The article analyzes the observations of strannichestvo expounded in the home scientific literature at the beginning of the XXI century. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the concept of strannichestvo is not only under the scrutiny of scientists throughout its existence, but also continues to develop itself. The authors address the problem of constructing an adequate idea of this complex phenomenon. They attempt to establish a simultaneous set of invariant characteristics of strannichestvo, described in scientific papers with varying degrees of completeness and consistency. In addition, the use of discursive analysis allows recreating the comprehensive nature of the modern analytical assessment of strannichestvo. As a result, it was found that the word strannichestvo does not have equivalent translations into other languages, and in Russian its semantics is defined through many synonyms. Its conceptual complex has no clear boundaries and partially intersects with some, although comparable, but not identical concepts. Five varieties of strannichestvo were identified, none of which appears in practice in its purest form. It is described in what sense these varieties exist in the collective consciousness of the Russian people and in the individual consciousness of its most significant representatives. It is shown that at present the concept of strannichestvo is expanding due to a number of its specialized manifestations. It is concluded that the versatile nature of strannichestvo is its fundamental property and a synthesis of approaches belonging to different sciences is necessary to describe its integrity.