Geopolitical mythmaking: A narrative study of German far-right media discourse on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

This study examines how German far-right digital media use narratives and mythological storytelling to recontextualise crises and legitimise far-right discourses, focusing on the 2022 Ukraine invasion as a case study. Drawing on narrative analysis and Van Leeuwen's (Legitimation in discourse and communication. Discourse & Communication, 1(1), 91–112) legitimation framework, this qualitative study analyses articles from five German outlets and RT Deutsch to explore how mythopoetic storytelling, actor portrayals, and historical reframings construct and legitimise cohesive crisis narratives. By presenting the invasion as a necessary response to alleged NATO provocation, far-right media cast Putin archetypically as virtuous underdog challenging Western hegemony. I show how symbolic significance is assigned to the invasion as a rupture point which ultimately serves to perpetuate the myth of the ‘Decline of the West’ and broader discourses of anti-elitism, nostalgia, and rebirth. The inclusion of RT Deutsch reflects concerns about the growing convergence of Russian state-sponsored narratives and European far-right discourses, with their ideological affinities becoming more significant amidst rising geopolitical tensions. These concerns reinforce the need to examine the potency of narrativity, particularly its role in legitimising ideologies irrespective of the crisis or the narrative’s source.

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