Matryoshka, cold, and "fighting nation": the content of exostereotypes about Russia (based on a survey of Chinese students and content analysis of the platform Douyin)

The subject of the research is the content of external stereotypes about Russia among Chinese students, as well as their correlation with the stereotype of the "fighting nation" (战斗民族) prevalent in Chinese internet discourse. The author examines aspects of the topic such as stable symbolic images of Russia, character traits attributed to Russians, and a set of positive and negative associations. Special attention is given to two empirical sources, which determine the structure of the article. On one hand, the author analyzes the data from an associative survey of Chinese students, identifying the stereotypical core and its transformation in relation to the presence or absence of experience studying or living in Russia. On the other hand, the author explores visual content from the Chinese platform Douyin, which disseminates the image of the "fighting nation" through short videos. Typified behavioral models – "plots" – that comprise the image of the "fighting nation" are highlighted. The methodology of the research includes a free associative survey of Chinese students from the Regional Studies Center at MSU-BIT in Shenzhen (n=30, academic year 2025-2026) and a qualitative content analysis of 100 videos on Douyin selected by keywords from 2023 to 2026. The novelty of the research is defined by the focus on the visual Chinese platform Douyin as material for analyzing the exo-stereotype of the "fighting nation." The survey of Chinese students showed a high stability of the stereotypical core (bear, matryoshka, Kremlin, etc.), and experience visiting Russia does not radically change it but adds specific details from elements of food culture (shawarma, honey) to typical character traits (passion, "poker face"). Positive associations with Russia are almost exclusively related to achievements in the field of culture (literature, ballet), while negative associations are linked to climatic and economic realities. The author's special contribution to the research topic is the identification of eight typified behavioral models ("plots") of Russian citizens that constitute the content of the exo-stereotype of the "fighting nation." Despite its dual nature, this stereotype is more positive. The results obtained may be applied in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language to Chinese students, as well as in courses on regional studies, intercultural communication, and Russian-Chinese relations.