The ethnic stereotype of tatars in Russian linguistic culture

Abstract

This article examines the paradigm of ethnic stereotypes related to the ethnonym Tatars in Russian linguistic culture using the data from the National Corpus of the Russian Language (http://www.ruscorpora.ru). The theoretical foundation of our research can be found in a number of works based on cultural approach to the study of language in relation to the culture and consciousness of its speakers. The ethnonym "Tatars" is ambiguous in the Russian language, and it has a variety of associations due to certain developments in the history of Russia. In the mental field of Russian linguistic community, two paradigms of sustainable images of Tatars have been found to coexist. The first one is related to the stereotypes of Tatar warriors in the collective mind of the society. The second one is the all-in-one image of Turkic peoples in Russia; it includes the groups of stereotypical judgments which are significant from the cultural, social, cognitive and psychological points of view. The results of research and the empirical material itself will be useful for lexicographers working with the ethnic stereotypes, linguistic, cultural and country-studying references, teachers of humanitarian disciplines at secondary and high school. Our findings can contribute to ethnocultural education, and to the development of multiculturalism and tolerance.