Narrative component in the structure of politicians' image

The subject of the research is the structure and functions of narrative as a tool for shaping political image in the media space, including its substantive, structural, and symbolic characteristics. The object of the study is political communication in modern mass media, particularly in the context of transnational media discourse. The author examines various aspects of the topic, such as the typology of narratives (personal, public, meta-, and conceptual), their plot structures, emotional carga and symbolic potential. Speech strategies for influence (enhancement, degradation, phantom threat, forecasting) and their role in constructing a positive or negative image of a politician are also analyzed. Special attention is paid to comparing interpretations of the same political figures in different ideological, cultural, and national media contexts, which helps to reveal the dependence of media narratives on the editorial policy and political positions of the publication. The study employs methods of critical discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis. The analysis is based on a structural-semantics approach to media texts containing narrative constructions and aims to identify speech strategies for shaping political image in publications of foreign media outlets. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the provisions that narrative strategies are one of the central mechanisms for forming a political image in the media environment. The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive systematization of types of narratives and the identification of stable models of their use in the discourse of foreign media. A significant contribution of the author to the study of the topic is the identification and description of four dominant strategies of narrative influence: enhancement, degradation, phantom threat, and forecasting. The analysis of specific media cases has shown that narratives can set both positive and negative perceptions of the same politician, depending on the ideological context. The results obtained have practical significance for media strategies, political PR, and educational programs in the field of media and political communications.

political communication, narrative, politician's image, media discourse, symbolic representation, storytelling, narrative strategies, critical discourse analysis, media interpretation, political image