Participation in the Global Media Events as a Tool of Representation of a National Identity: the Image of Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest

The paper is devoted to analysis of the construction of national identity in the media sphere. With the advent of the new information age in the world and for each state separately the role of Media is growing. Representation of the national image, distributed through multiple channels of communication, becomes an instrument of soft power of the state, the instrument of cultural diplomacy, asserting the cultural identity of the citizens. In this context, it is important to understand what meanings and symbols form the image of the state in the media sphere and what audience received and decoding this image. The subject of analysis is a discursive field around Russia's participation in Eurovision Song Contest. The study is based on the theory of performativity of J. Alexander and the concept of framing of M. Castells. The main research method is the analysis of the discursive practices of national identity in official documents and in a special television broadcast dedicated to the song contest "Eurovision" in 2005-2016.