Russia in French Media : A Comparative Discourse Analysis of the News Coverage of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder in French National Newspapers

Abstract: This research aims to study the discourse of French newspapers on Russia based on the analysis of the coverage of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder in 2006 and to analyse how French newspapers represent Russia. The goal of this thesis is to study the representation of Russia in French newspapers through the analysis of this specific event. The analysis is based on the literature previously produced on three different topics: the notion of representation and national identity and their links with language, the representation of national identity and other nations in media coverage as well as the representation of Russia in French media.In order to conduct this study, this thesis uses a critical discourse analysis applied on the coverage of Politkovskaya’s murder in three different French national newspapers from three different political wings: Le Monde, Le Figaro and Libération.The results of this study outlined a specific representation of Russia, mostly negative and based on its stereotypisation, the emotionalisation of the event covered as well as an ideologically orientated discourse. The thesis also found that this representation of Russia is notably embodied by the person of Vladimir Putin but also on-sided and partial as it gives the view of the event covered from an Occidental point of view.