Russian “cognitive propaganda”: the case of Impressum Club in Tallinn

ABSTRACT

The object of my analysis is the Tallinn-based discussion club Impressum, known as a platform for spreading pro-Kremlin interpretations of political matters. These public speeches give a broad picture of political discourses originated in the Russian academic community or among Russia-loyal academics in Europe, and shared with Estonian Russophiles. Two questions are central to my analysis. First, I seek to find out how the Impressum Club speakers articulate two different yet mutually complementary strategies aimed at discursive normalization of Russia – namely, rational and emotional. Secondly, I discuss what the conflation of these two strategic narratives might tell us for a better understanding of the resonance of pro-Kremlin interpretations of history, politics, and economy among Estonian Russophones.

KEYWORDS:

• Russian propaganda
• Estonian Russophones
• discourse analysis

Notes

1. https://estoniarussia.eu/

2. http://www.venekeskus.ee/

3. https://ee.sputniknews.ru/trend/impressum/