Constructing International Collective Identity in Crisis: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Zelensky’s Political Speeches During the Ukraine-Russia War

Abstract

In the context of war, leaders’ political speeches are characterized by certain identity charged concepts in the form of discourse. Collective identity is one of the most distinguished concepts in leaders’ speech as it reflects set of shared values ​​and traditions. Despite extensive research on war rhetoric and ideology, little attention has been given to how political leaders discursively construct collective identity during wartime. This study fills that gap by applying Critical Discourse Analysis to examine Zelenskyy’s discursive strategies in the context of the Ukraine war. This study aims to shed light on the analysis of the political discursive strategies employed by Volodymyr Zelensky to frame collective identity in attempt to gain international support during the war. In the anlignment with aims of the study, Van Dijk’s (2006) Socio-Cognitive Approach (SCA) and Reisigl & Wodak (2009) Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) are adopted as they deal with discoursive strategies and historical events. This study is conducted to answer the following questions: What linguistic and discoursive strategies did Volodymyr Zelensky use in his political speeches during the Russian-Ukrainian war? Do Zelensky’s speeches succeed in constructing international collective identity during the war? To what extend does Zelensky utilize language to gain international support, solidarity and resilience? The results show that Zelensky effectively employed certain strategies represented in nomination, argumentation, emotional intensification, and historical analogy. These results support the aims of the study, as they highlight how language helped shape collective identity, strengthen solidarity, and promote resilience during the war.