Tsymbal D. Interethnic Communication in Big Сity Environment.

The dissertation studies the process of interethnic communication in big urban environments. The primary attention is given to the phenomenon of interethnic communication: in particular, major conceptions of interethnic communication in the ethnonational development of societies are reviewed and treatment of fundamental terms and concepts which help to uncover the essence of the phenomenon of interethnic communication is provided. Among the concepts treated there are interethnic relations, interethnic connections, interethnic intercourse, and interethnic contacts. Taken together, these components constitute the structure of interethnic communication. On the basis of empirical data the author analyses the influence of enthnolingual conditions in urban areas on the state of interethnic communication. Insofar as language is the major determining factor of ethnic self-identification, it is the ethnolingual conditions that reflect the latent processes of being of a nation with its values and substantial features, which make up the structure of subject-to-subject interaction. The present enthnolingual conditions satisfy the lingual demands of both title ethnos and ethnic minorities that is an effective means of preventing interethnic conflicts. At the same time Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism is a characteristic feature of the lingual conditions in big urban environments. Moreover, Ukrainian-Russian lingual communication leaves a specific mark on mastery of both Ukrainian and Russian languages as far as there is insufficient mastery of either of them. Special attention is given to the issue of interethnic tolerance as one of indispensable ways of achieving acceptable and proper interethnic communication. The social, economic, and political conditions of the society have remarkable influence on the level of interethnic tolerance. The dissertation deals with models of interethnic communication. Since the major outcome of the interethnic communication is a set of conditions which might be favorable either for integration or conflict, two models were elaborated: that of integration and that of conflict. Furthermore, the author developed a "compromising" model, which enables a non-conflict type of ethnosocial development of polyethnic city.