Dostoevsky and the Word “Jew”: A Quantitative Analysis of F.M. Dostoevsky’s Greatest Novels

The relationship of F.M Dostoevsky with Jews attracted the attention of numerous scholars throughout the years, many of whom attempted to grapple with the views of the great writer and their origin. In this article we will attempt to show this relationship by analyzing six of Dostoevsky’s greatest novels, written through the entirety of his career. We are analyzing these novels using Distant Reading in conjunction with Close Reading, tools that are commonly used in the field of digital humanities, which enabled us to show visually the extent of F.M. Dostoevsky’s engagement with this topic. The study poses two research questions: 1. To what extent did the writer use the more denigrating term “Zhid”? 2. Can we see a correlation between the writer’s portrayal of Jews with the definition of Anti-Semitism as it was known during his era? The obtained results show that there is clearly a correlation between the definition of anti-Semitism as it was understood at the time of Dostoevsky and the “Jew” as depicted in his novels, as the financial motif is paramount in the depiction of Jews as this is the central topic in 49% of the negative sentences in which the word “Jew” appears, with 59% of these sentences classified as stereotypes. The negative financial stereotype constitutes 32% of the entire corpus. In addition, we found the term “Zhid” is commonly used by the writer, a variation of which constitutes 75% of the total terms used to depict Jews.

Творчість Лесі Українки: національно-культурні коди та європейська традиція

The figure of Lesya Ukrainka is one of the greatest not only in Ukrainian literature and culture, but also in Europe. The people of Volyn and Warsaw celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of this great writer, researcher, translator, and cultural figure with a joint conference. It was attended by representatives of many cities, not only Poland and Ukraine. The results of research will certainly contribute to the further development of forestry science.

F.M. Dostoevsky on the Reasons for "Remarkable Dislike" Europe to Russia

The relevance of the article is due to the authors attempt to apply some of the philosophical concepts of F.M. Dostoevsky to the comprehension of contemporary sociocultural reality. The purpose of this study is to clarify the reasons for the historically unfriendly attitude of Europe towards Russia by analyzing the works of F.M. Dostoevsky dedicated to this problem. In the process of writing the article, the published Diaries of the writer were used; diary entries unpublished during the writer's life; philosophical reflections contained in works of art, as well as applied modern scientific and popular science literature dedicated to the work of F.M. Dostoevsky. In the course of the analysis, it was found that the writer considered historical, confessional and moral reasons to be the main factors in the rejection of Russia by Europe, while he especially singled out disinterestedness incomprehensible to Europe as a characteristic of the Russian people. The authors draws attention to the fact that all the reasons for Europe's "remarkable dislike" for Russia, about which F.M. Dostoevsky, directly or indirectly associated with the Orthodox faith. Therefore, an attempt to actualize the worldview heritage of the great writer will certainly lead us to a dilemma: either to move from thoughts and words to actions, to religiously enlighten both ourselves and Europe; or to enclose our Orthodox heritage in a historical and cultural framework, eliminating the source of the reasons for our rejection by the European public, with all the ensuing consequences.

A LITERATURE WORK RELATED TO CHINESE & MONGOLIAN LITERARY COMMUNICATION

The article is about a work by Ts. Damdinsuren, a great writer, was one of the founders of modern Mongolian literature. This is a novel known as "The rejected girl" which is considered evidence that MongolianChinese literary relations were wide at that time.

Aktivnosti Jovana Radulovića u izdavaštvu (BIGZ)

The paper gives an overview of the editorial work of Jovan Radulović in the publishing house BIGZ, in the period from 1983 to 2001. His role in making publishing plans is described,within the editions for which he was in charge, as well as his principles in editing books. A special attention was paid to the last decade of his editorial work, when Serbian culture shared the difficult fate of the people, and in which the great writer showed great organizational and human virtues.

Divan film festival or the story of a big small festival of cinematographic and culinary art in the Balkans

In 2010 a small festival on Balkan cuisine and cinema, leaving aside the competition and prizes, endeavored to promote a unifying perspective on the cinema of 10 nations: Balkan film studies. It is the merit of the great writer and recently chef Mircea Dinescu, of the amazing settlement on the banks of the Danube, where the borders of Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia meet, of some serious scholars, as well as of the great value of the Balkan films of the last decades that imposed the expression “Balkan film”. Paradoxically, while ethnic conflicts have provoked terrible experiences for the inhabitants of the Balkans and erected new borders, the filmmakers seem to have benefited from the authentic drama and have learned to better address the surrounding nations as well.

Scrutiny of Self in Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas

An Outstanding novelist of human predicament, Arun Joshi is ranked with the great masters of contemporary Indian fiction in English. He believes that reality lies within the consciousness of isolated individuals. As he is the great writer of psychological perception, he envisions the inner crisis of the modern man in his five novels. In particular, his second novel The Strange Case of Billy Biswas is the apple of his eye. It portrays the story of the protagonist who is dragged by the mysterious world of the tribal society. The protagonist, Billy’s strange quest leads him to leave his position as the sole inheritor of a wealthy family and lead to live a natural life. There is no comfort in his American life as well as in his marital life too. Further, the story visualises Billy’s quest for individualism and self-identity at the cost of leaving materialistic world. This paper focuses on the clashes between the civilised world and the primitive one as well as it looks at the root of the protagonist Billy’s quest for the self.

To whom and why F. M. Dostoevsky is precious?

The article is devoted to the analysis of F. M. Dostoevsky’s work regarding his 200th anniversary. The author aims to reveal to whom and why the great writer and thinker is precious, and how his work is perceived in Serbia. He tries to evaluate what contributes to and what hinders the comprehension of the F. M. Dostoevsky phenomenon. The author notes that veneration for such a writer can be fully expressed when everyone who has mastered literacy starts reading at least one of his works and feels the field of attraction and repulsion, which does not always correlate with the problem field of scientific F. M. Dostoevsky studies. Unfortunately, the author states that the youth do not initially develop an elementary desire to necessarily be included in the literary classics in such conditions when the entire system of basic education seems to be subordinated to the task of discouraging any desire to read on their own, and even more so to feel and reflect. Interest in «Crime and punishment» is almost impossible to arouse basing on stereotypical comments with a retelling of the plot, some elements of which are included in the tests for the subject devoid of attractiveness. And the plot, moreover, is fully conveyed by the half-page versions of the novel, which are prepared by enterprising interpreters precisely for passing the test as the optimal form of attestation. At the same time, the judgments of foreign writers are used surprisingly widely, and at the same time thoughtlessly – the main thing is that they have an appropriate image. Over time, it becomes more and more obvious that few contemporary writers can compare to F. M. Dostoevsky both in the depth and completeness of ideas about the real life of a Russian person, especially in the scope of its spheres, and in the insight of the analysis of everything that happened and which inevitably followed from what was happening. For a century and a half, F. M. Dostoevsky has remained an unparalleled bearer of the conscience of mankind, a kind of seismograph of the coming upheavals. The author states that in Serbia, the reverent perception of F. M. Dostoevsky, which was formed under the influence of the Russian religious emigration, dominates. A separate topic is also the impressive activity and productivity of the Serbian scientific F. M. Dostoevsky studies. Finally, if all this we project onto the Belarusians, then it would be appropriate to say that F. M. Dostoevsky is the bearer of special patriotism manifested not in superficial pathos, which usually serves either self-praise or complacency, but in soberly analytical and constructive criticism, which presupposes, first of all, self-criticism, as an indispensable component of sound national self-awareness.

The novelty of information as one of the principles of studying the work of a Russian writer in a national audience

Humanities education, knowledge of the life of a great person, his work – all this is a true means of moral, aesthetic education of students, the formation of a comprehensive personality of a person. The issues of studying Russian literature in the national audience are relevant, as clearly evidenced by the works of A.I. Gusev, M.M. Rybnikova, V.F. Infantiev, A.A. Lipaev, A.G. Losev, K.K. Maltseva, I.H. Mayorova, N.K. Kungurov, B.A. Khodzhibaeva, L.A. Sheiman, A.V. Ryzhevolova, M. M. Abduvalieva and others. In their research, it provides scientific justification and characteristics of the proposed methods. So, as noted by the authors: it is necessary to carry out taking into account the factors that form the ethical and aesthetic traditions and artistic taste of students. In a lesson dedicated to the activities of the great writer, the teacher acquaints students with a brilliant creator, whose life is mastering the heights of human knowledge, a feat of serving the native people, an example of honesty, morality, and integrity. The novelty of the solution to the problem under consideration lies in the fact that the author has convincingly shown that information about the translations of the works of the Russian writer, in particular, I.S. Turgenev into the native language of students; translation work is a school of excellence for a national writer.

Editorial foresight: Nikolay Nekrasov, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolay Strakhov

The author of the article assesses the special editorial vision of Nikolay Nekrasov, from the first works of the future great writer who saw his sight in Leo Tolstoy, and in Nikolay Strakhov – a person close to literature, but who initially had the makings of a critic, not an artist of the word. The article notes the special merit of Nikolay Nekrasov in the discovery of new talents and support of novice writers, we analyse the manner and specificity of the first works of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, sent to Nikolay Nekrasov's journal Sovremennik (The Contemporary). The author of the work turns to the origins of the literary path of the writer and critic, denotes their peculiar convergence in themes: both novice authors were strongly influenced by the sentimental tradition and were attentive to spiritual quests, but that at the same time explains the difference in the talent of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, which manifested itself even in relation to their own first works of fiction, as can be judged by their letters to Nikolay Nekrasov.