Africa and Africans in the Linguistic Worldview of Russians (From the Results of the ‘Associative’ Experiment)

Abstract

This research paper attempts to explore the linguistic consciousness of Russian people which reflects the fundamental image about the residents of Africa, African culture, Africa’s socio-economic development, the geographical location of Africa and Africa’s nature, and at the same time the fundamental lexical items associated with Africa, which  are basically linked with the colour of the skin of Africans and the hot climate of the continent. The image or worldview in this paper is to identify the general opinion which the Russians have about Africa and Africans. It is the picture that is formed in the minds of Russians about the inhabitants of Africa.  The image of Africa and Africans in Russian linguistic consciousness is formed from the presentation of the continent of Africa and the people living in it. These conceptions about Africa and Africans by Russians are formed under the influence of historical, geographical, cultural and educational information received from studies in schools, tertiary institutions, books, journals, newspapers. Others are from documentary and animated films, television and radio programmes, personal life experiences and from communicative situations. In spite of the negative social processes in the Russian society, there is practically no reflection of racism and chauvinism in Russian linguistic consciousness about Africa and Africans. Judging from the result of the experiments carried out, negative information about Africa, and above all, Africans is very negligible.