Image of Guest in the Russian and Japanese Linguocultures

Abstract

Through the analysis of the association reactions of Russian and Japanese native speakers, the intensity of hospitality in the Russian and Japanese linguocultures is examined in the article. There are considered similarities and differences of perceiving the image of guest by the Russians and Japanese. The article demonstrates that the content of the semanteme “Guest” is not identical in the Russian and Japanese languages. In the conditions of active contacts between representatives of different cultures in our supersonic age, the comparative research of linguistic consciousness is an important contribution to the development of mutual understanding between representatives of different linguocultures, Russian and Japanese in this case. The dynamics of change of the image of guest in the Russian linguoculture is of great interest. It has been experiencing noticeable perturbations throughout the recent decades. The application of psycholinguistic methods to achieve the mentioned aims is an uncommon and quite new phenomenon for comparing the Russian and Japanese linguocultures. The research has shown that in the Japanese linguoculture it is mainly women who extend hospitality, which refl ects the traditional patriarchal practice of the Japanese society. Another conclusion is that the present-day Russians, who do not display any difference regarding the image of guest according to their gender factor, have become less hospitable as compared to the beginning of 1990s.