Abstract
A new research area – imagology – is actively developing in modern literary studies. The word “imagology” is derived from Latin “imago” (image), but the subject of imagology is not just the study of images in literature, but the images of “foreigners”, “aliens”, unfamiliar nations, countries, cultures – images of anything that is foreign for the perceiving subject. When doing an imagological analysis, the attention of the researcher is directed to how the perceiving nation views the mentality, national character, behavior, traditions of a foreign nation (i. e., the stereotypical vision, or ethno stereotypes). Therefore, in the base of imagology there exists the opposition of what is “native” (one’s own, understandable) with that which is perceived as “alien” (strange, unfamiliar). The very nature of a literary work is such that it allows for clear representation of the stereotypes of national consciousness, people’s relations, their speech, customs, value orientations. All of this makes fiction a rich source for studying ethno stereotypes.
The author proceeds from the assumption that imagology is an inherent characteristic of not only literature, but other kinds of art (music, choreography, painting, architecture, cinema, theater, etc.), because when depicting anything “foreign” in any kind of art the author inevitably reflects stereotypical perception of the “alien” stored in his own national, ethnic and cultural consciousness. In this article, the term “imagology” is investigated in its use in the sphere of literary analysis. The author gives an overview of the process of “alien” image formation in Russian literature of the 19th century. This image’s evolution in the traditions of sentimentalism, pre-romanticism, romanticism and post-romanticism is traced.
Keywords
Imagology, ethno-stereotype, «native – foreign», national character, mentality, sentimentalism, romanticism, post-romanticism.