Stereotypical representation of a blacksmith in the Russian paremiological space (linguocultural aspect)

The article examines the paremias characterizing a blacksmith as one of the core representatives of the conceptual field «Craft» in the paremiological space of the Russian language. The aim of the study is to identify the stereotypical traditional idea of a blacksmith, verbalized by means of paremias. Until now, such a systemic analysis of the stereotypical idea has not been undertaken. The analysis involves 72 paremiological units from authoritative paremiographic sources, characterizing the appearance, work process, place of work, tools of a blacksmith, payment for his work, the assessment of the master of blacksmithing existing in the paremiological space and the attitude towards him in society. The cultural attitudes expressed by the paremias, the imagery of the paremiological units, and the opposition of components are studied. As a result of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that the stereotypical idea of a blacksmith in the Russian paremiological space includes his high mythological status, good physical shape, high level of skill, difficult working conditions. The main tools of a blacksmith are tongs and a hammer with an anvil. The blacksmith's craft is well paid, but his work is dangerous because he deals with the element of fire. Proverbs attribute negative traits to the blacksmith — drunkenness, a tendency to steal and deceive. The image of a blacksmith is used in proverbs in a broader sense, as a symbol of a creative person. The stereotypical traditional idea of a blacksmith in many ways coincides with the modern idea, reflected in the database of the «National Corpus of the Russian Language».