Middle Ages Christian Colour Precious Stones Symbols in the Context of a new Conception of Symbol as a Synergetic Linguo-Cultural Hyper Sign

The article focuses on systematic research of Christian colour precious stones symbols in the context of a new conception of symbol as a synergetic lingo cultural hyper sign. It was pointed out that colours as hyper symbols, which were realized through precious stones, accepted symbolic use typical for Christianity. It was also proved that in Middle Ages colour was an expressive characteristic for precious stones depicting in literature. In general symbols were defined as complicated cultural phenomena depending upon both individual interpretation and upon the level of cultural stereotypes.

Wizerunek kobiety w polskich afektonimach w świetle teorii stereotypów płciowych

This article aims to present the image of a woman in Polish affectionate names in the light of the theory of gender stereotypes. Special attention has been paid to the linguistic and cultural status of female affectionate names. Based on the analysis of selected female affectionate names, the author demonstrates that they contain some women’s representations that depend on features assigned to women in social and cultural stereotypes (physical, mental and behavioural) such as beauty, grace, timidity, kindness, peace, protectiveness, modesty, etc. It has been noticed that this image can be both positive and negative.

Transculturalism and Its Manifestation in the Poetics of Lyric Texts

Using the example of the work of the Soviet Russian poet Pavel Nikolaevich Vasilyev, the author shows the representation of transcultural aesthetics in a literary text created in Russian by a Russian author, formed in the conditions of the borderline coexistence of two cultures: Russian and Kazakh. His works can be classified as borderland literature, in which the combination of the Russianlanguage discourse and the paradigm of the steppe, nomadic culture generates a hybrid text with a peculiar artistic aesthetics and poetics, which can be traced at the external and internal deep levels. The I of the author with borderline thinking has a stable ethnic identity, while openly showing its bicultural affiliation, which is quite consistent with the thesis about the flexibility of the cultural identity of a transcultural poet or writer. At the external text level of works of art, transculturalism finds expression in themes, in exoticisms, in foreign language insertions. The transcultural essence of the authors consciousness generates hybrid texts containing symbiotic verbal images and techniques that demonstrate hybrid canons and symbols (symbols of wormwood, horse), incorporating elements of Kazakh and Russian cultural stereotypes and codes (stereotypical ideas about the Asian appearance of Kazakhs), which coexist without conflict in the artistic picture of the world of Vasilyev. As a result, a poetic picture of the world, unique in aesthetics, enriched with the paradigms of two different cultures, which is the property of the Russian cultural space, appears.

FORMATION OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE AS A CURRENT DIRECTION OF SOCIAL AND PEDAGOGICAL WORK WITH ADOLESCENTS

The Healthy lifestyle`s formation is an actual problem of pedagogy, psychology and social work. The issues of saving, restoring health, and resistance to stress have become extremely relevant. The results of research of adolescents’ awareness of a healthy lifestyle are represented in the article. Teens are well informed about the basic concepts of a healthy lifestyle as detailed analysis showed. The process of forming responsibility for own life and health, conscious decision-making and overcoming cultural stereotypes about a healthy way of life requires special attention. The issues of saving, restoring health, and resistance to stress have become extremely relevant. Therefore, the analysis of the awareness of teens in matters of a healthy lifestyle has become necessary for the formation of a further algorithm for saving and restoring health. The analysis of research determined alcohol is an acceptable attribute that does not seriously interfere with a healthy lifestyle. This cognitive malformation is correlated with the promotion of alcohol and cigarettes on TV and web, also these harmful elements are acceptable in national traditions. The correlation between family`s healthy lifestyle and resistance to stress is noticed. The families which respect a healthy lifestyle are more resistible to stresses during a pandemic time. It is manifested in more adequate statements and constructive predictions about the use of trends in health lifestyle`s technologies. The correlation between family`s healthy lifestyle and resistance to stress is noticed. The families which respect a healthy lifestyle are more resistible to stresses during a pandemic time. It is manifested in more adequate statements and constructive predictions about the use of trends in health lifestyle`s technologies The most part of teens is trying to follow the healthy lifestyle`s rules and avoid harmful substances. Teenagers are interested in maintaining and restoring physical and psychological health during a pandemic. The gender aspect, processes of conscious behavior acceptance of consequences and motivation for the formation of responsible behavior require additional researches.

Effects of Cognitive Knowledge and Intercultural Behavioral Skills on Cultural Stereotypes and Intercultural Affect: A Case of Elementary Students’ Perspective on Islam

Two decades have passed since the September 11 attacks by Islamist militants that shocked the world. Despite this, Islamophobia remains a common phenomenon. In Taiwan, the 2014 12-year Basic Education Curriculum amendments emphasize cultural and global understanding as core competencies. With more than 6 years of implementation, it would be therefore interesting to learn what elementary school students think of Islam. Anchoring on the concepts of intercultural competency development, stereotypes are said to be related to cognitive knowledge, intercultural behavioral abilities, and attitudes. A survey instrument was developed and validated to collect information on stereotypes, skills in intercultural interaction, and attitudes toward Islam. Additionally, cognitive knowledge of Islam was also tested. A total of 712 students participated in the study. Structural equation modelling was used to test the mediating role of cognitive knowledge and intercultural behavioral skills within the relationship between cultural stereotypes and intercultural affects. Findings show that behavioral skills alone are not enough to diminish the negative aspects of stereotypes. Importantly, it is only with the help of cognitive knowledge that the relationship between stereotypes and intercultural affects are improved. It is hoped that by understanding the importance of proper curriculum content, more sustainable coexistence can be established.

Mental Imagery in Bertrand Russell’s Nobel Lecture “What Desires Are Politically Important?”

The article presents the analysis of the mental images of human desires and their verbalization techniques involved in Bertrand Russell’s Nobel lecture delivered in 1950. Human desires are non-material mental constructs that are not clearly defined in the dictionaries, their verbalization being complicated by the issues related to rationality, psychology of thinking, objectivity, and the variability of individual behavioral reactions. The results of the research suggest that the verbalization of desires is essentially complicated by social and cultural stereotypes. It has been noted that storytelling can be applied as one of the most effective techniques to create the required mental imagery of desires in the recipient’s mind. B. Russell’s unique manner of defining such politically important desires as acquisitiveness, vanity, glory, love of power, excitement is carefully analyzed. The use of figurative language as well as conceptual and stylistic metaphors that facilitate the process of shaping mental images of desires have also been the focus of our attention. Special consideration has been given to the analysis of the verbalization means of the politically important desires.

“Friends don’t let friends skip rat day”

Building on literature detailing the use of internet memes online, this chapter analyzes the repetition of memes offline in the everyday face-to-face conversations of Millennial friends in their late twenties, who appropriate texts from memes to serve particular functions in their talk. When these speakers encounter interactional dilemmas due to epistemic (knowledge) imbalances, they make references to internet memes, which allow the epistemic territory of talk to shift to a topic to which at least most of the speakers have epistemic access. These epistemic shifts underlie the construction of play frame laminations, allowing for different structures of participation and conversational involvement around shared knowledge of the memes, which serve for group identity construction. At the same time, this chapter highlights how the references to internet memes in particular invoke various cultural stereotypes. This chapter contributes to understanding how intertextual references to different forms of media can resolve interactional dilemmas in conversation by shifting epistemics and laminating frames, ultimately reinforcing a group identity based on shared knowledge.

Sex/Gender Attribution: When the Penis Makes the Difference

The present study aimed to replicate Kessler and McKenna’s (1978) ethnomethodological study that investigated how an individual attributes gender to a person. By administering figures depicted on overlays (Overlay Study), Kessler and McKenna found that the penis more than the vulva and the male sexual characteristics more than the female ones were significantly more salient in the gender attribution process. From all this, their adage is: “See someone as female only when you cannot see them as male.” Taking as a model Kessler and McKenna’s Overlay Study, we administered to 592 adults 120 new digital stimuli elaborated on realistic frontal images of human nudes to verify if the previously obtained results would be confirmed by using more realistic images. We found that the participants attributed male gender 86% of the time when the penis was shown, but only attributed female gender 67% of the time when the vulva was shown. All findings had strong statistical significance, confirming the findings of the Overlay Study that the penis makes the difference in gender recognition. Beyond an ethnomethodological approach, we have interpreted and discussed our results from the outlook of evolutionary and cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, concluding that the cultural stereotypes and prejudices that affect gender attribution might not just be a mere cultural product, but rather the consequence of evolved cognitive biases.

“The Girl Who Cried Rape”: An Assessment of Rape Myths in the Moroccan Sociocultural Context

Empirical studies have unequivocally and consistently shown that rape myths are integral to the aetiology of sexual coercion and aggression. The present article reviews the literature on rape myth acceptance as an important risk factor in the sexual victimization of women and a precursor for a hostile social attitude towards victims of rape. Through the examination of the verbal reactions of the Moroccan public to the case of rape and torture of Khadija “the tattoo girl” (fata:t lwaʃm) on YouTube, it attempts to assess and debunk specific examples of rape myths present in the Moroccan sociocultural context. Discussion focuses on the social perception of female victims of sexual violence and the measurement and evaluation of its physical and psychological impact on them. Victims' emotional responses and psychic trauma constitute an important part of this discussion. Findings suggest the existence of immanently cultural rape myths, such as “the myth of the willing victim”, “it is impossible to rape a resisting woman”, and “women are prone to make false allegations”, along with deleterious victim-blaming cultural stereotypes, such as “she was asking for it”. Another noteworthy finding this paper presents is the social requirement of conspicuous "psychological/emotional harm" to legitimize the status of the victim.