., Chudinov A.P. Metafora v politicheskoy kommunikatsii [Metaphor in Political Communication]. Moscow, 2008. 248 p.
15. Chudinov A.P. Rossiya v metaforicheskom zerkale: kognitivnoe issledovanie politicheskoy metafory (1991–2000) [Russia in the Metaphorical Mirror: a Cognitive Study of Political Metaphor (1991–2000)]. Ekaterinburg, 2001. 238 p.
16. Chudinov A.P., Budaev E.V. Kognitivnaya teoriya metafory na sovremennom etape razvitiya [Cognitive Theory of Metaphor at the Present Stage of Development]. Voprosy kognitivnoy lingvistiki, 2007, no. 4, pp. 55–57.
17. Rofieva G.Yu. Kognitivno-semanticheskaya klassifikatsiya metafor [Cognitive-Semantic Classification of Metaphors]. Vestnik nauki i obrazovaniya, 2020, no. 2-3, pp. 24–29.
18. Malagin D.V., Kurbanov I.A. Metaphorical Modeling of the Image of the US President Joe Biden in English-Language Political Media Discourse. Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye
i social’nye nauki, 2023, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 55–65. https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V305