IMAGOLOGY IN LITERATURE TEACHING AS A METHOD OF PREJUDICE AND STEREOTYPE REFLECTIONS IN THE PERCEPTION AND IMAGINING OF THE FOREIGN/THE OTHER

The main aim of the paper is to show how imagology (sometimes also referred to as the intercultural hermeneutics) can be used in the literature teaching. It will be shown how the imagology methods can be used in texts interpretation (in this paper we focus on travel books) and how these methods can be used to stimulate the students’ awareness of prejudices and stereotypes that influence and shape individual perception and imagination of foreign countries, the characteristics of mentalities and other aspects of their population. We understand the process of reflection as the first step to the elimination of stereotyping, the malignity of which results from the fact that stereotypes usually offer a generalizing, simplistic and immutable view of “the other" and ultimately create impenetrable barriers between “the me” and “the not-me”, making these barriers time-stable at the same time, Therefore, we believe that, especially in today's multi-cultural world, the imagological approach in the teaching of literature is very topical yet at the lower levels of education. The imagological approach will be presented on the texts intended for high school students.