CONTEMPORARY DEFINITIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE NOTION “NATIONAL STEREOTYPE” IN THE HUMANITIES: ANALYTICAL REVIEW

• Main Author: Sorokina Natalia Valeryevna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Science and Innovation Center Publishing House 2013-05-01
• Series: Sovremennye Issledovaniâ Socialʹnyh Problem

The article presents an interdisciplinary analytical review of the contemporary definitional conceptions of the notion “national stereotype” and of its basic notion “stereotype” in the humanities. The research method is analysis of Russian and foreign scientific literature in social psychology, sociology, ethnopsychology, ethnosociology, cultural studies, and philosophy. The author distinguishes four conceptions to define a stereotype: as image/conception, opinion/judgment, knowledge, or attitude. Each definitional conception is presented based on the arguments of its contemporary followers and also historically – since the early 20th of the XX century beginning with the father of the scientific research on stereotypes W. Lippmann. The author considers all conceptions as competitive to each other and proves the validity of defining stereotype as an image as the best-grounded conception our days. The basic arguments for this conception are the following: 1) connection of stereotypes with reality, their dependence on it, their reflecting reality with different grades of adequacy; 2) emotional dimension in the notion “image”, which is so important for stereotypes; 3) neutrality of this conception, which allows considering stereotypes as normal phenomena of human thinking and not as something knowingly destructive. The results of the analytical review can be used in the research of a large range of problems connected with stereotypes.