The image of Russia as a result of political perception (based on the results cognitive analysis of the concepts of Russia, Homeland, Country, and State)

The article raises the problem of political perception and formation of the image of Russia in the individual and public consciousness. The hypothesis of the study is that the image of Russia as a result of political perception is structured from certain concepts (Russia, Homeland, country, and state). These concepts are basic for the conceptual sphere of the Russian people, and they have been studied in detail within the framework of cognitive linguistics. However, trends in political perception can be traced by studying changes in the perception of native Russian speakers of relevant concepts. Within the framework of the free association method, 326 respondents were selecting attributive distributors for lexemes that verbalize the corresponding concepts. The results of the study consist in: (1) identification of a range of attributes characteristic of each concept that makes up the image of Russia; (2) identification of overlapping, that is, repetitive and most common definitions that indicate the key characteristics of the concepts; (3) highlighting the most unique, neologous phrases that demonstrate trends in the dynamics of concepts; (4) visualization of the image of Russia (its key and peripheral characteristics), which allows you to see trends in political perception.