Raising awareness of indigeneity comes forward with strengthening of cultural globalization. The lack of relevant knowledge of indigenous cultures results in persistent stereotyping. Regarded the representation of an ethnic group, a stereotype is based on implicit assumptions and behavioral implications that are reflected in evaluative characteristics. Stereotypes are spread by mainstream culture through popular media and cinema. This work attempts to profile the stereotype of Indigenous American created by mainstream American culture on the results of qualitative analysis of media discourse. Treated as uncivilized, Native Americans are portrayed as unbending and cruel warriors or as wise and helpful friends of White. America’s attitude to Indians is changing from banishing to extolling. The deconstruction of stereotypes in humanitarian paradigm is the matter of acknowledgment of cultural uniqueness and establishment of social equality.
The article presents the results of a dynamic classification of American sociocultural stereotypes based on their variability. The dynamics of stereotypes are traced in changes of assessment, emotional perception, and modification, reflected in the discursive representation of socio-cultural stereotypes. The degree of variability of socio-cultural stereotypes depends on the time of their formation, the frequency of occurrence in media discourse, and their emotional load. Persistent stereotypes, such as frontiersman, cowboy, are are based on cultural traditions. They function as templates for the reproduction of new sociocultural stereotypes. Transformational socio-cultural stereotypes demonstrate various changes that can relate to the content of stereotypes. Such is the case of melting pot. Once denoting unity of American society, this stereotype has transformed into a combination of diverse social and cultural elements, marked as salad bowl, mosaic, mixing bowl. Changes in socio-cultural stereotypes are manifested also in emotional and evaluative perception. Thus, the negative perception of the stereotype WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) has changed to positive. Transformational stereotypes can become the symbols of a certain historical period, marked by radical changes in views, attitudes and standards of behavior. Such is flapper – the stereotype of a bold and fashionable young woman that has become a symbol of “Roaring 20s”. Transient stereotypes are unable to transform and cease to exist with the disappearance of their referents. An example of such a stereotype is the Valley Girl, which denoted the category of rich and idle fashionistas of the 1980s. Today, the Valley Girl is an anachronism that alludes to the 1980s through definite fashion trends and slang. The result of the study is the recognition that American sociocultural stereotypes are changeable and situational fragments of the social environment. They may modify or disappear due to changes in the socio-cultural context. The duration of their existence depends not only on economic and cultural factors, but also on occurrence in media discourse.
The article provides the analysis of the means that represent sociocultural stereotypes in radio and television genres of American media discourse in the middle of the 20th century. In a cognitive-linguistic perspective, the definition of a sociocultural stereotype has been specified as a verbalized mental construct of an ethnically and culturally marked, idealized image of a person, a social group or a phenomenon. The research results prove that the analyzed sociocultural stereotypes evoke feelings to a social group or an individual, reflected in verbal and nonverbal codes. Emotional and evaluative perception of sociocultural stereotypes is dependent on the historical and cultural context. Positively evaluated stereotypes embody American cultural values. Aimed at describing the linguistic means of representation of sociocultural stereotypes, the research methodology is based on a discursive analysis and involves interpretation of media texts within the thematic and historical contexts. It has been revealed that the analyzed means that represent sociocultural stereotypes in media discourse manifest in lexical units, thematic selection of syntactic constructions, rhetorical and stylistic devices. Represented by audio-visual means in media discourse, sociocultural stereotypes are considered as complex semantic units of speech, visual, behavioral, and ethical characteristics of individuals or social groups. It has been proved that behavioral characteristics of sociocultural stereotypes are based on a speech specificity of social groups, which demonstrates their origin and social status manifested in prosodic means, lexical and grammatical forms of the utterances.
An ideal woman stereotype presents a verbalized standard of what is most desirable in a woman. A middle class housewife, who fanatically pursues her goal to be an ideal woman is designated the Stepford Wife. She is a diligent mother, a conscious citizen, an attractive woman, and an obedient wife. The study presents qualitative analysis of American blogs. Conversational tone, the author’s stance orientation, and freedom of speech approximate linguistic material to that received experimentally. Based on implicit assumptions and evaluative characteristics, psycholinguistic profile of the Stepford Wife presents attitudinal ambivalence: housewife’s positively assessed qualities come along with criticized subordination of a wife to her husband. Verbal, situational, and associative types of irony convey criticism and sneer at the Stepford Wife. The text graphic execution and illustrations used in blogs emphasize emotionally colored focal points of the utterances. Keywords: stereotype; Stepford Wife; modern media discourse; American blogs; attitudinal ambivalence; different types of irony.
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