Stereotypic image of Siberia in Russian mass media

Abstract

The article studies theoretical aspects of the image of the region and their realization as exemplified by the image of Siberia. The article treats the structure of the image and mechanisms of its formation from the point of view of the cognitive approach and with the help of frame structures. The cognitive analysis enables to differentiate three levels: frame, subframes, and slots, pertaining to the entity explored. The research allows demonstrating that the stereotypical ideas play an essential role in forming and sustaining the images of regions. Mass media appear to be the main source of the stereotypic image of the region due to highlighting different facts concerning the sterotypicized phenomenon, selecting various linguistic means for featuring it and influencing the emotional and evaluative perception of the image. The study was based on the data of the National Corpus of the Russian Language, which were analyzed with the help of content analysis and frame analysis. The image of the Siberian region actively exploits the frames “Nature and Geography of Siberia”, “History of Siberia”, “Economy of Siberia”. The research found out the dynamic and ambivalent character of the stereotypic image of Siberia.