A HISTORICAL-CULTURAL AND LINGUOCULTUROLOGICAL STUDY OF THE NAMING OF MYTHICAL CHARACTERS IN RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES AS A REFLECTION OF THE NATIONAL WORLDVIEW

Zhang Zirui, Zou Tianqi

The Russian folk tale is not merely a “memory” of the people about themselves, their social, spiritual, and religious history, transmitted from the past; it also embodies conceptions of an ideal reality that are genetically linked to national culture. The nominations of mythical characters carry rich cultural connotations. This article formulates methodological principles for analyzing the cultural connotations of the naming of certain mythical characters (both positive and negative) in Russian fairy tales and their plotlines, from the perspective of historical and religious factors reflected in them, generalized features of Russian self-consciousness and character, as well as the use of these character nominations in the modern Russian linguistic sphere. The relevance of the study’s conclusions lies in the necessity of returning to the key elements of the national worldview in today’s Russian linguocultural community, considered from ethical, aesthetic, behavioral, and worldview perspectives.

Keywords:Russian fairy tale, nomination of mythical characters, cultural connotation, mentality, Orthodoxy, Russian linguocultural community, national self-consciousness