Substitution of values represented by perceptual characteristics as a part of the manipulation with consciousness

Abstract

The article deals with the study of the manipulative influence on the perception mechanism of evaluative meanings represented by perceptual characteristics svetly (light) – temny (dark), bely (white) – chorny (black). The article outlines the approaches to defining the manipulation as a way of social, psychological and verbal influence on individual. It also considers the manipulation components of modern foreign, mostly American culture (movies, fashion, traditions) affecting the consciousness of Russians. Those manipulation components can result in reformatting the original Russian values. It was stated that the influence aimed at the substitution of true spiritual value components for those that do not correlate with ideals of Russian culture leads to the change in perception of values which are presented by perceptual characteristics svetly (light) – temny (dark), belyi (white) – chernyi (black) (in Russian culture). As a result even deeper changes in the perception of spiritual, conventional sacred meanings by the bearers of Russian culture take place. The mechanism of transferring evaluative meanings is violated: light, serene, purity, clean – “exalted, noble, honest”, and obscureness, darkness, blackness, gruesome as an opposite to light and purity – “low, mean, sordid”. Due to reformatting evaluative images of good and bad, the true spiritual value components of good and evil, light and dark, which determine the cultural code of the Russian people, are replaced. Thus, evaluative meanings are transformed and the cognitive mechanism responsible for transmitting the deep cultural meanings represented by perceptual characteristics is distorted.