Shifting Horizons - A Line and Its Movement in Art, History and Philosophy

What happens when horizons shift? More specifically, what occurs when that line, which in everyday experience appears so consistent and omnipresent, reveals itself to be contingent? And if the horizon line is mutable, what does that imply about the systems of knowledge, order, and faith that the seemingly immutable horizon appears to neatly delimit and order? These are the questions that the volume of essays addresses, offering perspectives from multiple historical periods and disciplines that tackle instances in literature, history, and art in which shifts in conceptualizing the horizon made themselves manifest.

The Role of Work in the Life of Loránt Hegedüs (1872–1943)

Purpose of the study. Loránt Hegedüs was a remarkable historical figure in interwar Hungary. As a politician, economist, publicist, and belletrist, he influenced contemporary politics, economics, public life, literature, history, and religion. This study aims to understand the role of work in Hegedüs’ life; in other words, the study provides a deeper understanding of what work meant for Hegedüs, which stood behind his extraordinary performance and productivity. In addition, the study addresses further questions as to what factors influenced Hegedüs’ career choice and how, which occupation was the most significant at each stage of his life and why, as well as what his daily schedule looked like and what his working method was. Applied method. The main research question, what role work played in Hegedüs’ life, was examined chronologically and systematically throughout Hegedüs’ entire life story, in close interaction with the socio-cultural context. Levinson’s model provided the theoretical framework of the research. The Levinsonian theory interpreted man’s work as the primary base for his life in society and allowed studying individual and society (in Levinson’s words self and world) together. Based on Levinson’s theory, four periods of Hegedüs’ life were examined. A variety of sources, Hegedüs’ published writings, other contemporary publications, personal records, and a family chronicle, were used to answer the research questions. Outcomes. Work played a decisive role in Hegedüs’ entire life especially in his social integration. On the one hand his exceptional abilities, his unique family (its members, financial background, social affiliation, religion) together with his upbringing, on the other hand external circumstances (changes in politics, economy, and society) shaped Hegedüs’ idea and choices about work. As a result, Hegedüs established clear and strong values about work in adolescence and interpreted work as a duty owed to the community. In this context, his long-term goal was value creation, and his legacy, which he considered essential to support the next generation. Changes in the external world, especially challenges in work or limited possibilities for work, were reflected in the pattern of Hegedüs’ periods of life.

Factors determining connection between teaching deficiencies and students’ learning outcomes

Introduction. The article addresses the problem of assessing teachers’ professional deficiencies. The purpose of the research is to identify the essential factors determining the connection between teachers’ professional deficiencies and learning outcomes of schoolchildren. Materials and Methods. In order to study the relationship between teachers’ professional deficiencies and schoolchildren’s learning outcomes, the authors have developed a model of teachers’ professional deficiencies and followed a comprehensive research approach. The sample consisted of 3375 teachers who were interviewed. The authors analyzed the results of National Examinations (the Unified State Exams) of higher educational institutions applicants from 50 municipalities of the region. The method of factor analysis revealed a stable system of latent properties of teachers’ professional deficiencies affecting learning outcomes. The materials and methods that formed the basis of this study were obtained with the support of Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund for the Support of Research and Scientific-Technical Activities within the framework of the project “Comprehensive study of professional shortcomings and difficulties of teachers of the Krasnoyarsk Territory”. Results. The research findings consist in the developed system of factors obtained by indirect measurements. The content structure and characteristics of teachers’ professional deficiencies determining teaching effectiveness are revealed. It has been established that the selected groups of factors have a specific representation in each subject area. The results of teaching students in various subjects depend on the specifics of teachers’ professional deficiencies. The identified set of factors in the subject areas of “Mathematics”, “Literature”, “History”, “English” has a complex structure of the selected properties and is more diverse than in “Russian”, “Social Studies” and “Biology”. It is established that the theoretical model of teachers’ professional deficits has its own subject expression. Conclusions. Conclusions are drawn about the stability of the identified system of latent properties of teachers’ professional deficiencies, on which the results of schoolchildren's education depend. The authors emphasize that the established connection between teachers’ professional deficiencies and the results of schoolchildren's education contributes to the development of professional development programs and can become the main work of professional development centers for educators.

Ukrainian book art: ways of formation and development

The purpose of the article is to study the development of the directions of Ukrainian book art, the formation of new creative features in the European cultural space. The research methodology consists in the application of general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction) and methods of art history (comparative, typological, descriptive). The scientific novelty lies in the study of book art, which has always been important in Ukrainian art. Conclusions. Today, we have a large amount of fine works in the genre of book illustrations. These works reflected both the history of the Ukrainian literature, history of the national graphic art, as well as the history of cultural progress of Ukraine in general. Thus, book art is an extremely fruitful object of study, an intersection point, where the complicated process of interaction of socio-political, spiritual, cultural and artistic and aesthetic factors is underway. Thus, Ukrainian book graphics in different periods reflected all European trends – modernism, symbolism, neo-primitive art, futurism, cubism, expressionism, constructivism, realism, surrealism, Art Deco, neoclassicism. The originality of the artistic language emerged through the use of traditional motifs and vanguard image creation tools. Keywords: research, culture, illustration, book, art, national traditions.

LITERARY AND THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF THE SERMON ON LAW AND GRACE

This article studies the literary and theological background of the Sermon on Law and Grace, a famous oration by Ilarion, the (future) Metropolitan of Kyiv, from the mid-eleventh century. The author of this article focuses also on potential patristic models for Ilarion’s theological and patriotic reflection on the recent East Slavic history in the light of the official adoption of Christianity under Volodymyr Sviatoslavich, Prince of Kyiv. The main feature of the mentioned (self-)reflection, relying on the notion of history as the history of salvation, is disregarding the Byzantine political and cultural superiority and, simultaneously, emphasizing the justice of God, who brings his grace equally to all peoples, thus positioning them on the same spiritual level. This kind of reasoning was not a peculiarity of the Rus’ culture but formed a wider phenomenon defined by apologetic attitu­de and was characteristic of the entire religious-literary tradition of the East Orthodox Slavs between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. While trying to construct a theological justification of the historical value of Kyivan Rus’, Ilarion adapted patristic patterns coming from Byzantium, for example, the explanation of (dis)continuity between the Law of Moses and Christ’s mercy, particularly following Gregory Nazianzen and Patriarch Nicephorus I, or perception of a polity led by a Christian ruler, particularly following Eusebius of Caesarea. Keywords: Sermon on Law and Grace, Ilarion, Rus’ literature, history of salvation, patristic models

On Some Features of the Formation and Development of Literatures of the Peoples of Russia

Literatures of the peoples of Russia represent an interliterary community that has historically arisen and maintained its dynamic enrichment. The formation and development of these literatures has a number of common features that show the consistent pattern of this process. Literatures on national languages are characterized by irregularity of its development. Moreover, the European literature history can explain the peculiarities of this phenomenon and show that this uneven and intermittent development is essentially a part of a standard growth. Literatures of peoples of Russia at a certain stage entered the period of enrichment assimilating freely the traditions of Russian Literature and World Literature. One of the most important roles for this process was played by literary translation. Numerous features were showed by national literatures, the formation of genres, distinctive national characters, expressive possibilities of national languages, writers, and their artwork which made a national fund of literature. Folklore and national culture made a huge impact in comprehending process as well.

The Reception of Ancient Greece and Rome in the Victorian Period

Allusions to ancient Greece and Rome are pervasive in Victorian culture, in literary texts and material artifacts, on the popular stage, and in political discourse. Authors such as Matthew Arnold, Thackeray, Tennyson, Clough, Pater, Wilde, and Swinburne studied Latin and Greek for years at school or university and exploited their classical learning for creative purposes. The sheer familiarity of classical culture, based on years of studying Homer and Virgil at school, made it possible for intellectuals to draw parallels between contemporary political reforms and the democratic context of Greek tragedy, or to insist, like Arnold, that Periclean Athens should be a model for 19th-century Britain. At a time when the predominance of Latin and Greek in formal education was beginning to be questioned, there was increasing demand for translations and adaptations of classical literature, history, and myth, so that a wider readership could share in the richness of the classical inheritance. Outsiders were particularly eager to learn Greek or read Greek texts in translation, and authors such as Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and George Eliot achieved a remarkable degree of proficiency with little assistance. Greek epic and tragedy were appropriated by the authors of dramatic monologues, novels, and theatrical burlesques to engage with contemporary concerns about marriage and divorce, the role of women, and the apparent impossibility of heroism in the modern world. Toward the end of the period, classical literature was increasingly scrutinized from new perspectives: approaches based on anthropology, archaeology, and sociology presented familiar texts in new ways and opened up possibilities for redefining aspects of gender and sexuality in the contemporary world.

Public Rendition of Authorship: Commemorative Ceremonies in Neo-Avant-Garde Projects by Zabludovsky-Zorica

Artistic intermedial and interdiscursive projects and performance art events on the artistic stage written by Željko Zorica and his imaginary co-initiator “paleoanthropologist, demonologist, card player and wine drinker, Hans Christian Zabludovsky, PhD” are based on commemorative practices established by historical science and culturology. They refer to mechanisms of history production, question creative processes and evaluate the elusive and complex relationship between collective memory, the political sphere, literature and history. Zorica-Zabludovsky’s books and artistic performances (the erection of memorial plaques in Paris, Zagreb and Oporovec) challenge the “social imaginary” as a fundamental reference of historiographical and critical work, demonstrating that theoretically and politically conscious art does not necessarily interfere with aesthetic experience. This paper analyses them as expression of the transgressive character of post-avant-garde artistic practices—as undertakings that reveal the basic relationship between art, literature, history and public space.