“Gogol’s text” in the plays by N. Kolyada (the poem “Dead souls” and the comedy “The Inspector”)

The paper discusses the theatrical remakes of Gogol’s works: the comedy “The Inspector” and the poem “Dead Souls.” Considering the creative interpretation of N. Kolyada, both per-formances are related to the actualization of the Last Judgment themes – judgment and retri-bution, sin and repentance. Such an approach allows for a more vivid description of existen-tial and national problems in performances N. Kolyada. It is concluded that N. Kolyada differently adapts Gogol’s works for his performances. In the case of “The Inspector,” Kolyada uses the elements of theatrical language (attributes of the stage space, costumes, music) to mainstream opposition “purity – dirt” and “righteousness – sin,” the oppositions that allow identifying the situation of the imaginary and real Inspector. When being staged, the poem “Dead Souls” changes its nature of the genre with the dramatization – the epic begin-ning is transformed under the influence of medieval drama traditions. In the performance, the plot of the Last Judgment changes the character system: Korobochka and Chichikov, first of all. The sentimental finale of the Last Judgment reveals in Korobochka the ability to love and becomes the key to the revitalization of her soul. The metonymic correlation of Korobochka with the entire Russian people determines the transformation of the image of Chichikov. Kolyada highlights in Chichikov not entrepreneurial obsequiousness, but a sense of contempt for the Russian people: he calls it “dubinogolovy.” An ontological issue related to the ma-nipulation between life and death is removed from the semantic field of his image, but social and moral issues remain.

Medieval English Nicknames and Surnames with Christian Associations

The article surveys Medieval English nicknames and the derivative modern surnames carrying Christian associations through their motivation. Most commonly, these nicknames would originally refer to a clerical order or office (e.g. Clark < clerk) and then subsequently take the form of a patronymic (e.g. Vickerson < vicar). Some of these are properly occupational, designating the office itself (e.g. Prest) or the relation to people in holy or monastic orders: a familial (the name could be inherited by legitimate or, after the 12th c., illegitimate, children) or working one (e.g. Monkman). Alternatively, such nicknames are metaphoric denoting people that resembled priests, monks, etc. (e.g. Cardinal). A number of nicknames refer to diverse minor church offices like sexton and chanter, as well as religiously and socially marked people like palmer. There is also the type of metonymic nicknames that describe the conduct of the bearer in religious and moral terms, e.g. as pious or prayerful (e.g. Holyman). Less widespread but more varied are “event-nicknames” under which heading the author subsumes what is traditionally called pageant names, from the alleged roles in Medieval drama (e.g. Herod), and names deriving from church festivals (e.g. Christmas). Religious associations also appear in names derived from oaths and favourite phrases of the named persons (e.g. Godspeed). The array therefore puts on display a wide range of Medieval social roles and attitudes, and allows to speculate on their respective prominence. Parallels are drawn with Old Russian names and nicknames, and several alternative explanations or specifications for English nicknames are suggested. The article continues the series of publications devoted to the influence of Christianity on the English and, wider, Medieval European namegiving.

Enculturated, Embodied, Social: Medieval Drama and Cognitive Integration

Highlighting the embodied, collaborative, and spatially and temporally divers nature of medieval English plays, this essay argues that the cognitive work of medieval drama is best understood through the theory of cognitive integration, and in particular niche construction. Using the famous fifteenth-century York Play of the Crucifixion as a case study, the essay illustrates how this pageant constructed its particular niche, and its reliance on social as well as spatial and material affordances. The Play of the Crucifixion, it is argued, created opportunities for highly personal, individual devotional responses in the midst of what was fundamentally, and necessarily, a social and collaborative act. What is more, as a niche created for the purpose of devotion, it was focused on stimulating emotion and feeling, rather than supporting rational problem solving. It also overlapped with, and perhaps influenced, other devotional niches active beyond the frame of performance, contributing to extensive feedback cycles to which it was also subject.