Russian and Chinese «successful woman»: contemporaries’ perception and interpretation

This article discusses the concept of a successful woman emerging in Russian and Chinese languages at the present time. It is shown how ideas of “woman” and “success” are represented in different Russian and Chinese language dictionaries. Results of sociolinguistic studies are analysed. Semes composing the concept “successful woman” in Russian and Chinese pictures of the world are described; the concept is regarded as a semantic field having central and peripheral meanings. The concept “successful woman” is considered through the concept of a cognitive stereotype. Traditional and new (modern) semantic components of the concept are identified. Comparative analysis of the concepts on the materials of Russian and Chinese languages is conducted. The following conclusions are drawn: 1) currently, the concept “successful woman” is forming in Russian and Chinese languages; 2) the emerging concept is being influenced by traditional culture and national stereotypes, on the one hand, and new realities and mass literature, on the other hand; 3) Russian and Chinese concepts have similarities and differences in both nuclear and peripheral zones of their semantic structures.