Discursive Reconstruction and Narrative Interpretation of a Soldier’s Death in Combat (in the Context of the Special Military Operation)

This master's thesis examines the discursive reconstruction and narrative interpretation of a soldier's death in the context of the Special Military Operation (SMO). The study explores how a soldier's death is perceived and interpreted by various social groups, and what social meanings and value orientations it assumes in different types of discourse. The aim of the research is to identify attitudes and representations of a soldier's death at the level of public and private discourse. To achieve this, the study employs methods of in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 9 informants, and discourse analysis of 50 obituaries collected from online media. The work highlights key tasks such as determining interpretations of a soldier's death, differentiating sub-discourses, identifying strategies of legitimization, and comparing methods of representing the image of a fallen soldier and the event of their death. The main focus is on analyzing how state and personal discourses shape perceptions of the value and significance of a soldier's life and death. Public discourse includes official state positions, while private discourse focuses on the perceptions of soldiers, their families, and close ones.