Discursive construction and transformation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ categories in the newspaper coverage on the US anti-ballistic missile system: Polish versus Russian view

Abstract

The present study explores discursive constructions of us- and them-groups within the context of the debates on the placement of the US anti-ballistic missile defence system in Central and Eastern Europe. The study is based on the data collected by the authors in the Polish and Russian press (2008–2009). Using the framework that is informed by Critical Discourse Analysis and Membership Categorization Analysis, the authors define strategies and specific linguistic means used to represent ‘us’ and ‘them’ and provide a picture of chronological transformations that these representations undergo in the investigated newspapers.