Linguistic and cultural interpretations: reflection of the concept of "Rus" in animated films in the representation of the peoples of the North Caucasus

Based on the animated series about the three heroes, which is a free presentation of famous epics, representatives of the North Caucasus youth interpret the most important sign of the Russian peo-ple's national mentality - Russianness - within the framework of the concept "Rus". The main se-mantic fields and dominant cognitive features characterizing the concept under study in the lin-guistic consciousness of North Caucasian ethnic groups were identified during receptive and asso-ciative experiments involving 95 students from Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov (Kabardins, Balkars, Chechens, Ingush, Avars, Kumyks, etc.). The analysis of fragments extracted from cartoons showed a vivid demonstration of the culture and way of life of the Russian people, confirming the ideas of Russia by the subjects. During the research, the core of the concept "Rus" and its peripheral zones were identified.