«РУССКАЯ ДУША» В ПРЕПОДАВАНИИ РКИ: КРИТИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ СТЕРЕОТИПНЫХ ДИСКУРСОВ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ДИДАКТИЧЕСКОЙ ПРАКТИКЕ

This article examines the presence of the “Russian soul” in the practices of the Russian language for the past 10 years and its role in creating a stereotypical image of the Russian culture in the formation of intercultural competence (IC) among students. The first part offers a brief genealogy of the concept of the “Russian soul.” The second part is a critical review of the key educational materials developed from 2011 to 2021 in which IC is based on the concept of the “Russian soul.” The results of our study show that a large number of textbooks and teaching materials from the previous decade, including both Russian-language and foreign (specifically, Italian) materials rely on the “Russian soul” to convey a simplified and essentialized idea of the Russian “culture” and “identity.” In particular, through discursive analysis, it was found that the concept of the “Russian soul” is linked to the orientations of linguocountry and linguocultural studies. This has major implications in terms of the conceptualization of IC. The use of the “Russian soul” concept reflects a nationalist “discourse” which, as per Foucault’s understanding, creates its own “regime of truth.” Finally, the possible ways of changing this dominant discourse in RFL have been suggested.