The Image of China in the Linguistic-Informational Model of Modern Media Discourse (Based on Russian and Chinese Mass Media)

This article analyses the linguistic-informational model of the representation of the image of China in Russian and Chinese media discourse today. When screening Russian and Chinese sources, the authors applied contextual analysis (with an emphasis on the implicit content of the country’s media image), descriptive method, method of cultural interpretation, and content analysis. In the current situation of information and psychological wars (term by A.P. Skovorodnikov), using the image of a country becomes the starting point in the mass media matrix of the onomastic concept for accentuating the perception of the geopolitical toponym (geopolitonym). For the first time, the authors propose the notion of a mass media matrix of an onomastic concept for understanding the cognitive side of media images of geopolitonymic objects. The geopolitonym China does not just form a virtual image of the country in media discourse, but also acts as a multidimensional construct of the linguistic worldview in the producer–recipient system. In onomastics, the geopolitonym traditionally denotes names of countries, regions, and significant historical areas that have an impact on human awareness in a civilizational context. The media image of a country is a topologically-oriented multi-layer model of the territory for the recipients of the media discourse. The authors clarify O.N. Sorokina’s concept of the information model, highlighting the linguistic component that was and remains the leading one in media discourse. Furthermore, the authors introduce the concepts of linguoinforneme and linguistic-informational step from the point of view of the structure of the linguistic-informational model. The linguistic-informational model, according to the authors’ suggestion, is implemented in linguoinfornemes using the strategy of linguistic-informational steps. The linguoinforneme constructs a media image of the country in a certain accentological assessment, based on social demand. We found that china’s media image is presented in Russian media discourse in a variety of ways, being implemented in evaluative linguoinfornemes. The country’s media image in Chinese media is constructed based on the traditions of hieroglyphic writing. The authors show what the mythologized/realistic perception of the image of China is based on, how it is conditioned by the tasks of the Communist Party of China, how it is related to the strategies of Russian-Chinese cooperation, and how it affects intercultural communication.