The image of Africa in Russian linguistic culture

At present, the attention of researches is attracted by the study of Russian linguistic culture, in particular, the actual topic of the study is the perception of toponyms, which are the names of different countries and continents, by the Russian linguistic consciousness. The purpose of this article was to study the features of the image of Africa in Russian linguistic culture based on both the analysis of Russian idioms and literature texts as well as the survey of modern native speakers. The study revealed the key features of the modern perception of Africa by the Russian linguistic consciousness. It is concluded that the Russian linguistic culture as a whole is characterized by the perception of Africa as alien and in many ways alien to the Russian people. The associative field “Africa” includes the reactions “heat”, “desert”, “poverty”, as well as associations connected with exotic plants and animals, primarily giraffes. In the linguistic consciousness of a Russian person, the image of Africa, as the survey showed, is most associated with Egypt. Comparison of data on the perception of Africa, taken from the works of the Russian scientists of past years, and the survey data do not coincide in everything. So, in 2022 the respondents cited not only similar, but also different reactions than in earlier works. The study showed that many modern carriers of linguistic culture do not show deep interest in Africa, however, in general, their attitude towards Africa is positive. The results obtained have a certain theoretical value (since they allow us to draw conclusions about the changes that the image of Africa in Russian linguistic culture has undergone in recent years), and practical significance, since they make it possible to predict further changes in the perception of this toponym.