The Hero’s Face in Russian Media: Methodology and Results of the Study

The purpose of this article is to explore the pressing issue of the formation and reproduction of the hero’s image in the media in contemporary Russian society. This will allow us to identify and describe the image of the modern hero and the challenges that arise in its development. This paper emphasizes research methodology. This issue serves as an indicator of society’s vital potential: are there ideals and values that society and its members are willing to defend as existential? Global media actively disseminate popular culture models that deheroization of everyday life and significantly transform traditional values. Results. The hero appears in the public consciousness in a variety of forms. On a theoretical level, this complicates their study, and on a practical level, the formation of a generally accepted image in society is a difficult task. Defining one’s own identity is closely linked to the image of a hero and an understanding of the meaning of heroism. However, self-identification in the context of the blurred new sociality proves to be a complex task. The image of the hero is being distorted in various social groups, where idols, opinion leaders, media personalities, million-follower bloggers, politicians, and the like are beginning to dominate. In modern society, informational (virtual) reality is replacing the real one. Its conventional values, ethical norms invented for temporary consumption, are transferred to reality – to social relations between people. A critical contradiction arises between the world created in informational and virtual space and the world of everyday human existence. Research conducted to monitor the image of the hero in Russian media indicates that the image of the traditional cultural hero (and the hero in general) is underrepresented on social networks and in consumed information products (particularly video and audio content). This is clearly explained by the fact that the emergence of a consumer society in Russia has led to the erosion of traditional values and the infusion into public consciousness of heroic myths alien to the civilizational code of the peoples of Russia through new media, the film industry, advertising, political, and other socio-humanitarian technologies. However, these same tools can be used no less effectively to develop a hero archetype consistent with traditional Russian values. This archetype must be naturally integrated into Russia’s social imaginary landscape, forming an indigenous ecosystem of the heroic.