The Role of Media in the Formation of the Image of M. Kutuzov: to the Background of Two Facts

Section: History of Journalism

This article is devoted to the role of media in the formation of the image of M. Kutuzov, in particular during the Great Patriotic War. The article was prepared on the basis of a report presented at the round table "Journalism and Wars: Historical Experience" of the International Scientific Forum "Media in the Modern World. 59th Petersburg Readings" (November 9–12, 2020). The authors were tasked with identifying the popular cases associated with Kutuzov’s personality and showing how media participated in their formation. The attention was focused on two subjects related to the image of the commander: the wound, as a result of which he allegedly lost his eye, and the problem of burying his heart. The work was carried out based on materials from the funds of the Russian National Library, publications in the media, and documents from a private collection. As a result of the study, the authors conclude that in the conditions of war, the mythologization of the image of the commander pursued both a mobilization goal (during the Great Patriotic War, the heroic image of Kutuzov called for a feat, was an example of courage for soldiers) and a propaganda goal, which consisted in representing the failures of the first stage of the Great Patriotic War as a stage of preparation for a counteroffensive. The origin of the story about the burial of Kutuzov's heart on the territory of another state could be a response to the aggravation of the foreign policy situation on the eve of the First World War.

Pompeev Yu. A. (2012) Serdtse Kutuzova [Kutuzov’s Heart]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta kul’tury 4 (13). (In Russian)

Stalin I. V. (1997) Sochineniya. T. 16 [Writings. Vol. 16]. Moscow: Pisatel’ Publ. (In Russian)