The image of the Nagorno-Karabakh war: a discourse analysis

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to understand the image of the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020 from a constructivist perspective. It aims to provide insights on how ‘war’ can be a subject constructed by norms and meanings. More specifically, we pay attention on the role of the Internet and social media platforms in constructing the war image. This research conducts a discourse analysis within Laclau and Mouffe’s theoretical framework of discourse. By deconstructing the storylines from government officials, think tanks and social communities through official websites, Twitter and Facebook, we are able to form the narratives of both sides which present the overall image of this war. The result illustrates that the narratives of both sides are contradicting with each other based on their different beliefs, values and the otherness they applied in their storylines.