The concepts of "our", "alien", "other" as the basis for the representation of "the other" in travel media text: theoretical provisions

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of travel discourse as an element of intercultural communication. The peculiarities of the formation of the image of the "Other" in the travel media text in the context of studying the evolution of the trichotomy "one's-someone else's" are studied. The author reviews world and Ukrainian scientific thought, outlines the main stages of the evolution of the dichotomy of "one's own and others" in travel discourse and the factors influencing the formation of the image of other countries and worlds. The article determines the state of study of the peculiarities of the representation of another in travel media text and outlines promising areas of research. This issue is actively researched in the foreign scientific space (B. Cocking, E. Kavoori, C. Santos, E. Fursich), we record a number of interesting and thorough investigations in the Ukrainian understanding of travel discourse (Y. Polezhaev, O. Yufereva). American researchers have proposed two stages in the development of travel journalism in the context of tourism: modern and postmodern, which outlines the evolution of the dichotomy of "self-alien" from the apologetic image of "self" and contrasting "other" to effort to understand the "other", to join his experience. Within the framework of the outlined tendencies of forming the image of the “other” in travel discourse, scholars record the marginalization of the “other” caused by focusing on the journalist more than at the destination; the cyclical nature of cultural representations of the "other", which can be traced in copies of the oriental discourse of travelers of the XIX century; stereotyping of the image of "others" is caused by the exclusion of local voices; the stereotypical image of Third World countries focuses on the negative aspects or risks for tourists, which emphasizes how good the home is; providing the expected representations of the "other", which serves as a confirmation of the audience's own values and beliefs and is the basis of marketing strategies. The formation of the image of the "Other" in travel discourse has its own characteristics and is caused by the following factors: modern world geopolitical trends, the historical context of interaction of peoples and cultures, the tendency to glocalization and marketing technologies. We consider the analysis of nationally marked language units as an element of the linguistic picture of the world to be a promising area of research in the formation of the image of the "Other" in travel discourse. We also consider the peculiarities of the formation and evolution of the image of the "Other" in travel media text in the Ukrainian context, where we have our own mental features of the perception of "one's own" and "other".