scholarly journals Decoding the 1920s: A Reader for Advanced Learners in Russian

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nila Friedberg ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Literature ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
State University ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Portland State University ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
Tv Shows ◽  
Mikhail Zoshchenko

The materials presented in this book were developed for an advanced-level content-based Russian language course at Portland State University entitled “Russian Literature of the Twentieth Century: The 1920s.” Literature of this period is a major part of the Russian canon, but is notoriously difficult for learners of Russian to read in the original, due both to its stylistic complexity and the relative obscurity of its historical, political, and cultural references. And yet, this decade is crucial for understanding Russia – not only in the Soviet period, but also today. This was the period, when Mikhail Zoshchenko, Isaak Babel, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Andrei Platonov meticulously documented the birth of the “New Soviet Man,” his “newspeak” and Soviet bureaucratese; when Alexandra Kollontai, a Marxist revolutionary and a diplomat, wrote essays and fiction on the “New Soviet Woman”; when numerous satirical works were created; when Babel experimented with a literary representation of dialects (e.g.,Odessa Russian or Jewish Russian). These varieties of language have not disappeared. Bureaucrats still use some form of bureaucratese. Numerous contemporary TV shows imitate the dialects that Babel described. Moreover, Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” gave rise, due largely to its film adaptation, to catch-phrases that still appear throughout contemporary Russian media, satirical contexts, and everyday conversation. Thus, the Russian literature of the 1920s does not belong exclusively to the past, but has relevance and interpretive power for the present, and language learners who wish to pursue a career in humanities, media analysis, analytical translation, journalism, or international relations must understand this period and the linguistic patterns it established.

Word and Digit

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 484-500
Author(s):  
Yuri M. Polyakov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Literature ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Local Television ◽  
Personal Issue ◽  
National Life ◽  
Tv Shows ◽  
Modern Russian

The author analyzes the negative processes in modern Russian culture including the degradation of the Russian language use in literature, society and mass media; general substitution of Russian terms for borrowed foreign analogues; low artistic level of local television serials; openly pro-Western character of entertainment TV shows. Still these processes have a deeper layer: actual denial of the art educational and instructive role in Russia, including literature, theatre and cinema; the loss of the tradition that envisaged artistic research of social and moral state of the society. Against this background the author studies the dual-community factor of modern Russian literature: “pochvenicheskiy” and “intertextual”. The first interprets literature as part of the national life, when the last defines it as strictly personal issue. The isolation of two communities from each other, the state self-barring from the support of the most important from the point of view of self-identity issues, senses and directions in modern Russian literature, in particular, and in culture and art, in general, lead Russian literature (philology) in the direction of Russophobia commercial exploitation. An important part here is played by the degradation of the institutes of the literary community inner expertise, and in particular – the lowering of the level and quality of literary critic.

‘Russia is always ahead of time…’ Аndrey Bitov on himself, the empire, the Russian language and literature

2019 ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
Elena K. Chkhaidze
Keyword(s):  
Russian Literature ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
The West ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Imperial Identity ◽  
The Russian Language

One of the last interviews given by Andrey Bitov, often considered a founder of Russian Postmodernism, before his death. His books are a symbiosis of knowledge (of history, culture, and literature) and play, which is perceived as the driver of alternating meanings constantly undergoing a transformation. The idea behind the conversation was not only to clarify the questions left unanswered upon the reading of Bitov’s epic Empire in Four Dimensions [ Imperiya v chetyryokh izmereniyakh ] and other books, but also to identify the foundations of the writer’s views. In one of his last interviews, Bitov discussed his vision of Russia’s imperial identity and Russian mentality, the Soviet regime and the Soviet period, Stalin’s role in history, his attitude to the West, the Russian language, secrets of his books and his favorite authors. Bitov reminisced about his trips to the Soviet republics of Georgia and Armenia, as well as his friendship with R. Gabriadze and G. Matevosyan. The writer offered his original vision of the development of Russian literature in the 19th c. in light of his fascination with astrology.

scholarly journals Review: Pigin, A.V. & Andrianova, I.S. (Eds) (2019) Filologiya kak Prizvanie: Sbornik Statey k Yubileyu Professora Vladimira Nikolaevicha Zakharova [Philology as a Vocation: Collection of Articles to the Anniversary of Professor Vladimir Nikolaevich Zakharov]. Petrozavodsk: Petrozavodsk State University. 664 P.

2021 ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
Andrei E. Kunilskiy ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
State University ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
European Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Made In

The review draws attention to a great contribution made by Professor Vladimir Zakharov to the study of the history of Russian literature, especially of Dostoevsky’s oeuvre. The longstanding and continuing research of Dostoevsky’s works made him deduce that Russian literature in whole was Christian with its particular evangelic text, Christian chronotope and general paschal, conciliar and salvational character. It is em-phasized that these pivotal concepts do not contradict the complexity (sometimes ambi-guity) of the nature of Russian literature and confirm the relevance of Pyotr Chaadaev’s call to recognize the impact of Christianity wherever and in whatever manner the hu-man thought touches upon it, even with the purpose of competing with it. The articles published in the collection prove the efficiency of Zakharov’s academic research. The articles cover various themes and attract a wide scope of materials, such as Old Russian literature and literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, as well as that of the Soviet period and Russian literature abroad. The review takes into consideration the originality and potential of a number of remarks made in the articles, and introduces some clarifi-cations and supplements. Special attention has been paid to the articles dedicated to Dostoevsky’s oeuvre and his relations with other authors. The review emphasizes that one must understand the difference of Dostoevsky from other writers. Thus, with regard to the use of the “poetics of paradox” by Dostoevsky and Osip Senkovsky (as stated in V.A. Koshelev’s article), it is asserted that the concept of paradox and the image of a paradoxer play a significant role in Dostoevsky’s reasoning, but not with the aim of brandishing his originality and pinpointing the comic and absurd character of objective reality. In Dostoevsky, ideas inconsistent with common notions yet comprising the truth turn out to be paradoxical. The review also draws attention to differences in the out-looks of Dostoevsky and Chekhov, thus entering into a debate with the researcher N.V. Prashcheruk regarding the spiritual kinship of the two great Russian writers. The review distinguishes the articles of V.A. Viktorovich, B.N. Tarasov, and B.N. Tikhomirov for the abundance of sources, accuracy and consistency of their key theses. The academic hypothesis stated by I.A. Esaulov about two cultural currents (European culture of Modern Times and Christian tradition) influencing the formation of Russian literature should be taken into account when creating the history of national literature that must capture the essence and character of its genesis correctly. The review states that articles on Old Russian literature (L.V. Sokolova, T.F. Volkova, A.V. Pigin) are characterized by a detailed study of the material and a broad philological background on the whole. Finally, the review states that the collection has again proved the diversity of Zakha-rov’s research interests, the potential of his ideas as well as his own beneficial role in the activity of Russian and international philological community.

HIGHER HISTORICAL EDUCATION IN CHUVASHIA (1967–1991): TO THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Natalya V. Knyazeva
Keyword(s):  
Russian Language ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
State University ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Modern Development ◽  
State Pedagogical ◽  
State Pedagogical Institute ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Education ◽  
The Republic

Modern development of the state in general and the educational system in particular is largely predetermined by the events of the past, which inevitably become part of history. In the context of historical education modernization, which took place in the country at the beginning of the 21st century, it is necessary to study more deeply the existing experience of creating specialized faculties and teaching history on their basis within higher educational institutions. Historical education in the territory of Chuvashia began to be implemented in the 1930. In the period from 1930 to 1967, the Chuvash State Pedagogical Institute was engaged in the formation of professional historical personnel. From 1967, a new stage in the development of higher historical education of the republic begins, associated with the opening of I.N. Ulianov Chuvash State University (I.N. Ulianov ChuvSU). The Faculty of History and Philology (FHP) began working in the structure of the classical university. It consisted of five departments: general history, the history of the USSR, the Chuvash language and literature, the Russian language, Russian and foreign literature, which were headed by leading scientists of the republic. From 1990, changes took place in the history of higher historical education in Chuvashia. This is due to the division of the FHP into three independent faculties, among which the historical one was singled out. During the same period, restructuring of I.N. Ulianov ChuvSU was underway, as a result of which in 1990, in addition to the departments of national history and general history, a new department of archeology, ethnography and regional history began to function at the faculty. During the period of activity of the Faculty of History and Philology, it was headed by well-known scientists, organizers of education: Candidate of Philological Sciences V.Ya. Kanukov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor V.F. Kakhovsky, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor M.M. Mikhailov, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor I.A. Andreev. The Soviet period in the formation and development of higher historical education, associated with the opening of I.N. Ulianov Chuvash State University, laid the mainstays for training personnel in subsequent periods.

Don historian P.G. Chernopitsky: “The main thing for him was the truth”

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (12-1) ◽  
pp. 150-167
Author(s):  
Alexey Grishchenko
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
State University ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
Collective Farm ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Life Path ◽  
Main Thing

The article tells about the life path and research work of the Don agricultural historian P.G. Chernopitsky. The stages of scientific creativity are determined, the main scientific works in the context of the era are considered, its position on the debatable problems of the Don and North Caucasus history, in particular, on the essence and stages of decossackization is determined. The contribution of P. G. Chernopitsky to the study of the socio -economic history of the Soviet pre -collective farm village, collectivization, the famine of 1932-1933 in the North Caucasus, the history of the Don Cossacks in the Soviet period is demonstrated. Relations with colleagues at Rostov State University are highlighted.

scholarly journals Literature as a Source of Metaphorical Modeling in Russian Media Discourse

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
L. Krajčovičová
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Continuous Sampling ◽  
Initial Hypothesis ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
International Event ◽  
The Russian Language

The goal of this article is to analyze the principles and methods of using the precedent semantics of literary onyms in the process of metaphorization of the high-profile international event Brexit in contemporary (2016–2021) Russian-language media discourse. The research material encompasses media discourse, from which fragments of online versions of Russian-language newspaper and journalistic texts of different genres and socio-political orientation have been selected. As an additional source of empirical material, the author uses the newspaper subcorpus of the national corpus of the Russian language, as well as the Russian-language subcorpus of the international databases Eastview and Aranea. In order to achieve the main goal of the research the author uses the method of continuous sampling, methods of corpus linguistics, methods of content analysis, as well as narrative and contextual analysis (of fragments of media discourse), linguocultural analysis of texts, methods of conceptual analysis and interpretation. Thanks to the use of methods of corpus linguistics, more than 400 contextual realizations of the use of precedent names in connotative metaphorical meaning (in connection with Brexit) have been collected and analyzed. The article presents only the most expressive and most common examples of metaphorization of precedent names when describing the discursive event of Brexit. On the basis of the analysis, the author concludes that the so-called universal-precedent phenomena (mainly of English but also European literature) prevail in the process of metaphorization compared to those of Russian literature, which are extremely rare. In the paper’s study, the author also focuses on the fact that precedent names in the process of metaphorization undergo desemanticization (simplification of the meaning) and become distinctive cultural stereotypes. Initial hypothesis that the intertextuality of the Russian media discourse has a pronounced literary-centric character is confirmed.

scholarly journals Strategic Planning to Advance Equity on Campus: A Case Study at Portland State University

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Zapata ◽  
Stephen Percy ◽  
Sona Karentz Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Board Of Trustees ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Institutional Racism ◽  
State University ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Portland State University

Propelled by many factors, including a newly appointed Board of Trustees responsible for governance of our university, resource shortages, and enrollment swings, Portland State University embarked on a strategic planning effort in 2014 with the intent of reunifying a divided campus and creating a bold vision for moving forward in the next five years. While committed from the start to goals of diversity and inclusion, the planning process itself generated greater awareness of and commitment to equity—a bolder vision of empowerment that creates a responsibility to understand and mitigate negative, but often unintended consequences of, campus decisions and action—particularly as they impact groups that have experienced institutional racism and injustice. Equity emerged not only as a goal, with intendant initiatives for action, but also as a commitment to conscientious ongoing attention to decision-making that embraces utilization of an equity lens.

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