Description: This volume examines the rhetorical development that occurred over the first two terms of Vladimir Putin's tenure as president of Russia. During that time Putin abandoned any effort at integration with the West, turning toward Eurasia and promoting a mythical image of Russia as a singular geopolitical entity spanning one thousand years.
Brief description: David Cratis Williams is Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Florida Atlantic University. His scholarship focuses on argumentation, rhetorical theory, and criticism; he is a recognized authority on Kenneth Burke. His work on Russian political discourse began during a meeting in Russia in January 1992.
Review Quotes: "In this important volume Professors Williams, Young, and Launer undertake thorough and comprehensive studies of the rhetorical, argumentative, and media strategies that Vladimir Putin has employed in an attempt to shape Russian identity and to relaunch and rehabilitate the Russian empire. The work deepens our understanding of Russian culture, history, politics, and media systems and helps explain Putin's goals, resentments, and ambitions. Chapters include foundational theoretical examinations of Russian symbols and key terms and case studies of discourse created to manage public crises and controversies. The volume is of course urgently important today given the war in Ukraine and the open confrontation between Putin's Russia and the Western democratic alliance."
-Thomas Hollihan, University of Southern California"Williams, Young, and Launer's third volume is a tour de force in its skillful unpacking of Putin's definitional shifts and reconfiguring of the lexicon of Russian 'democracy.' Using the tools of rhetorical criticism and argumentation, the authors offer a compelling case for the ways in which Putin's public discourse both reflects and helps construct the movement from a national identity embracing democratic norms to an increasingly authoritative state."-- J. Robert Cox, Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"This much anticipated third volume of a long-standing collaborative project gathers an expansive and revealing rhetorical archive to provide insight into the discursive forces fueling Russia's gradual abandonment of the project of liberal democratization. In four sections covering the years between 2000 and 2008, the authors explore the philosophical and political exigencies that shaped President Vladimir Putin's attitudes toward the West, the rhetorical production of Russian national identity in the transition from Yeltsin to Putin's leadership, Russia's evolving communication culture as a structural backdrop for its political development, as well as the reorganization of the county's foreign policy. In each chapter, the reader encounters consistent effort at historical contextualization, painstaking application of rhetorical and argumentation theory, and an impressive body of primary materials that add up to a forceful explication and critique of Russia's slide toward authoritarianism." -- Zornitsa D. Keremidchieva, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities