TRANSFORMATION OF THE CONCEPT OF “PROPAGANDA” IN RUSSIAN POLITICAL DISCOURSE (2000–2025)

Abstract

The relevance of the topic of the scientific article is due to the lack of systemic representations of the evolution of the phenomenon of propaganda in the context of the mediatization of Russian politics in modern political science. The aim of the study is to analyze the semantic transformation of the concept of “propaganda” in Russian political discourse in the first quarter of the 21st century. A sample of open scientific publications was studied using the method of discursive and frequency thematic analysis, supplemented by expert verification of key findings. DeepSeek-R1 was used as the main analysis tool for automatically collecting large volumes of texts from open online sources without additional training. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the systematization and periodization of the evolution of the concept of “propaganda” in Russian political science based on a large array of texts. For the first time, a four-stage model of discursive shift is proposed, confirmed by automatic and expert analysis. The results of the study are determined by the development of modern approaches to the phenomenon of propaganda with a detailed description of four stages of its evolution in Russian political discourse: depoliticization, rehabilitation, technological turn and sovereignty of discourse. The results obtained can be used to improve theoretical models of media discourse and practical mechanisms for its regulation.