Pragmatic Nature of Identity as a Linguacultural Category

The article focuses on the phenomenon of identity from the pragmatic point of view. The process of communication is proved to reveal and form the subject’s affiliation with a particular community. Identity is viewed as the result of the process of communication, which consists in searching for an answer to the question of who I am. It is objectified in a dialogue that generates a situation of significance for the subjects of culture involved in it, thus actualizing their integral and differential attributes, which are taken into account in the course of identification. The study shows that two types of communication are used in the process of identity formation: external, according to the I – ONE model, and internal, according to the I – I model. The realization of the first model consists in the fact that a linguacultural community delivers information about itself to other cultural subjects by means of emblems and brands. This method of information transfer is connected with the formation of an opinion about oneself in the minds of other subjects of culture. The internal model of communication relates to the transmission of information to oneself. This type of communication may be considered in diachronic and synchronous aspects. Major means used in auto-communication are etalons, symbols, measures, amulets. Linguaculture, while implementing both models, can generate or borrow new principles, values, symbolary for their expression, which results in transformation of identity. The article determines the significant aspects in describing the pragmatic essence of identity, including the subjects of culture perceptions of oneself and the other, the content of goal-setting, the cultural code, and the message. The cultural code is embodied in the symbolary of identity and the texts in which it is realized. It reflects the image and way of thinking, self-perception of the subjects of culture. Natural language is proved to be the main means of identity objectification.