Competing for the Motherland: Constructions of Russian Nationalism in the Sochi Winter Olympics
By: Tara Law '14
Advising Faculty: Petko Ivanov
While the professed intention of the Olympic Games is to encourage intercultural understanding and cooperation, the games uniquely juxtapose different nations as officially defined by the global community. States are offered the opportunity to present a face to an enormous international audience. In no instance is the impact of this self-definition as pronounced as when a country hosts the games. In the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, Russia strove to construct an image of its nation within a specific culturally and historically relevant framework. This image of the nation was received and mediated first by the media, and then by the audience's social and cultural comprehension devices. Through these processes, Russia attempted to construct an image of its nation as modern and capable.
This honors thesis may be viewed in its entirety at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College.
http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/slavichp/1/
Related Fields: Slavic Studies