Alterity as a term and a communication category: linguocognitive and discursive approach

The article is devoted to alterity as a communication category in terms of linguocognitive and discursive approaches. The article gives an in-depth insight into alterity as a communication category in the cognitive and discursive aspects. Being an indispensable part of communication and cognition, the category has its own meaning presenting the communicative interaction within the frame "I – the Other". The category of alterity has its own set of category properties, which are specified uniquely in different languages. The article includes a description of the linguistic means and communicative strategies and tactics, with the help of which the category of alterity is realized in fiction. The category content is variable in the discourse, and it serves ground for the ecological and non-ecological modes of communication. The results of the research are verified with the help of the following methods employed in the research: the analysis of key concepts, comparative analysis, contextual analysis, discursive analysis. The study of special linguoallological (from allology – a science about the Other) competence forms the perspective of the research.