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Abstract:

The urban space of the city is an important semiotic object, which finds its embodiment not only in visual texts (for example, maps), but also in verbal articles in Russian and foreign media, where it becomes the object of discursive modeling. The material for our research was articles dedicated to the city of Krasnoyarsk, published in the period from 2014 to 2020 in domestic media, addressed to both Russian and foreign readers. The conducted discursive analysis with elements of qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that in the discourse of Russian–language media, the urban space of Krasnoyarsk undergoes a certain “zoning”: there is a center and it is the best place of the city, the quintessence of its “spirit” and atmosphere; there are iconic places that become an element of the branding of the city; but there are also sleeping areas, the image of which is axiologically it is regulated relative to the binary mythologically– based opposition “living (nature) — inanimate (concrete bags)”: “living” areas are evaluated positively, “inanimate” — negatively. In general, the discursive construction of urban space is quite heavily mythologized by relying on binary oppositions that make up the essence of mythological thinking. In the English−language discourse — “for others” — urban space is constructed formally - its object is several brand elements and so-called “infrastructures”.

Keywords: urban space, discursive construing, media discourse, discursive strategy, Krasnoyarsk.