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Political Mythmaking and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi: Olympism and the Russian Great Power Myth

Edenborg, Emil LU and Petersson, Bo LU (2014) In East European Politics 30(2). p.192-209
Abstract
The theoretical point of departure of this paper is that the perspective of political myth adds to the understanding of political developments in Russia. The upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 are discursively constructed as a manifestation of Russia's return to great power status. In official Russian discourse, there is an encounter between the Russian great power myth and the myth of Olympism, both of which are employed to strengthen the status of Russia and of President Putin personally. Thus, the Olympic values of humanism, internationalism, and progress are merged with Russian great power ideals. But there are also examples where the prevailing myths are turned around to criticise the regime and the Sochi Games. However,... (More)
The theoretical point of departure of this paper is that the perspective of political myth adds to the understanding of political developments in Russia. The upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 are discursively constructed as a manifestation of Russia's return to great power status. In official Russian discourse, there is an encounter between the Russian great power myth and the myth of Olympism, both of which are employed to strengthen the status of Russia and of President Putin personally. Thus, the Olympic values of humanism, internationalism, and progress are merged with Russian great power ideals. But there are also examples where the prevailing myths are turned around to criticise the regime and the Sochi Games. However, the most serious challenge to the Putin regime may stem from the great power myth itself, should the regime prove unable to deliver what it requires. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
political myth, Russia, Olympic Winter Games, Sochi-2014, Putin, great power
in
East European Politics
volume
30
issue
2
pages
192 - 209
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:84900023521
ISSN
1352-3279
DOI
10.1080/21599165.2013.877712
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dceaeb00-fa6e-4f6c-9292-6ec2104521bc (old id 4935153)
alternative location
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21599165.2013.877712#.VLjVKyuG-lQ
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:08:08
date last changed
2022-04-20 17:11:39
@article{dceaeb00-fa6e-4f6c-9292-6ec2104521bc,
  abstract     = {{The theoretical point of departure of this paper is that the perspective of political myth adds to the understanding of political developments in Russia. The upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 are discursively constructed as a manifestation of Russia's return to great power status. In official Russian discourse, there is an encounter between the Russian great power myth and the myth of Olympism, both of which are employed to strengthen the status of Russia and of President Putin personally. Thus, the Olympic values of humanism, internationalism, and progress are merged with Russian great power ideals. But there are also examples where the prevailing myths are turned around to criticise the regime and the Sochi Games. However, the most serious challenge to the Putin regime may stem from the great power myth itself, should the regime prove unable to deliver what it requires.}},
  author       = {{Edenborg, Emil and Petersson, Bo}},
  issn         = {{1352-3279}},
  keywords     = {{political myth; Russia; Olympic Winter Games; Sochi-2014; Putin; great power}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{192--209}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{East European Politics}},
  title        = {{Political Mythmaking and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi: Olympism and the Russian Great Power Myth}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2013.877712}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/21599165.2013.877712}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}