An Analysis of Countries’ Images through Linguistic Methods

Abstract

Communication between countries tends to rest upon a country's international image, which is transmitted via mass media. Most international ideologies are far from true, but they prevent some countries from objective appraisal of other nations and, therefore, cause numerous intercultural and geopolitical problems. In order to solve these issues, it is crucial to study the global image of different countries. Using linguistic tools, my research analyzes the global perception of Russia. Methods used include a discourse analysis of modern American, British, French, and Russian media; and a psycholinguistic associative experiment with native English, French, and Russian speakers. As a result, I found two completely different views of modern Russia. The view based on the media analysis is negative and has a political bias, while ordinary people's perceptions of Russia were more positive and diverse. The research revealed spheres of Russian reality, which can become a new basis for a non-lopsided and more objective image - spheres of culture, history, people, and sport. Also, the linguistic tools mentioned above showed their efficiency in country image analysis and can be, therefore, used in further research.