Abstract
This article probes the essence of such phenomena as concept and symbol, considers the dialectic of their stability and variability, and traces the development of content in some of them. Archetypes, stereotypes, and conceptual values are identified as the entities that are responsible for the universality of concepts and symbols, and that provide the stable ‘kernels’ of their content, which resist changes happening in them over time. Finally, the article expands on the main factors bringing about these changes — intertextuality and deconstruction, and offers a case study of the deconstruction of the Soviet ideological model during the ‘Perestroika’ of the 1990s.
About the author
Her research interests include linguistics, semiotics, and psycholinguistics. Her recent publications include ‘Semantics of ymbol’ (2003); ‘Metonymy as a tool of cognition and representation: A natural language analysis’ (2005); ‘Methods, types and techniques of persuasion and suggestion: Linguistic perspective’ (2006); and ‘Approaches to metaphor: Structure, classifications, cognate phenomena’ (2006).
© Walter de Gruyter
