METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE AXIOLOGICAL DISCOURSE OF ORTHODOX CHURCHES IN THE MEDIA SPACE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article substantiates an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for studying the axiological discourse of Orthodox churches in Ukraine’s media space. The topic is relevant due to the simultaneous impact of two processes: the growing mediatization of religious communication, in which ecclesial meanings and evaluations circulate through digital platforms and journalistic formats, and the radical reconfiguration of value coordinates during the full-scale war, when public debates intertwine religious, civic, and political understandings of peace, justice, dignity, sacrifice, freedom, and “tradition”. The paper aims to demonstrate how combining Critical Discourse Analysis, hermeneutics, phenomenology of values, and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) makes it possible to: describe linguistic strategies of value legitimation; interpret theological and cultural meanings within their historical horizons; reconstruct believers’ experiences and intentionality; and map heterogeneous actor networks (human and non-human) that produce and amplify evaluations within media infrastructures. A research design is proposed that includes: building a corpus of texts (official statements, sermons, interviews, social media posts, and media publications), a multi-level coding scheme for value categories (value hierarchies, moral frames, narratives, rhetorical markers), and validation procedures (triangulation of data and methods, a reflexive research diary, and intercoder agreement checks). The novelty lies in a methodological synthesis that shifts the focus from analysing merely “what is said” to examining “how and by whom/what it is done” within networks of public communication. The practical relevance concerns the comparative study of discourses across different ecclesial jurisdictions and the expert assessment of how media shape trust or distrust in religious actors and their moral guidance.