ИСТИНА

Any guidebook for tourists travelling around the multinational region presents information about peoples who inhabit the territory. However, the way the information is presented is frequently far from objective. The article studies the peculiarities of the descriptions of native peoples of the Volga Region and the Crimea. The texts of Russian provincial guidebooks in the second part of the ninetieth and the beginning of the twentieth century are the sources of the research. We can identify the existing regional ethnic stereotypes through the analysis of the list of national places of interest and the ways local customs, traditions and beliefs are interpreted by the guidebooks. But the guidebook is not only a mirror reflecting the views of the regional community; it is also a text that can form wrong attitudes and prejudice among the readers. Impartial views and politically influenced judgements and characteristics, real pictures and kitsch sketches are presented side by side. The proportion of reality and fantasy has regional specifics and is formed by social conditions along with local traditions of ethnic and cultural contacts in the region. Key words: guidebooks, ethnic stereotypes, prejudice, multinational community