Ryssland- en demokratisk autokrati eller ett auktoritärt folkstyre? En narrativ studie av Alexei Navalnys och Vladimir Putins konstruerande av den nationella identiteten, det ryska folket och framställningen av Rysslands dåtid, nutid samt framtid.

Sammanfattning: The conflict between two of the most important political profiles in today's Russia - Vladimir Putin and Alexei Navalny is currently ongoing. This study investigates how these two politicians construct narratives about the Russian people, the national identity and Russia's past, present and future in their narratives. Furthermore, the essay compares Putin and Navalny in order to understand the similarities and differences in the narratives of both politicians. The analysis identified that both politicians create imaginary communities, but in different ways. Navalny constructs this narrative of national identity and the Russian people based on domestic threats, while Putin constructs these narratives through references to outside threats to the country's security. A further conclusion that could be identified is Putin's depictions of Russia and the Russian people as sovereign and independent and his references to patriotic arguments with elements of banal nationalism. Navalny instead bases his arguments following the example of other countries while Navalny, unlike Putin, has a more inclusive view of the nation. Putin's and Navalny's narratives contain similar themes, but these are constructed in different ways as the study shows that Putin has a primordial and ethnosymbolistic view of nationalism while Navalny instead has a modernist view of nationalism.