Comparative analysis of Boris Yeltsin’s image in the American press

The article discusses the results of a study on the image of Boris Yeltsin as it was presented in the American weekly magazine Time in the period 1986 - 1991. Applying the methods of content analysis, quantitative analysis, and imagological analysis, the author focuses on the specific formation features of the image of the USSR and its leader in the foreign (American) culture. The author determines the peaks of interest in the personality of Yeltsin in the American press, draws historical parallels explaining this phenomenon, proposes thematic groups that reflect the focus of American journalists’ interest. These groups are presented by the categories ‘appearance’, ‘personality’, ‘politics’, and ‘relationships with Mikhail Gorbachev’. A frequency analysis of lexemes reveals that the image of Boris Yeltsin was mainly positive. American journalists emphasize his special strength, ‘monumentality’, and outstanding oratorical skills. The most frequent characteristics of Yeltsin in the Time magazine are ‘oppositionist’, ‘maverick’, ‘reformist’, ‘populist’. The press also emphasizes such his qualities as ‘energetic’, ‘impulsive’. An analysis of the empirical material in the diachronic perspective revealed the dynamics of the representation of Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev from ‘close allies’ to ‘irreconcilable enemies’.