The image of China in modern Russian media (based on materials from the National Corpus of the Russian Language)

Abstract

The article examines the representation in the language of modern media of the image of China as a component of Russian linguistic consciousness. It is noted that in the language of the media, the image of China that has developed in the Russian linguistic consciousness is simultaneously realized, and this image is constructed and supplemented in its modern implementation. The media have a significant impact on the image of China, what it will be like in the future, and also on how Russians perceive it. The analysis was based on the consideration of the functioning in the media of lexemes and phraseological units expressing Chinese semantics: China, Chinese, Chinaman, Celestial Empire, hieroglyphs, etc. Observation showed that the image of China is frequent. The research was carried out on the basis of traditional methods of observation, description, analysis, synthesis, and generalization. One of the main ones was the method of corpus linguistics. The method of linguocultural interpretation, structural-semantic method were used. It has been revealed that the most important part of the image of China, implemented in the media, is the idea of this country as a strong state with developed industry, economy and social sphere, as a strategic partner of the Russian Federation and a global antagonist of the United States. Attention is focused on the fact that the brightest means of representing the image of China in the Russian linguistic consciousness are comparative constructions, metaphors, phraseological units, through which such features of China as ancient history, rich and difficult to understand culture, and deep philosophy are actualized. A Chinese in the Russian linguistic consciousness is a hardworking, enterprising, intelligent, cunning, wise, independent person. The conclusion is made about the dynamic image of China, to the change of which the Russian media make a significant contribution.