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In Search of National Character.
The paper deals with the concept of national character which has become especially popular nowadays, at the time of
globalization, because of a prospect (or threat) felt by all nations of the possible coming loss of national identities under the
pressure of global processes.
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To sum up, we have examined three sources confirming the existence of national character:
1) International jokes based on national stereotypes. These stereotypes do not so much reflect the salient
characteristics of a people, as form them both in the eyes of other nations as well as in the eyes of the nation in
question itself. A lot of Russians abroad, for instance, drink vodka, wear Russian- style flowered shawls and do
things they never do back home just so as to confirm to the international stereotype of a typical Russian.
2) A national classical literature. Its reliability as a source is «undermined» to a certain extent by an author’s
individuality and, therefore, subjective viewpoint.
3) Folklore which, incidentally, also has written forms, is the most reliable of the above-listed sources. Although
folklore falls back on stereotyped, schematic representation of heroes, personages and even plots, the very fact
that it is the collective effort or work of a people and that through the process of oral transmission from
generation to generation it has become as smooth and rounded as a pebble on the seashore and, therefore, devoid
of the subjectivity and idiosyncrasies of individual creative writing, makes it the most reliable source and
repository of knowledge on national character.
However, there is one more, the last – though not in terms of importance – most reliable and scientifically
acceptable source of information on national character: it is His Majesty the National Language loaded and
interwoven with National Culture. Language both reflects and moulds the character of its speaker and is the most
objective index of national character.
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