Archetype

The progression of war in Ukraine is significantly linked to its representation via social media, and the importance of both Zelenskyy and Putin’s media personas in the digital arbitration of war cannot be overstated. Zelenskyy's bids for international aid have been highly publicized on social media through Zelenskyy's Instagram and Twitter, and particularly through livestreams which are always dubbed in English and posted several times in a row with captions in multiple languages. Putin's speeches and news media about the conflict are regularly published as highly controlled narratives through Russia's verified Twitter page and affiliated government accounts. Both national leaders pay extraordinary attention to their public image through the strategic use of spoken language, clothing, environment, and body language. At times, the diametric opposition between the visual imagery in these videos is so sensational it begins to seem fictionalized. It is at this point that archetypes coalesce. A rigid, melodramatic, and archetypal binary emerges between Zelenskyy’s and Putin’s engagement (or lack thereof) with social media and popular culture. Putin is almost always seen wearing suits, so Zelenskyy opts for army fatigues. Putin solely disseminates information through overtly staged, convoluted speeches to large audiences, so Zelenskyy stages livestreams in T-shirts, delivering pared-down speeches directly to camera. This binary is often referenced by Zelenskyy himself in public speeches and digital media posts – in February 2023, he described the dynamic as a “David and Goliath” story (a phrase which several news networks subsequently utilized). Highly important to note is Putin’s claim that Zelenskyy spearheads a Nazi regime in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy’s subsequent emphasis on his Jewish identity (particularly the history of his grandparents’ suffering in concentration camps during the Holocaust). A considerable amount of Putin’s rhetoric likens the current aggression of Russia’s army in Ukraine to what is culturally viewed in Russia as a righteous defense of their national border against Nazis during World War II. Positing Zelenskyy as a neofascist and neonazi is undeniably harmful and antisemitic in its direct attack on Zelenskyy’s personal identity, and also exhibits a key method of constructing the fantasy of sovereignty: erasing the histories of persecution of minority groups from national histories.