The study of the cultural perception of countries and peoples has been gaining momentum in history, literary studies, ethnopsychology, journalism, imagology and other fields of scientific knowledge over the past decade. Cultural perception is constructed by ethnic, religious, political, ideological and artistic frames of perceptual consciousness. In connection with the development of Russia–China relations, the topic of rethinking Oriental studies in line with the framework of the studies of philosophical and cultural problems is especially relevant today. The novelty of the research consists in updating the data already available in scientific publications on the cultural perception of Russia and Russians by the Chinese. This article examines the cultural perception of Russia and Russians in China based on the results of polls conducted by the authors in 2021–2022. The poll contained open-ended questions concerning associations with Russia, symbols of the country, names of famous Russians, the Russian character, and Russian cities. The data obtained helped to identify and confirm certain historical patterns and stereotypes concerning the perception of the Russian character. The analysis of the poll results showed that Chinese people’s perceptions of Russia depend largely on their personal experience with Russians. The image of Russia in the minds of Chinese people who have not been to the country is closely associated with that of the Soviet Union; they have a vague idea of contemporary life in Russia but are quite familiar with the works of Russian classics writers and composers. Chinese people who are permanent residents in the Russian Federation are more aware of both the classical and contemporary culture of the Russians. In addition, the personality of Russian President Vladimir Putin plays an important role in shaping the current perception of Russia in China.

The present article discusses an interdisciplinary approach to the study of political discourse using the example of linguistic and political science studies into the mani-festation of national identity in the speeches of German politicians. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that it is the first to consider the use of an interdisciplinary approach in the analysis of professional discourse by specialists from different scientific fields. The purpose of the work is to show how an interdisciplinary approach is implemented in the study of political discourse by linguists and political scientists. Both studies were carried out using the empirical material of 60 texts of public speeches by leading German politicians (Heiko Maas, Sigmar Gabriel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz, and Ursula von der Leyen) at international and national events such as the Munich Security Conference, the UN General Assembly, and in government statements. Both studies used general scientific methods (description, analysis, continuous sampling method), as well as quantitative content analysis (political scientists) and statistical methods of the chi-squared test and Cramér’s V (linguists). The use of these methods led both research groups to approximately the same conclusions: German politicians tend to avoid emphasizing ethnic identity in their speeches on the international agenda, which is reflected in their language choices. The analysis by linguists of culture-bound elements with the help of the chi-squared test showed that the elements of non-German realities predominate in the speeches. The content analysis carried out by political scientists revealed that leading German politicians tend not to demonstrate their national identity, giving priority to positioning Germany as a member of the EU and NATO.

The aim of this paper is to make an inventory of the most salient typological traits of Basque as an extant minority language, whose origin and typological status have been debated ever since the 16th century. Despite the well-meaning attempts to compile a unified standard of Basque, the majority of its speakers communicate using one of its numerous dialects. Apart from that, most of the contemporary coursebooks of Basque convey contradictory messages about its main grammatical features. This lack of uniformity acts as an impediment on the way to learning Basque or forming a well-defined concept of its typology. To enhance and spread knowledge about Basque typology, the present research adopts the methodology of contrastive-typological studies, namely, the method of typological passport developed by Professor V. D. Arakin. The empirical data for the research was drawn from the course- and textbooks recommended by The Royal Academy of the Basque Language. The research results revealed a number of universal typological traits shared by Basque with well-studied languages of the world, such as the presence of articles, cases, assimilation, post-modifying adjectives, etc. However, from the perspective of contrastive typology, it is the unique typological features that are most typologically and conceptually salient, such as voiced and devoiced aspiration, variations in the pronunciation of diaphonic sounds, non-systematic (non-pleonastic) marking of number, conceptual salience of specific numerals (2, 4, and 11), neutral and emphatic world-building patterns as well the absence of some models altogether (blending, shortening, back-formation). Research results show that the typological passport of Basque can be defined as an agglutinative language with suffixes, syntactic agreement and fusions at morphemic junctures. One of the avenues for further research is a multifactorial analysis with a view to obtaining statistical data about typologically significant categories of Basque

The attitude towards Hegel in Soviet philosophy was contradictory and depended to a considerable extent on the ideological state of affairs. Waves of love and hate for Hegel alternated periodically. At different times, emphasis was placed on the “revolutionary” method, or on dialectics, or on the “reactionary” system, the justification of the old world. On one page, Lenin would admire Hegel’s logical discoveries, on the next, he would scold him in the most vulgar language for his idealism, mysticism and “goddikin.” The present article draws a parallel between the stylistics of Lenin’s philosophical works and the avant-garde artists and poets who gave a “slap in the face” to public taste. In Lenin’s hands, philosophy becomes the servant of politics; later on, the “principle of partisanship” would turn into the credo of Marxist dogma and the criterion of the truth of philosophical doctrines. The Hegelian wing of Soviet Marxism was formed in the 1920s. The party leader of the “Dialecticians,” Abram Deborin, initiated the publication of Hegel’s Collected Works, which was published with a number of large and small interruptions over the course of 30 years (and the last, 15th volume never saw the light of day). After the defeat of the Deborinites in 1931, Hegel’s popularity gradually declined. However, some original studies coloured by love for Hegel appeared. Vygotsky used Hegelian concepts of “mediation” and “cunning of reason” to create a cultural-historical psychology; he believed that Hegel “walked lamely to the truth”. Mikhail Lifshitz regarded Hegel as a “great conservative of mankind,” and György Lukács, who came to the Soviet Union, wrote his famous The Young Hegel here and defended this book as his doctoral thesis (1942). Lifshitz and Lukács concentrate on Hegel’s “historical dialectic” and on his comprehension of the revolutionary events of his epoch. By the end of the Second World War, Hegel’s philosophy had been declared an “aristocratic reaction to the French Revolution” (Stalin), and hatred of Hegel became reflexive. The party of persecutors of Hegelianshchina was led by Moscow State University Professor Zinovy Beletsky. It was only after Stalin’s death that serious research into Hegel’s philosophy could be resumed. Evald Ilyenkov interpreted dialectics as “the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete” and traced how this – materialistically reinterpreted – method works in Marx’s Capital. It was the Neo-Hegelians who brought the category of the concrete, understood as “diversity fused into unity” (Ivan Ilyin), to the fore. In this respect, Lenin was in complete agreement with them. In parallel with the European Marxists, Ilyenkov criticised the interpretation of dialectics as a universal picture of the world, a new metaphysics cultivated by diamat and istmat. He did not, however, share the anti-Hegelian sentiments of the schools of Galvano Della Volpe and Louis Althusser. For Ilyenkov, Hegel is the greatest revolutionary in logic since Aristotle. At the end of the article are the facts showing that interest in “Soviet Hegel” is still alive today.

In this article, we consider the metaphorical use of precedent names from the source spheres “literature” and “cinema” in the political discourse of modern Spanishlanguage mass media. The names of heroes of ancient mythology, works of classical Spanish and foreign literature, including children’s literature, as well as movie characters, carriers of certain qualities and properties, are widely used as precedents. As a result of the study, the grounds for metaphorical transfer from the named source spheres to the target sphere are established. The function of precedent names is also revealed not only as actualizers of the precedent situation, but also as a means of characterizing political opponents in the sphere of political discourse in the context of the struggle of political forces for the possession, preservation and disposal of power. The modern political discourse of the Spanish-language media as an arena of political confrontation is characterized by intolerance, agonality, and the “language of hostility” marking opponents as “alien” in the “friend – alien” binary opposition with the predominance of discrediting characterizations of political opponents aimed at debunking a given politician’s claims to leadership, demonstrating his or her incompetence and hanging labels. In the context of the language game, precedent names are used as a metaphorical definition of the names of current politicians. For characterization, precedent names are taken with both negative and positive connotations, imparting a negative connotation to the object of characterization due to the emerging phenomenon of enantiosemy when used as a metaphorical definition of proper names. The atmosphere of language play created in journalistic texts using well-known precedent names from works of popular culture, as well as the playful connection of the name of a politician with the precedent name of a fictional character, imbue such texts with the quality of informational and entertainment journalism. At the same time, these techniques implement the pragmatic function of precedent names aimed at manipulating the addressee, encouraging him or her to act for the purposes of one political actor or another, and reveal a certain political strategy, despite the obvious intentions of the author.

This paper investigates how engineering discourse evaluates technical developments based on their utility, uselessness, or harm. It examines German-language specialized texts that report on contemporary scientific innovations, using a functional- pragmatic analysis method to explore the propositional structure of statements that convey utilitarian information. The article, published in a scientific journal, is considered in this study as a situationally conditioned speech act that aims to inform readers through the communicative strategy of explanation. The analysis focuses on identifying the implicit configurations that the author creates in the linguistic expression of propositions such as “fact,” “opinion,” and “assessment.” The combination of these propositions in one context makes it possible to describe the methods of presenting scientific data from a utilitarian point of view. Utilitarian evaluation mainly depends on the author’s explanation of cause-and-effect relationships, which form the basis for assessments. Moreover, the author often refers to authoritative opinions or experimental results to support the evaluation. The text also includes unargued assessments, which invite the reader to agree or disagree. The analysis in this paper shows that utilitarian assessments in engineering discourse are driven by the goal of professional communication. They follow the principles of rationality, provability, and objectivity, which are reflected in the author’s deliberate detachment from the subject of description. These pragmatic features are related to the values of professional communication, which involve not only providing reliable data, but also promoting progressive ideas in society. The rhetorical effect of persuasion achieved by reasoned objectification of utilitarian assessments in the text is a distinctive characteristic of scientific discourse. It is also an efficient way of fulfilling the objectives of specialized communication. This study contributes to a better understanding of the pragmatic aspects of utilitarian evaluation in engineering discourse, highlighting its empirical basis and its importance for the wider field of professional communication.