THE "IN-GROUP – OUT-GROUP" BINARY OPPOSITION AS THE CRITERION FOR IDENTIFYING THE OUT-GROUP MEMBERS IN THE FOLK MODEL OF THE WORLD (BASED ON SLAVIC LANGUAGES)

Abstract

The paper discusses the peculiarities of explicating the dichotomy "in-group – out-group" in the languages and folklore of the Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs. The authors conclude that the traditional attitudes to foreigners as out-group members can be considered in the context of the opposition "human – non-human" as a special case of the "in-group – out-group" polarity, which permeates all levels of being from etiological legends to everyday routines. All Slavic languages demonstrate the most universal motives that characterize the "non-human" image of an out-group member. First of all, these are beliefs about their bestial or animal-like nature, close connection with the devil, lack of speech, and violation of ethical norms.

Keywords

• binary opposition
• in-group
• out-group
• folk model of the world
• slavic languages
• ethnonym
• бинарная оппозиция
• своя этническая общность
• этнически чужой
• фольклорная модель мира
• славянские языка
• этноним