A comparative study on peculiarities of expressing the concept of “beauty” in phraseological units of the Chinese, French, German and Russian languages

The research is devoted to a comparative study of the concept of “beauty” in the French, German, Chinese and Russian languages. The relevance of this research lies in the fact that beauty is a universal category, but the understanding of beauty varies from one nation to another. Beauty affects all spheres of our lives so much that different ideas of it among Europeans and Chinese sometimes lead to problems in intercultural communication. Due to a variety of representations of how an ideal model should look like, in recent years the beauty industry has seen a confrontation between a European approach to beauty as a unique characteristic and a Chinese approach to beauty as a canonically wonderful image with clearly defined parameters. For example, recent conflicts of Dolce Gabbana, Zara and Vogue fashion houses have led to the closure of brand stores in China and formal apology to Chinese people. In each culture representations of beauty are formed through language and aesthetic images, that is why it is important not only to study this subject but also to be able to use this knowledge in everyday life. Furthermore, in crisis moments of human history the topic of beauty maximizes the imperfection and disharmony of the modern world and sounds very acute. Therefore, today, when the world is swept by waves of terrorism and violence, it is especially important to address the topic of beauty.