RACISM AND DISCOURSE (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF FOREIGN RESEARCHES)

Abstract

The article examines the manifestation of racist views and beliefs in various discursive practices. Words, texts and speech can play a key role in the formation of the modern racism. The study provides a brief overview of the concepts of “race” and “racism” adopted in Western science, describes the main approaches to the discursive analysis of racism. The focus is on discursive aspects of racism in Germany and New Zealand. Terms “prejudice” as a negative attitude towards a social group and “stereotype” as expression of a belief about a group or a representative of a group are explored. Strategies for rationalizing prejudices about minorities are listed; themes of racist discourse are described. The semantics of racist discourse manifested in the social, cultural, political, information, business and everyday spheres of life is examined. The authors summarize the broad meaning of the term racism applied in the Western science. The conclusion is made about the unifying and divisive functions of racist discourse and its differentiation into levels: “domestic racism”, “elitist racism”.