McKenzie Salon Series: Russian Protest Art and New Language Against Disinformation and Invasion of Ukraine

Presenter: Elena Rakhimova-Sommers, Principal Lecturer in Global and Russian Literature in the Department of English, RIT

Respondents: Rita Safariants, Assistant Professor of Russian in the Department of Modern Languages & Cultures, University of Rochester and Sarah Burns, Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, RIT

This study explores new language and protest art that emerged in Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While the messaging of the propaganda machine relies on yawn inducing cocktail of anti-Americanism and Russian messianism, new war-related lingo (created by social media users) delivers biting sarcasm, dark humor, and linguistic and psychological relief. Protest art reflects Russian citizens’ anti-war sentiment and their rejection of the government’s disinformation campaign. Wartime neologisms and art respond to the abyss between the ever shifting government’s propaganda narrative and the grave reality of mobilization and death, censorship, prison sentences for Facebook “likes,” global isolation, forced immigration, and erosion of society’s ethical and cultural norms.

About the McKenzie Salon Series
Organized and presented by the College of Liberal Arts, the McKenzie Salon Series is open to the public and brings together faculty, students, and staff to discuss research and current events. The presentations and comments are followed by discussion with the audience and an informal reception. 

**Presentations start at 4pm, with the first half hour providing opportunity to socialize.**