MODELLING A LINGUISTIC-CULTURAL IMAGE IN TEACHING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The article describes the procedure of modelling an image of a country during linguistic and cultural\nanalysis of an artistic text. The authors evaluate the importance of modelling images in teaching foreign\nphilologists. The materials of the research are poems of a Russian émigré writer V.F. Hodasevich which\nwere devoted to Italy. The relevance of the topic in the aspect of teaching Russian as a foreign language is stipulated by the following factors. Firstly, Russian émigré literature is often included as a special course\nin educational programs for foreign students. These texts are always interesting for foreign students,\nmainly because they reflect the realia of students' native linguistic culture. It is necessary to use these\ntexts in the educational process and help students find the specifics of country images in them. These\ntexts increase motivation to learn the Russian language. Secondly, cultural relations between Russia and\nItaly have been developed since the XV century. The image of Italy can be regarded as traditional for\nRussian culture; it is characterised as archetypical, and scientists define it as “Italian myth” in Russian\nlinguistic culture. Thirdly, Russian émigré literature creates a specific image of Italy, which, as well as\nimages of other host countries, is included in the image of alien, combined and at the same time opposed\nwith the image of own, contains features of foreign and native space. This shows the importance of\nunderstanding the image of Italy for foreign students to get a deep knowledge of Russian linguistic\nculture.