KEY CONCEPTS OF POST-WAR UKRAINE IN THE COLLECTIVE COGNITIVE SPACE OF UKRAINIANS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING ETHNOSPACE

Abstract

Present research takes an effort to reconstitute an aspect that investigates the way Ukrainians and English-speaking ethnic groups conceptualize post-war Ukraine. This is performed by identifying the main components of the conceptual system of the political and military-themed discourses presented in the mass media in the Ukrainian and English-language corpora. The research methodology, combining cognitive representation, verbal reproduction and discursive implementation, includes: 1) selection of informational elements – concepts; 2) identifying significant concepts in the corpus based on functional frequency – autochthons; 3) a comparison of autochthons in Ukrainian and English-speaking ideas in the topic indicated. According to the findings, both Ukrainian and English-language media aggressively thematized conceptions of Ukraine's post-war vision, proving their presence in the collective cognitive space. Issues that are obvious to both Ukrainians and Europeans/Americans are RECONSTRUCTION through SUPPORT, HELP, CHANGE, INTEGRATION (to European-American multipurpose systems). However, there are differences: the Ukrainian side concentrates on INVESTMENTS and SUPPORT, whilst the European/American side focuses on REFORM and DEVELOPMENT, the latter is presumably underrepresented in the Ukrainian corpus, owing to Ukrainians’ current modest optimism.