KURDISH MEDIA IN MID- AND LATE 2000s AS A FACTOR OF ETHNIC SELF-IDENTIFICATION

Abstract

The media of the Kurds, being the core of the media culture of this ethnic community, is not only a mirror of social struggle, but also an enzyme of national self-identification, self-determination of the people. The media of Iraqi Kurdistan have for many years acted as a driving force in the struggle for the creation of an independent state, this fact has determined the relevance of studying this topic through the prism of media culture. Nowadays, journalists continue the line of cultural continuity and create relevant media texts that reinforce the traditional values of the Kurds, their ethnic independence and national identity. The objective of this article is to expose the national-patriotic dominants of the Kurdish media in the 1950s – 1980-s, stressing the problem of national self-identification. While considering opportunities of national journalism, the fundamental issue is the unity of all the peoples of Kurdistan, fighting for the creation of a single statehood, which implies the existence of territorial integrity and cultural, linguistic, first of all, kinship of the tribes living in the mountains of Kurdistan. The opinions of peoples’ representatives, closely associated with the Kurds, the reaction of various social groups, in particular, representatives of the parties of those years, were widely covered in the press of Iraq and neighboring states. Iraqi Kurdistan, for many historical reasons, has taken a leading position in the development of national media as a factor in the self-identification of the people. The historical and cultural method with elements of political analysis of media discourse has become a method for considering the problems of the formation of the national media of the Kurds. The study of the media discourse of the Kurds of the middle and the end of the last century is of undoubted theoretical significance as the development of classical problems in the theory of journalism, in particular as the disclosure of the features of the embodiment in the media of self-identification of an ethnic group. This problem exposure has a direct outlet to the practice of the mass media, acting as an instrument of agitation and rallying the organizers of the peoples struggle for their rights.