That has nothing to do with me (A reconstruction of language image of the world)

That has nothing to do with me (A reconstruction of language image of the world)


Pliushch А.N.

Institute of social and political psychology, National academy of sciences, Kiev, Ukraine plyushch11@mail.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Pliushch А.N. That has nothing to do with me (A reconstruction of language image of the world). Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2016. No 2. P. 136-147




Abstract

An individual defines social reality in the image of one’s own discourse. An image of the world construction is caused by the used instrument (language) that includes theories built in it. Psycho-semantic approach, which allows building semantic space on the base of appraisals of countries’ images, gives opportunity to reproduce features of image of world organization (and applied discourse). As such features categorical structures of constructed semantic space were taken and the logic of countries’ grouping that reflects specifics of the role of own country in the surrounding world. Students from Russia and Ukraine with different linguistic practices were taken as an example, where two types of logic of own country positioning were revealed. In the frame of the logical type the country one seeks to defend its right to independently choose the path of development, despite current world order. In logic, country is trying to join a group of more successful countries, at least for minor roles, compensating it with belonging to the camp of “successful” ones and cultivation of superiority over the countries that have chosen a different path of development. Taking into account a circular causality, when individual subject in the course of socialization learns discourse, then reproduced in social life, it is possible to correct discourse and ways of image of world organization inherent to native speakers of a specific language. It is noted that discourse constructs masking political relations of subjects can substitute political influence.


Keywords
discourse; language; psychosemantics; image of the world; image of a country; self-appraisal; inferiority complex
Content No 2, 2016