British And Russian Attitude To Nature Reflected In Fiction: Cognitive And Linguocultural Analysis

While there is a lot of literature describing national characters this article searched to find some new aspects to this issue. Previously, the survey of national cultures was limited by the attitude of the people to social, political, and economic questions. This research offers to study the ways people treat nature, the goal is to better understand two nations, the English and the Russians and define common and different traits in their characters. The article discusses the attitude of the English and the Russians to nature as part of their cultures. The methods employed in the research are cognitive, literary, and linguo-stylistic. The cognitive approach to the material investigated makes it possible to avoid stereotyping in order to come to an understanding in communication. Extracts from XIX-XX century English and Russian fiction were selected for literary and linguo-stylistic analysis. The analysis exposes a warm and sentimental attitude of the English to nature that is like mother to them. As for the Russian person nature induces him to think about the purport of life, about god and human destiny. The reason for the differences is explained by strong traditions in the English character and severe conditions of life in Russia.