CC BY
3
RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism ISSN 2312-9220 (Print); ISSN 2312-9247 (Online)
2023 Vol.28 No. 3 553-565
Вестник РУДН. Серия: Литературоведение. Журналистика http://journals.rudn.ru/llterary-crltlclsm
DOI: 10.22363/2312-9220-2023-28-3-553-565 EDN: LKGTDY
UDC 32.019.51
Research article / Научная статья
Biopolitical media discourse in France in the COVID-19 pandemics
Konstantin V. Bannikov1 , Nadezhda K. Radina1'2
1HSE Nizhny Novgorod, 25/12 Bolshaya Pecherskaya St, Nizhny Novgorod, 603155, Russian Federation 2Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University - National Research University, 23 Prospekt Gagarina, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russian Federation 2 [email protected]
Abstract. The publication activities of the French media during the COVID-19 pandemic in a biopolitical way are analyzed. The theoretical frame of the study is set by Michel Foucault's concept of biopolitics, as well as the propaganda model of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. To collect and analyze empirical data, the methods of computational linguistics and the method of identifying contextual ideologemes were applied. The research materials were the texts of independent media (Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien), identified using the keywords "pandemic" and "COVID-19" during the four waves of the pandemic (from January 2020 to March 2022). A total of 29,584 Le Figaro articles, 22,446 Le Monde articles, and 6,402 Le Parisien articles were used in the research. The purpose of the research is to analyze the strategies for including the French media in the biopolitical practices of propaganda and public education on the example of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the research, it turned out that the studied media during the pandemic were integrated both into general information campaigns and into biopolitical education and propaganda campaigns. Two scenarios for organizing media discourse during the pandemic of COVID-19 were identified, determined by target groups and media tasks. The first scenario actively involves educational and propaganda tools to promote state biopolitical goals. The second scenario integrates informing readers about the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures used by the authorities for biopolitical control, with the presentation of the hierarchies of responsible persons/ institutions (within the state biopolitics). It is concluded that the participation of French independent media in the active promotion of biopolitical programs indicates their close connection with the actors and subjects of biopolitics - the state or business representatives.
Keywords: biopolitics, ideologeme, propaganda, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien
Acknowledgements and Funding. The study has been supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 22-28-00015).
Conflicts of interest. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Article history: submitted March 2, 2023; revised March 31, 2023; accepted May 3, 2023.
© Bannikov К. V., Radina N.K., 2023
lie) Ф® I is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
КЯЕХЯ https://creativecommons.Org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode
For citation: Bannikov, K.V., & Radina, N.K. (2023). Biopolitical media discourse in France in the COVID-19 pandemics. RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism, 28(3), 553-565. http://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9220-2023-28-3-553-565
Медиа дискурс биополитики во Франции в период пандемии COVID-19
К.В. Банников1 , Н.К. Радина12
1НИУ ВШЭ - Нижний Новгород, Российская Федерация, 603155, Нижний Новгород, ул. Большая Печерская, д. 25/12 2Националъный исследовательский Нижегородский государственный университет
имени Н.И. Лобачевского, Российская Федерация, 603022, Нижний Новгород, пр-кт Гагарина, д. 23
Аннотация. В биополитическом русле анализируется публикационная деятельность французских медиа во время пандемии COVID-19. Теоретические координаты исследования заданы концепцией биополитики Мишеля Фуко, а также моделью пропаганды Эдварда Хермана и Ноама Хомского. Для сбора и анализа эмпирических данных использовались методы компьютерной лингвистики и методика идентификации контекстуальных идеологем. В качестве материалов исследования выступили тексты независимых медиа (Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien), идентифицированные по ключевым словам «пандемия» и «COVID-19» в течение четырех волн пандемии (с января 2020 г. по март 2022 г.). Всего использовано 29 584 статьи Le Figaro, 22 446 статей Le Monde и 6402 статьи Le Parisien. Цель исследования - выявить стратегии включения французских СМИ в биополитические практики пропаганды и просвещения во время пандемии COVID-19. Установлено, что изучаемые медиа были интегрированы как в общие информационные кампании, так и в кампании по биополитическому просвещению и пропаганде. Идентифицированы два сценария организации медийного дискурса, детерминированные целевыми группами и задачами медиа. Первый - активно использует просветительские и пропагандистские инструменты для продвижения государственных биополитических задач. Второй - интегрирует информирование читателей о пандемии COVID-19 и мерах, используемых властью для биополитического контроля, с представлением иерархий ответственных лиц и институтов (в рамках государственной биополитики). Таким образом, участие независимых медиа Франции в активном продвижении биополитических программ свидетельствует об их тесной связи с акторами и субъектами биополитики - государством или представителями бизнеса.
Ключевые слова: идеологема, пропаганда, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien
Благодарности и финансирование. Исследование выполнено за счет гранта Российского научного фонда № 22-28-00015.
Заявление о конфликте интересов. Авторы заявляют об отсутствии конфликта интересов.
История статьи: поступила в редакцию 2 марта 2023 г.; отрецензирована 31 марта 2023 г.; принята к публикации 3 мая 2023 г.
Для цитирования: Bannikov K.V., Radina N.K. Biopolitical media discourse in France in the COVID-19 pandemics // Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Литературоведение. Журналистика. 2023. Т. 28. № 3. С. 553-565. http://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9220-2023-28-3-553-565
Introduction
On March 16, 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron declared a "sanitary war" in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by strict quarantine measures and a law on a "health emergency". Based on these innovations, the prime minister was given the right to take emergency measures during the pandemic: restrict the movement of citizens and establish a self-isolation regime, requisition property and establish price controls (Lapina, 2022). A year later, in the summer of 2021, France moved to the turning point of the pandemic -the development of "herd immunity" through the vaccination of the population, which became mandatory for a number of categories of the population (medical workers, catering employees, etc.).
In the background of the government's fight against the pandemic, a community of "critical citizens" has formed in the French society, who do not agree with the activities of the authorities to overcome the pandemic, who consider their government's biopolitics to be erroneous and disastrous for the economy and society. To promote the idea of "herd immunity" and vaccination, an educational and propaganda biopolitical campaign was launched in France, explaining the need for quarantine measures, delivering the meaning of vaccination and presenting the activities of the government in a positive and constructive light.
Biopolitics and media discourse of the COVID-19 pandemic
Among all theories of biopolitics, the biopolitics of Michel Foucault, the renowned French social philosopher, is the most popular. Biopolitics, according to Foucault, is aimed at analyzing the etatization of the biological, it took place in stages in the historical process (from control over the body of an individual to control over the "societal body"), and in a modern format it is turned to managing the life of the population (Samovolnova, 2017; Zhelnin, 2019; Lorenzini, 2021). Michel Foucault's biopolitics not so much disputes as comprehends the control and exercise of power over the "societal body" in the field of population reproduction (birth rate, mortality, etc.), health and medicine, illness and the "norm", old age and other forms of cessation of active labor activities, environmental problems both natural and artificial (Foucault, 2010).
The theory of biopolitics, which characterizes a certain historical type of government rationality, can act as an analytical matrix for assessing the actions of governments of different countries during pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to governments that control the population, representatives of the "capitalist machine", for example, pharmaceutical companies are traditionally considered subjects of biopolitics (Schubert, 2021).
Despite the fact that the mass media are not subjects of biopolitics, it is the media that become the conductors of biopolitical ideas. There is a point of view according to which the radical and unpopular measures of governments during a pandemic are a response to challenges from the media and social networks, which turned out to be sources of stress for the population, provoking a crisis in the implementation of the state's biopolitical strategies (Christiaens, 2021).
Modern studies of the European media discourse of the COVID-19 pandemic partly confirm the destructive potential of media (especially the so-called "new
media"), since they are the ones who spread "conspiracy communications" (Mo-liner, 2020), use fakes and disinformation (Giry, 2022; Jeannin, 2021), at the same time, British media distort information differently than French media (Liu, 2017), form stereotypes when describing vulnerable categories of the population (Lagacé et al., 2021), etc.
Existing research on French health biopolitics (Atlani-Duault, 2021; Chopplet, 2022) does not answer the question of the constructive involvement of the French media in outreach. What do the media during the COVID-19 pandemic prefer: to inform or to educate? How actively do non-state media support the biopolitical actions of the French government in promoting the health of the country?
Russian media studies have identified two key ideologemes that characterize the media reality of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia: "virus'7'koronavirus" ("coronavirus")/"COVID" and "vaktsina" ("vaccine")/"vaktsinatsiya" ("vaccination") (Radina, 2021). The first ideologeme was used during the first wave of the pandemic - a period of uncertainty, confusion, fear of a new epidemiological threat. The ideologeme "vaktsina" ("vaccine")/"vaktsinatsiya" ("vaccination") appeared at the stage of the "second wave", when the coronavirus vaccine was in the process of being created and tested. Whereas the ideologeme "virus"/ "koronavirus" ("coronavirus")/"COVID" reflected the semantic focus of the pandemic, the ideologeme "vaccine"/"vaccination" reconstructed the biopolitical dimension, contained a reference to the "societal body" and the protection of society from the pandemic. The ideologeme "vaccination" in the media texts turned out to be an indicator of the coordination of the actions of the media and the government, an indicator of the participation of the media in biopolitical propaganda.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the use of the ideologemes "corona-virus" and "vaccination" on the basis of the French media and to characterize the features of the inclusion of non-state French media in the biopolitical practices of propaganda and education of the population by the French government.
Methods
The general framework of the study is the theory of biopolitics in the understanding of Michel Foucault. Modern states use biopolitics to control the population, which is especially evident during periods of biopolitical crises (for example, during a pandemic). Thus, the confusion and panic of society at the initial stage of the pandemic is faced with the desire of the authorities to create a vaccine and vaccinate the population to cope with the pandemic. Communication between the government and society is supported by the media, taking a more or less active part in educating the population.
From the point of view of media theory, this study is based on the propaganda model of E. Herman and N. Chomsky (Pedro-Carañana et al., 2018), according to which all media broadcast on their pages a "picture of the world" that has passed through editorial filters, that is, media worlds are constructed for relevant media tasks. Comparing media discourse by period (for the same media) or comparing media discourses of different media, it is possible to identify the problems and challenges behind media discourse, it is possible to find out whether or not the media participate in the biopolitical enlightenment campaign.
At the instrumental level, the method of searching for "contextual ideologemes" is used, which allows to determine the direction of the media discourse (Radina, 2021). Identification of contextual ideologemes is carried out on the basis of computational linguistics methods: a measure of relative frequency is used, namely the coefficient IPM (instances per million words), showing how frequent a particular word usage is in the text per million words (Michel et al., 2011).
The research materials were French non-state media (Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien), publishing materials about the pandemic during four "waves". First wave: January 2020 - June 2020; second wave: July 2020 - February 2021; third wave: March 2021 - October 2021; fourth wave: November 2021 - March 2022 (Table 1).
Table 1
Periods and volume of analyzed texts: Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien
Periods Le Figaro Le Monde Le Parisien
Texts Words Texts Words Texts Words
First wave: January 2020 - June 2020 5916 2 046 194 6416 3 777 090 4501 3 085 400
Second wave: July 2020 - February 2021 9723 3 333 900 8130 4 633 535 888 3 422 731
Third wave: March 2021 - October 2021 8845 3 448 798 5609 3 258 650 707 2721 151
Fourth wave: November 2021 - March 2022 5100 2013714 2291 1 366 431 306 1 192173
Total 29 584 10 842 606 22 446 13 035 706 6402 10 421 455
Source: compiled by the authors.
Texts about pandemic from the media were identified by means of keywords ("pandemic", "COVID") using BootCat, TreeTagger, AntConc software and computational linguistics methods (lemmatization, frequency analysis, collocation analysis, n-gram analysis), then they were extracted, archived and processed. Thus, a general collection of texts was obtained, consisting of collections of various sizes.
The hypothesis of the study was the assumption that the media discourse of the French media about the pandemic can be consistent and focused on the ide-ologemes "coronavirus" and "vaccination", which are due to the government's efforts to control the "societal body"/population of France. Differences in the media discourse on the pandemic of the French media reveal other settings of media influence on French society.
Media discourse of Le Figaro
Le Figaro is the oldest independent daily newspaper in France, founded in the 19th century and still popular in the 21st century, whose materials are used by researchers to clarify the positions of the French press on a particular issue (Ab-deslam, 2019; Barushkova, Komissarova, 2021).
Le Figaro collection of texts for all "pandemic waves" amounted to 29 584 texts with a total volume of 10 842 606 words, which made it possible to use the coefficient IPM, on the basis of which it is possible to compare the frequency of
used lexemes in different collections of texts (for example, to compare frequency lexemes in collections of French media texts Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien). For the analysis of each collection of texts, 20 most frequent lexemes (nouns) were used, except for those that relate to typical journalistic clichés and are not directly related to the topic of the pandemic ("country", "year", "person", "day", etc.). Let us analyze the indicators (IPM) of the lexemes that made up the content of the texts in Le Figaro dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic (Table 2).
Table 2
Media discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic: Le Figaro
Periods Frequency lexemes of media discourse
Wave 1 coronavirus (IPM 4420), COVID (IPM 2735), pandémie (IPM 2089), épidémie (IPM 1879), santé (IPM 1485), crise (IPM 1454), mesure (IPM 1313), Chine (IPM 1252), virus (IPM 1228), état (IPM 1171)
Wave 2 COVID (IPM 4210), pandémie (IPM 2461), coronavirus (IPM 2187), vaccin (IPM 1438), santé (IPM 1309), mesure (IPM 1239), gouvernement (IPM 1131), président (IPM 1104), crise (IPM 1094)
Wave 3 COVID (IPM 4028), pandémie (IPM 2257), vaccin (IPM 2008), vaccination (IPM 1515), santé (IPM 1315), gouvernement (IPM 1139), fin (IPM 1129)
Wave 4 COVID (IPM 4665), pandémie (IPM 2022), omicron (IPM 1384), santé (IPM 1335), vaccin (IPM 1282), fin (IPM 1254), gouvernement (IPM 1125)
Source: compiled by the authors.
The frequency of lexemes in large collections of texts makes it possible to analyze the key topics of the text material, since the lexemes used reveal the content of the texts.
The representation of the "first wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic in Le Figaro gives a detailed picture of the new pandemic ("pandémie", IPM 2089; "épidémie", IPM 1879). The cause is indicated ("coronavirus", IPM 4420; "COVID", IPM 2735; "virus", IPM 1228) and the geographic source of the pandemic ("Chine", IPM 1252). The purpose of the development of society ("santé", IPM 1485), its current state ("crise", IPM 1454), as well as the efforts of the key actor and subject of biopolitics - the state ("mesure", IPM 1313 and "état", IPM 1171) are updated.
The representation of the "second wave" in Le Figaro relies on key coordinates indicating the pandemic ("COVID", IPM 4210; "pandémie", IPM 2461; "coronavirus", IPM 2187), goal ("santé", IPM 1309) and efforts ("mesure", IPM 1239), actors of biopolitics ("gouvernement", IPM 1131 and "président", IPM 1104), as well as to the resource of overcoming the problem ("vaccin", IPM 1438).
The representation of the "third wave" in Le Figaro is dedicated to the active promotion of protection against the pandemic - vaccination. A pandemic resistance triangle is being built, where one vertex is an indication of the problem ("COVID", IPM 4028; "pandémie", IPM 2257), the other vertex is an indication of a solution to the problem ("santé", IPM 1315; "vaccin", IPM 2008; "vaccination", IPM 1515; "fin", IPM 1129) and the third vertex is an indication of actors performing biopolitical action ("gouvernement", IPM 1139).
The representation of the "fourth wave" in Le Figaro continues the logic of the previous ones, again pointing at the problem ("COVID", IPM 4665; "pandé-
558
JOURNALISM. HISTORY AND THEORY OF MEDIA
mie", IPM 2022; "omicron", IPM 1384), possible solutions ("santé", IPM 1335; "vaccin", IPM 1282; "fin", IPM 1254) and actors of biopolitics ("gouvernement", IPM 1125).
The creation of materials about the COVID-19 pandemic in Le Figaro follows an educational logic (detailed coverage of the details of the pandemic) with elements of active health promotion (strengthening of the topic "vaccination" during the "third wave"), which indicates the media addressee - an ordinary Frenchman who under the tutelage of the media, must follow a difficult path from ascertaining the epidemiological crisis to vaccination and health.
Media discourse of Le Monde
Le Monde is one of the most well-known and researched media in France (Barushkova, Komissarova, 2021; Sharonchikova, 2014). It is characterized as independent and left-liberal, focused on informing the political and financial elites of France.
The studied collection of texts Le Monde for all waves of the pandemic amounted to 22 446 texts with a total volume of 13 035 706 words. Let us analyze what the indicators of relative frequency (IPM) are presented in the collection of texts about the pandemic of this media (Table 3).
Table 3
Media discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic: Le Monde
Periods Frequency lexemes of media discourse
Wave 1 coronavirus (IPM 2184), COVID (IPM 2112), crise (IPM 1681), épidémie (IPM 1520), santé (IPM 1456), confinement (IPM 1372), état (IPM 1346), mesure (IPM 1284), président (IPM 1172), gouvernement (IPM 1133), ministre (IPM 1100)
Wave 2 COVID (IPM 2625), président (IPM 1401), crise (IPM 1233), santé (IPM 1224), état (IPM 1134), ministre (IPM 1108), gouvernement (IPM 1093), pandémie (IPM 1041)
Wave 3 COVID (IPM 2875), vaccin (IPM 1826), santé (IPM 1288), pandémie (IPM 1246), vaccination (IPM 1207), président (IPM 1156 ), gouvernement (IPM 1101), crise (IPM 1092), ministre (IPM 1060)
Wave 4 COVID (IPM 2891), santé (IPM 1261), ministre (IPM 1260), gouvernement (IPM 1185), pandémie (IPM 1132), président (IPM 1075)
Source: compiled by the authors.
According to the frequency lexemes, in Le Monde, from the first wave to the fourth, there are two main trends in the discussion of the pandemic. The first trend directly concerns the situation of defeat and the biopolitical programs of the government. In Le Monde from the first to the fourth waves of the pandemic they are actively discussing:
- the virus itself ("coronavirus", IPM 2184; "COVID", IPM 2112 during the first wave; "COVID", IPM 2625 during the second wave; "COVID", IPM 2875 during the third wave and "COVID", IPM 2891 during the fourth wave);
- the crisis that has developed around the pandemic (in the first wave -"crise", IPM 1681; "épidémie", IPM 1520; in the second wave - "crise", IPM 1233 and "pandémie", IPM 1041; in the third wave - "pandémie", IPM 1246 and "crise", IPM 1092; in the fourth wave - "pandémie", IPM 1132);
- public health problems and measures to protect it (in the first wave -"santé", IPM 1456; "confinement", IPM 1372; "mesure", IPM 1284; in the second wave - "santé", IPM 1224; in the third wave - "santé", IPM 1288; and the fourth wave - "santé", IPM 1261);
- vaccination (mainly in publications of the third wave - "vaccin", IPM 1826; "vaccination", IPM 1207).
Therefore, the most detailed discussion of the crisis associated with the pandemic is at the beginning of the pandemic (the existence of a pandemic is not yet recognized, "measures" to counteract the spread of "COVID", including the "isolation" measure, are touched upon). And the key biopolitical ideologeme associated with active resistance to the pandemic ("vaccine", "vaccination") appears only at the stage of the "third wave", when vaccination in reality becomes the most significant event for social life during a pandemic.
The second trend in the discussion of the pandemic concerns the actors bio-politics who make decisions and "make the biopolitics" of the pandemic period. Along with the frequent lexemes describing the pandemic, these publications constantly mention:
- in the first wave - "état", IPM 1346; "président", IPM 1172; "gouvernement", IPM 1133; "ministre", IPM 1100;
- in the second wave - "president", IPM 1401; "état", IPM 1134; "minister", IPM 1108; "gouvernement", IPM 1093;
- in the third wave - "president", IPM 1156; "gouvernement", IPM 1101; "minister", IPM 1060;
- in the fourth wave - "minister", IPM 1260; "gouvernement", IPM 1185; "president", IPM 1075.
Thus, the representation of France's biopolitics during the pandemic in Le Monde supports the logic of informing the political and financial elites, giving the authorities feedback on their role in the epidemiological crisis. At the same time, the discourse of practical biopolitics aimed at "saving society" (vaccination) is used locally in Le Monde - only in the third period of the fight against corona-virus, when vaccination is recognized as the most reliable measure to cope with the pandemic.
Media discourse of Le Parisien
Le Parisien (French daily newspaper covering international, national and Parisian life, founded in the middle of the 20th century) is less often the focus of attention of media researchers (Lapina, 2022; Barushkova, Komissarova, 2021; etc.). In this study, the collection of texts taken from Le Parisien for all "pandemic waves" amounted to 6402 texts with a total volume of 10 421 455 words, the most frequent ones are presented in Table 4.
As in the case of Le Figaro, Le Parisien of all periods elaborates on the theme of the pandemic and how to cope with it in great detail. In the first wave Le Parisien tries to protect the health of the French ("santé", IPM 1756) and to comprehend the new crisis ("crise", IPM 1328), using the terminology of the epidemic ("coronavirus", IPM 4940; "COVID", IPM 2836; "épidémie", IPM 1882; "virus", IPM 1258). Measures ("mesure", IPM 1404) to counter the spread of the epidemic
are actively discussed: medical masks ("masque", IPM 1398), isolation ("confinement", IPM 1733), as well as overcrowded medical institutions ("hôpital", IPM 1243).
Table 4
Media discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic: Le Parisien
Periods Frequency lexemes of media discourse
Wave 1 coronavirus (IPM 4940), COVID (IPM 2836), épidémie (IPM 1882), santé (IPM 1756), confinement (IPM 1733), mesure (IPM 1404), masque (IPM 1398), crise (IPM 1328), virus (IPM 1258), hôpital (IPM 1243), état (IPM 1235)
Wave 2 COVID (IPM 4931), vaccin (IPM 2279), santé (IPM 2223), coronavirus (IPM 1920), test (IPM 1624), ministre (IPM 1542), virus , (IPM 1489), mesure (IPM 1440), épidémie (IPM 1419), masque (IPM 1357)
Wave 3 COVID (IPM 5643), vaccin (IPM 3668), vaccination (IPM 2889), santé (IPM 2379), dose (IPM 2241), ministre (IPM 1493, gouvernement (IPM 1362), pand é mie (IPM 1353), début (IPM 1342)
Wave 4 COVID (IPM 6260), santé (IPM 2639), omicron (IPM 2429), dose (IPM 2194), vaccin (IPM 2132), vaccination (IPM 2123), passe (IPM 1959), ministre (IPM 1846), test (IPM 1636), gouvernement (IPM 1540)
Source: compiled by the authors.
The second wave brings hope for coping with the pandemic, as scientists begin active work on a vaccine ("vaccin", IPM 2279). The old protection measures ("masque", IPM 1357) remain, but there is also a new way to control the pandemic - a medical test ("test", IPM 1624).
The third wave is characterized by an update in the biopolitical language of the pandemic. In Le Parisien, an active discussion of vaccination ("vaccin", IPM 3668; "vaccination", IPM 2889; "dose", IPM 2241) of the population begins. At the same time, the fourth wave, while maintaining the focus on vaccination ("vaccin", IPM 2132; "vaccination", IPM 2123), fills this vocabulary with the names of new coronaviruses ("omicron", IPM 2429), as well as concepts associated with new forms of biopolitical control of the population - "health pass" ("passe", IPM 1959).
It is noteworthy that in the materials about the pandemic in Le Figaro the end of the pandemic is often discussed ("fin", IPM 1129 - the third wave, "fin", IPM 1254 - the fourth wave), and in Le Parisien - the beginning (of vaccination) ("début", IPM 1342).
The line of power in a crisis of a biopolitical situation in the materials of Le Parisien is confidently preserved, but in the background. The media actively informs and educates the population, while constantly reminding that the French authorities are aware of the crisis and are doing everything possible to find a positive outcome (the first wave - "état", IPM 1235; the second wave - "minister", IPM 1542; the third wave - "gouvernement", IPM 1362; fourth wave - "minister", IPM 1846 and "gouvernement", IPM 1540).
Biopolitical discourse of French media: discussion of results
The study of media discourse that reflects social processes during the COVID-19 pandemic (Lorenzini, 2021; Schubert, 2021; etc.) allows you to focus on reflecting the behavior of various media during epidemiological crises. Herman -
Chomsky's model of media propaganda (Pedro-Caranana et al., 2018) presents propaganda instrumentally, as a way of presenting a certain version of events, determined by the position of the editors and media owners. In this context, the comparison of media working on a common topic, such as the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, reveals the propaganda direction of the studied media.
An analysis of the media discourse of the French media allows us to describe various strategies in constructing a biopolitical agenda. Thus, according to the results of the study, the actual information and education of the French population about the COVID-19 pandemic was most consistently carried out by two publications: Le Figaro and Le Parisien, however, the strategies of biopolitical information, education and propaganda in these media were not identical.
Le Figaro had 4.6 times more articles on COVID-19 (29 584 texts and 10 842 606 words) than Le Parisien (6402 texts and 10 421 455 words). At the same time, Le Parisien published articles that were more voluminous and detailed (on average, an article in Le Figaro about the pandemic includes 367 words, in Le Parisien -1628 words, that is, 4 times longer on average).
Le Figaro described the pandemic in stages from the recognition of the epidemic to the establishment of countermeasures. The focus on vaccines and vaccinations in Le Figaro appeared already at the stage of the "second wave", when the vaccine was just created and tested, but then it did not disappear: the topic of vaccines and vaccinations in Le Figaro turned out to be essential.
Le Parisien articles also, from the "second wave", focused on the vaccine and vaccination. At the same time, in Le Parisien, at each new stage of the pandemic, new biocontrol techniques were discussed (use of medical masks, isolation, green passports, virus tests, etc.). Thus, perhaps the voluminous and specialized texts of Le Parisien are geared towards the "biopolitical enlightenment" of more educated and ambitious readers.
As for the authorities, the key subject of biopolitics, Le Figaro includes in the description "état", "gouvernement" and "president", Le Parisien - the state, the government and the minister. In both media, the authorities only accompany the key topic and are functional in the context of the pandemic.
Le Monde follows a different strategy when describing the pandemic (22,446 texts and 13 035 706 words, that is, an average of 581 words per article). In the pages of Le Monde, the COVID-19 pandemic is described vigorously, but without repetitive detail. The topics of vaccine and vaccination (a life-saving turn in the fight against the pandemic) are only touched upon in the third stage (the start of vaccination of the population). As for the description of the actors of biopolitics, in Le Monde, at each stage, both institutions (state, government) and politically significant personalities (minister, president) are mentioned, which is less typical of Le Figaro and Le Parisien. Le Monde not only informs about the state of society during the pandemic, but also gradually, contextually reconstructs the hierarchies of biopolitical actors. Consequently, Le Monde presents its readers not only as a "societal body", which is important to call for vaccination, but also as those who want to find out who is the main person in solving the biopolitical problems of France.
Thus, non-state French media appear to be in accord in key positions (focused on informing the population about the pandemic), but different strategies
take into account both the need to solve biopolitical problems (government) and the need to reproduce power hierarchies in the biopolitical field of the modern French society.
Conclusion
The conducted research allows us to draw the following conclusions.
1. The studied French non-state media during the COVID-19 pandemic were included not only in informing the population about the circumstances of the pandemic, but also in biopolitical education and propaganda programs. This conclusion is based on the active explanation and agitation of Le Figaro and Le Parisien of the French population in favor of vaccination. The linguistic technique used in this study to identify ideologemes in media texts (an analysis of the frequency of the ideologemes "vaccine" and "vaccination") made it possible to determine the nature of the biopolitical activity of the media.
2. In the course of the study, two scenarios for the organization of media discourse were identified, determined by the target groups and tasks of the media. The first scenario reflects the logic of biopolitical education and propaganda and is aimed at more or less educated readers of the studied media (depending on the nature of the target group). This scenario dominates Le Figaro and Le Parisien. The second scenario integrates the logic of informing about COVID-19 and the measures used by the authorities to control the pandemic with the logic of reproducing the hierarchies of responsible persons/institutions of biopolitical programs (within the framework of state influence). This script is used by Le Monde.
3. The participation of non-state French media in the active promotion of biopolitical programs indicates their close connection with subjects and actors of biopolitics. Probably, the French media promoted the ideas of vaccination, focusing on state biopolitics (pandemic control through vaccination of the "societal body"). It is also possible that biopolitical programs were supported by businesses interested in biopolitical influence and funding the studied media.
References
Abdeslam, A.A. (2019). The representation of Islam and Muslims in French print media discourse: Le Monde and Le Figaro as case studies. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 39(4), 569-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2019.1688514 Atlani-Duault, L., Chauvin, F., Yazdanpanah, Y., Lina, B., Benamouzig, D., Bouadma, L., Druais, P.L., Hoang, A., Grard, M.-A., Malvy, D., & Delfraissy, J.-F. (2020). France's COVID-19 response: Balancing conflicting public health traditions. The Lancet, 396(10246), 219-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31599-3 Barushkova, S.B., & Komissarova, A.R. (2021). Lexical-semantic analysis of Russia's image in the modern French press. Verhnevolzhski Philological Bulletin, 27(4), 158-164. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20323/2499-9679-2021-4-27-158-164
Барушкова С.Б., Комиссарова А.Р. Лексико-семантический анализ образа России (на материале современной французской прессы) // Верхневолжский филологический вестник. 2021. Т. 27. № 4. С. 158-164. Chopplet, M. (2022). Loin de masquer le monde, la COVID-19 l'a démasqué. Tectonique des peurs et biopolitique. Quaderni, (106), 11-30. https://doi.org/10.4000/quaderni.2305
Christiaens, T. (2021) Biomedical technocracy, the networked public sphere and the biopoli-tics of COVID-19: Notes on the Agamben affair. Culture, Theory and Critique, 62(4), 404-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2022.2099919 Foucault, M. (2010). The birth of biopolitics. Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979. New York: Picador.
Giry, J. (2022). Fake news et théories du complot en période(s) pandémique(s). Quaderni,
(106), 43-64. https://doi.org/10.4000/quaderni.2303 Jeannin, H. (2021). 5G et COVID-19: Le cas britannique. Les Cahiers du numérique, 17(3-4),
35-75. https://doi.org/10.3166/lcn.2021.012 Lagacé, M., Doucet, A., Dangoisse, P., & Bergeron, C.D. (2021). The "vulnerability" discourse in times of COVID-19: Between abandonment and protection of Canadian francophone older adults. Front. Public Health, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.662231 Lapina, N.Yu. (2022). France: Living in a pandemic. Russia and the Contemporary World, 115(2), 119-134. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31249/rsm/2022.02.07 Лапина Н.Ю. Франция: жизнь в условиях пандемии // Россия и современный мир. 2022. Т. 115. № 2. С. 119-134. Liu, L. (2021). Crise de la COVID-19 sur les réseaux sociaux français: Traçabilité de la désinformation et techniques de distorsion de l'information. L'exemple français, américain et britannique. Les Cahiers du Numérique, 17(3-4), 123-162. https://doi.org/10.3166/LCN.2021.015 Lorenzini, D. (2021). Biopolitics in the time of coronavirus. Critical Inquiry, 47(S2), 40-45.
https://doi.org/10.1086/711432 Michel, J.B., Shen, Y.K., Aiden, A.P., Veres, A., Gray, M.K., Pickett, J.P., Hoiberg, D., Clancy, D., Norvig, P., Orwant, J., Pinker, S., Nowak, M.A., & Aiden, E.L. (2011). Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books. Science, 331(6014), 176-182. https://doi.org/10.1126/science. 1199644 Moliner, P. (2020). Médias, relais et discussions sur Twitter. Proximités et distances lexicales à propos du COVID-19. Communication et Organisation, (58), 89-107. https://doi.org/10.4000/communicationorganisation.9417 Pedro-Caranana, J., Broudy, D., & Klaehn, J. (2018). The propaganda model today: Filtering perception and awareness. London: University of Westminster Press. https://doi.org/10.16997/book27 Radina, N.K. (2021). Methodology for identifying contextual ideologemes in digital media discourse (a case study of media discourse about COVID-19 pandemic). Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika, (5), 116-136. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30547/vestnik.journ.5.2021.116136
Радина Н.К. Методика идентификации контекстуальных идеологем в цифровом медиадискурсе (на примере медиадискурса о пандемии COVID-19) // Вестник Московского университета. Серия 10. Журналистика. 2021. № 5. С. 116-136. Samovolnova, O.V. (2017). Social philosophical analysis of basic concepts of biopolitics: M. Foucalt, G. Agamben, A. Negri. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. Series Philosophy. Social Studies. Art Studies, (4/2), 261-271. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6401-2017-4-261-271 Самовольнова О.В. Социально-философский анализ основных концепций биополитики: М. Фуко, Дж. Агамбен, А. Негри // Вестник РГГУ. Серия: Философия. Социология. Искусствоведение. 2017. № 4/2. С. 261-271. Schubert, K. (2021). Biopolitics of COVID-19: Capitalist continuities and democratic openings. Interalia, (16), 95-105. https://doi.org/10.51897/interalia/OAGM9733 Sharonchikova, L.V. (2014). Le Monde in the changing world. Moscow: Mediamir Publ. (In Russ.)
Шарончикова Л.В. «Монд» в меняющемся мире. М.: МедиаМир, 2014. Zhelnin, A.I. (2019). Biopolitics and biopolitical economy: The essence of concepts. Perm University Herald. Series: Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology, (3), 320-330. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17072/2078-7898/2019-3-320-330
Желнин А.И. Биополитика и биополитическая экономия: сущность концептов // Вестник Пермского университета. Философия. Психология. Социология. 2019. № 3. С. 320-330.
Bio notes:
Konstantin V. Bannikov, intern researcher, Laboratory of Theory and Practice of Decision Support Systems (TAPRADESS), HSE Nizhny Novgorod, 25/12 Bolshaya Pecherskaya St, Nizhny Novgorod, 603155, Russian Federation. ORCID: 0000-0003-2046-6919. E-mail: [email protected]
Nadezhda K. Radina, Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Professor, Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University - National Research University, 23 Prospekt Gagarina, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russian Federation; senior research fellow, Laboratory of Theory and Practice of Decision Support Systems (TAPRADESS), HSE Nizhny Novgorod, 25/12 Bolshaya Pecherskaya St, Nizhny Novgorod, 603155, Russian Federation. ORCID: 0000-0001-8336-1044. E-mail: [email protected]
Сведения об авторах:
Банников Константин Валерьевич, стажер-исследователь, лаборатория теории и практики систем поддержки принятия решений, НИУ ВШЭ - Нижний Новгород, Российская Федерация, 603155, Нижний Новгород, ул. Большая Печерская, д. 25/12. ORCID: 0000-0003-2046-6919. E-mail: [email protected]
Радина Надежда Константиновна, доктор политических наук, профессор, факультет социальных наук, Национальный исследовательский Нижегородский государственный университет имени Н.И. Лобачевского, Российская Федерация, 603022, Нижний Новгород, пр-кт Гагарина, д. 23; старший научный сотрудник, лаборатория теории и практики систем поддержки принятия решений, НИУ ВШЭ - Нижний Новгород, Российская Федерация, 603155, Нижний Новгород, ул. Большая Печерская, д. 25/12. ORCID: 00000001-8336-1044. E-mail: [email protected]
