Representation Features in the National Cultural Content of Concepts Good and Evil

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of verbal representations in the concepts of good and evil in Russian and Kyrgyz linguocultures. Proverbs, as one of the basic units of the culture of the people, allow analyzing basic concepts, which precisely explain concepts of good and evil. In most occasions, the concepts of good and evil are same among all people understanding in the world. Some differences can arise in the cultural and historical traditions of the ethnos: lifestyle, historical development, religion, culture and mentality. These differences make it possible to explore specifics in a particular ethnic group, to penetrate mentality, to determine priorities and stereotypes. Of course, this is revealed only in comparison with the linguistic material of other people. The conceptual analysis allows us to make detailed descriptions of concepts in different languages. We believe that a person is initially inclined to do good, about which paremias in all nations are talking about. Humankind can create evil under the influence of any circumstances or difficulties. The borderline between good and evil is rather arbitrary: what is good for one person may turn out to be evil for other people. We believe that good and evil are not two opposed concepts, but one antonymic concept, where the corresponding concepts are not always strictly delimited. Most of the proverbs based on people’s ideas are about good and evil. Over time, new values appear in the consciousness of a person and society. What was good a hundred years ago may be evil today. Each person has his scale of values, which is determined by belonging to a particular nation’s mentality. The values and priorities of nomadic people often do not coincide with the values of sedentary tribes. Proverbs can also become outdated. The basic fund of paremias remains unchanged since universal human concepts of good and evil are one and eternal, they are dictated to us by the concepts of culture, religion and ethics.

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