Sex workers, wives, soldiers, and spies: Representations of Russians in Norwegian media 1992–2023

This article analyses the changing ways in which Russians – and Russia – have been represented in a major Norwegian newspaper, VG , since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Theoretically, the article rests on the premises of social constructivism and the concepts of ‘othering’ through articulation of subject positions and symbolic boundaries. Applying a mixed-methods approach, the study explores both the changing thematic landscape and the evolving positioning of Russians in the newspaper’s reporting, zooming in on two dominant positions – Russians as pitiful and Russians as dangerous. Conceptualizing Russia as a ‘significant other’ to Norway, the article discusses how representations of Russians between 1992 and 2023 reflect shifting ideas about asymmetries between the two countries. It shows how, in VG ’s coverage, Russians have been transformed from occupying a position of economic inferiority to one of moral inferiority.