The article is devoted to the study of the genesis of the mechanism of formation of the public discourse of the bipolar world of the USSR and the USA in the early period of the Cold War (1946-1947). Based on a simultaneous analysis of materials from the American and Soviet periodicals, diplomatic correspondence, memoirs and works of fiction, the author reveals how the transformation of the foreign policy strategies of the two countries was broadcast to a mass audience. The study shows how the first publications in the leading American media (such as «Life» and «The Evening Star») initiated the rhetoric of an inevitable conflict, criticized the «soft» line of the State Department, prepared public opinion for the impossibility of compromise with the USSR and the need to switch to a policy of force. The article presents the emergence of the discursive construct «The Russian question» as a metaphor for the Soviet threat, which in turn acted as a tool for the transition from the rhetoric of alliance to confrontation. The focus is on a key media event: the trip of Soviet journalists to the United States on the initiative of the State Department in 1946, which became one of the last attempts at humanitarian dialogue. It is emphasized that the Soviet purpose of the visit (to dispel the «military psychosis» and present a peaceful image of his country) and the American purpose of his organization (to demonstrate economic superiority and exert «soft» pressure on the USSR) were not achieved. However, the result of understanding the atmosphere of accusations faced by Soviet journalists in the United States was K. Simonovs play «The Russian question». The author analyzes how a large-scale campaign to popularize it (productions, film adaptations, press coverage) was used to explain the new foreign policy reality to Soviet citizens. American diplomats and analysts regarded this campaign as a coordinated operation to discredit American institutions and politics in the eyes of both Soviet and world public opinion. The article provides a comparative analysis of rhetorical strategies based on the example of publications in the magazines «Ogonyok» and «Life», which makes it possible to identify the specifics of the involvement of the public of the two countries in the ideological debate. The trip of the American writer Steinbeck is also being considered. Steinbecks book The Russian Diary in the USSR in 1947, which shows symmetrical attempts to humanize the enemys image and their limitations in the face of growing confrontation. A special emphasis in the article is placed on how mirror binary constructions were formed in the public discourse of both countries almost simultaneously, simplifying the geopolitical reality to the confrontation between the «good» people and the «bad» elite of the enemy. Unlike many studies that examine Cold War propaganda from the perspective of one side, this paper attempts to identify the mechanisms of mutual influence, spirals of escalation, and reflection in public discourse.
Vasilina Pikalova (Thu,) studied this question.