Larger than Life? A Stylometric Analysis of the Multi-Authored 'Vita' of Hildegard of Bingen

This article explores by aid of stylometric methods the collaborative authorship of the Vita Hildegardis, Hildegard of Bingen's (auto-?)biography. Both Hildegard and her biographers gradually contributed to the text in the course of the last years of Hildegard's life, and it was posthumously completed in the mid-1180s by end redactor Theoderic of Echternach. In between these termini a quo and ante quem the work was allegedly taken up but left unfinished by secretaries Godfrey of Disibodenberg and Guibert of Gembloux. In light of the fact that the Vita is an indispensable source in gaining historical knowledge on Hildegard's life, the question has often been raised whether the Life of Hildegard is – by dint of contributions by multiple stakeholders – a larger-than-life depiction of the visionary's life course. Specifically the 'autobiographical' passages included in the Vita, in which Hildegard is allegedly cited directly and is taken to recount biographical information in the first-person singular, have been approached with suspicion. By applying state-of-the-art computional methods for the automatic detection of writing style (stylometry), the delicate questions of authenticity and collaborative authorship of this (auto?)hagiographical text are addressed.

Impact of Persian Sufi Thoughts on D. H. Lawrence’s Writing

In this paper, we have argued that Lawrence’s interest in what is ancient wisdom brings him in direct or indirect contact with Sufi metaphysics. This outlook on the world brings him closer to a Sufi universe in two ways. Firstly, Lawrence portrays romantic relationships in a mystical language, he presents the sensuous relationships as sacred activities through which the characters aspire to self-discovery. Lawrence`s portrayal of romantic love corresponds with the higher concept of love in Sufi literature. Secondly, this paper takes a closer look at some of Lawrence’s spiritual works including his Study of Thomas Hardy to compare his sustained argument regarding spiritualism and transcendental motifs in comparison with Sufi cosmology. Moreover, the following discussion also includes a detailed engagement with Lawrence`s correspondence and biographical information of the time when Lawrence was writing his essays and novels which contain transcendental motifs. His correspondence and biographical information suggest he had some direct exposure to Sufi literature in translation. Keywords: mysticism, divinity, holistic vision, physical and spiritual connection, cosmology, transcendental, metaphysics, ontology

PETRO SOKALSKI’S PUBLICATIONS IN THE “NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA” (1869-1872)

The second essay in the cycle of the researches of the activities of the Ukrainian composer, publicist, active participant of the national movement of the second half of the XIX-th century Petro Sokalskyi (1832 - 1887) in the Imperial Society of Agriculture of Southern Russia focuses on the analysis of the authorial articles published in the volumes of «Notes of the Imperial Society of Agriculture of Southern Russia» during 1869–1872. Therefore, the classification of publications by thematic categories and their review in chronological order are the main tasks of the study. It was found out that Petro Sokalskyi not only held the positions of the secretary of the society and editor of “Notes” (from 1869 to 1871), but also actively wrote on agricultural topics. Author's articles of this period were the reviews of the problems of agriculture in the south of the empire in different years; the discussions of measures of encouraging the sheep farming and winemaking in the region; the descriptions of the results of the exhibition of viticulture and winemaking; and so on. The publicist also responded to questions that worried the farmers, winemakers and workers throughout the empire: economic and customs policy, the “wool issue”, the labor issue and more. In fact, on all the above issues, Sokalskyi expressed professional and deep thoughts, and also drew upon the international and European experience, which underscored his general intelligence in different fields of knowledge. The characteristic of this part of the author's journalistic heritage allows not only to supplement the available biographical information, but also to draw the attention of researchers to individual members of the Imperial Society of Agriculture of Southern Russia. In addition, the authors' articles will be useful for agricultural researchers.

Bartók, Biography, and the Violin

Biography takes the scant facts of a life that are available to scrutiny, like the waypoints on a journey to be mapped, and attempts to form a coherent narrative from them. That coherence is, to at least some degree, contingent upon the ideological position of the author and as Michael Benton has noted, “the biographical subject is a textual creation as much as a historical recreation.” While fully acknowledging that one cannot “read back” from the works of an author to their life, Benton has described the substance of literary outputs as “quasi-facts” to be set beside “historical facts” and argued that these “can be seen as reflecting some contemporary events or as sublimating some experiences in the writer’s past or mirroring some authorial state of mind.” This article draws on the First Violin Sonata as such a quasi-fact of Bartók’s life to question whether biographical information can or should impact the ways that we understand and perform his music. The article additionally considers whether the content of individual works as mental products may have something tangible to impart about their composer’s personality. Given the broad consensus around the so-called “Five-Factor Model” of personality measurement within the field of psychology, it speculates whether this might offer a tool to refine our portrait of Bartók through analysis of his music.

The Story of a Drawing from Chukokkala Miscellany

A novel detailed analysis of a page from Chukokkala , Korney Chukovsky's handwritten miscellany with drawings by Yuri Annenkov, dated March 1923, is given. Involvement of archival sources makes up the history of the drawing creation. It turns out that Annenkov worked at the page of the miscellany and the portrait of Leo Trotsky at the same time. The analysis of the stylistic features of the drawing reconstructs the elements of the literary life of the 1920s. The study of the depicted persons clarifies the circle of friends and associates of prominent cultural figures of the first post-revolutionary decade. The article provides little-known biographical information about the characters depicted in the drawing. It specifies how Annenkov met Gorky's closest associate, the prominent public figure Albert Pinkevich. The author highlights little-known facts of friendship of A. Pinkevich, Boris Pilnyak, a Soviet writer, and the avant-garde artist Boris Shaposhnikov. The history of the creation of graphic portraits of Soviet writers made by Annenkov is considered. In conclusion, the page of the handwritten miscellany, and Chukokkala as a whole, are presented as a unique monument that captures the living passage of time.

In Memory of Vladimir Gerdt

Center for Computational Methods in Applied Mathematics of RUDN, Professor V.P. Gerdt, whose passing was a great loss to the scientific center and the computer algebra community. The article provides biographical information about V.P. Gerdt, talks about his contribution to the development of computer algebra in Russia and the world. At the end there are the authors personal memories of V.P. Gerdt.

Personal fund of hydropower engineer S. V. Grigoriev of the Museum-archive of the BCH KSC RAS

The article presents materials from the personal fund of the largest hydropower engineer of the North-West of the USSR S. V. Grigoriev, belonging to the Museum-Archive of History of Studying and Exploration of the European North of the Barents Centre of Humanities of the KSC RAS. The personal documents of the scientist and the practitioner are sources of biographical information given in the article and potential sources for research in the field of the history of the scientific study of water bodies, rivers and the development of hydropower in the Arctic.

Murmansk painter Shevnin Anatoly Nikolaevich. To the 70th anniversary of his birth

The publication is dedicated to the anniversary exhibition of art works by Murmansk painter Anatoly Shevnin, organized in the Museum-Archive of the History of Study and Development of the European North of the Barents Centre of Humanities of the Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Biographical information about the artist and description of his creative career are given