The article chosen for analysis here sounds “Russians Must Accept the Truth. We Failed” and was published in the New York Times in the opinion section. It was written by Russian journalist Ilia Krasilshchik, and the main idea of the text is that the intelligible part of the Russian population failed because they did not prevent the unjustified invasion of Putin’s army to Ukraine. This text is filled with feelings of remorse, regret, and sympathy, so this text is ideal for detailed analysis. Thus, the major claim is that this publication refers to pathos, that is, to the deep emotions of the author through which the real experiences of Russian people are revealed.
Krasilshchik’s opinion article aims to explain what happened during Putin’s reign, which led to the impossibility of Russian civil society to stop the war. The rhetorical technique of the publication is to make the foreign audience feel what Russians think in that particular situation. This text is aimed at the American audience and not the Russian one because it is evident that Russian people fully realize all the problems and struggles about which Krasilshchik writes. The argument starts from the historical context of Russian politics: the 2011 protests in Moscow, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Then, the emotions appear when the author tries to convince the audience that the responsibility lies on all conscientious Russians. Krasilshchik writes: “we must now put aside our individual concerns and accept our common responsibility for the war”. Such frankness makes the American audience to a little bit realize all the horror of the problems in Russia and feel the pain of the Russian people about what happened.
To sum up, immersion in the author’s inner feelings brought an emotional aspect to the text of the article. Speaking for civil society in Russia, the author acknowledges his responsibility for not doing enough to avoid war. In fact, this text is very important to read in order to understand what is happening in Ukraine. At the same time, this text is dominated by a pessimistic view of the situation, which also causes bitter emotions in the reader.
Works Cited
Krasilshchik, Ilia. “Russians Must Accept the Truth. We Failed.”The New York Times, 2022.