О.В. Рябов, М.А. Константинова.
«Русский медведь» как символический пограничник
// Труды КарНЦ РАН. No 6. Серия Гуманитарные исследования. Вып. 2. 2011. C. 114-123
O.V. Ryabov, M.A. Konstantinova. «Russian bear» as a symbolic border guard // Transactions of Karelian Research Centre of Russian Academy of Science. No 4. Humanitarian studies. 2011. Pp. 114-123
Keywords: image of Russia as a bear, social boundaries, symbolic boundaries, symbolic border guards, national identity, legitimating power
The article is devoted to the image of the Russian bear as a symbolic border guard which contributes to drawing symbolic boundaries between Russia and the West. The authors treat drawing of symbolic boundaries as a way to support collective identity and to establish power relations. They analyse traits and functions of the ‘Russian bear' and its role in establishing internal and external symbolic boundaries of Russia.
