Religious Advertising in Ukraine: Political and Social Contexts

Abstract

Religious advertising is a new phenomenon in the Ukrainian media space. Starting from 2019 to the time of writing, it has been right in the middle of political battles as a public platform that represents the idea of the Independent Ukrainian Church. Religious advertising with a strong political component has become part of the conflict discourse and is qualified by experts as manipulation. In religious advertising with its social convergence, the creative impulse is mainly formed with verbal means that shape a new cognitive style of gaining religious experience. The new features are represented in God’s speech behavior, speech style, communicative situations with His participation, role distribution, genre preferences and the emotional background of communicative interactions. Ukrainian religious advertising strives to balance short-term political interests and long-term social interests along with eternal values.