Tackling Climate Change in China: A Hybrid Approach

This article argues that climate change policies should be designed as far as possible with the involvement of civil society at large, as it is an existential problem that concerns the whole of humanity. It is suggested that in the Chinese context, the legal system and political decision-making processes could better address climate change for example, through the participatory processes promoted by the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 and subsequent instruments. The article explores the possibility of adopting a hybrid approach in China by developing an interactive platform linking the relevant components of civil society in order to gather critical expertise and insights from the community as a whole. A hybrid approach would be directed at combining the current top-down approach with a bottom-up approach, which would potentially contribute to an increase in transparency and accountability in legislative and political decision-making processes to produce the best possible legal approaches and policy strategies for addressing climate change.

Distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic

An existential problem for modern society is the stability problem when the ambiguity of extended forecasts becomes characteristic even for the foreseeable future. Consideration of this problem from the perspective of the digital space is especially important for two reasons. First, the bulk of modern communication processes takes place in the network space. Second, the processes of searching, consuming, exchanging information and acquiring new knowledge are directly or indirectly connected today with digital resources. This article deals with the analysis of the specifity of the implementation of distance learning in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The empirical study base is a group interview with students of Kazan Federal University which has highlighted students’ attitudes over online education in the face of a pandemic. The analysis of the respondents’ viewpoints reveals several common stances towards understanding their individual educational strategy, and the results of the study enable to determine the specific features of the implementation of training for students of Kazan Federal University, to show the features of the influence of distance learning on the choice of educational technologies. The differences between the students’ attitudes over the development of remote education are revealed.

DETAIL AS A MEANS OF ACTUALIZING EXISTENTIAL PROBLEM IN THE O. HENRY’S WORKS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SHORT STORIES «THE GIFT OF THE MAGI» AND «THE LAST LEAF»)

Настоящая статья посвящена изучению художественной детали в творчестве О. Генри. В ходе исследования мы анализируем художественную деталь на примере новелл «Дары волхвов» и «Последний лист» с целью осмысления экзистенциальных проблем главных героев. Результатом исследования стало выявление особенностей формирования экзистенциального аспекта проблемы «маленького человека», сближения автора и читатель на основе художественного пространства бытовой новеллы. This article is devoted to the study of artistic detail in the work of O. Henry. In the course of the research, we analyze the artistic detail on the example of the short stories «The gift of the Magi» and «The Last Leaf» in order to comprehend the existential problems of the main characters. The result of the study was the identification of the peculiarities of the formation of the existential aspect of the problem of the «little man», the rapprochement between the author and the reader on the basis of the artistic space of the everyday novel.

Time, Moment, Eternity: Hieroglyphs and Meditations in Yakov Druskin’s Philosophy

In this article, the author explores the interest of the interwar intellectuals in “time, death, God”. This focus on temporality as an existential problem engendered some major philosophical projects, which aimed at complete revision of how philosophy should be done, including Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, Franz Rosenzweig. The main part outlines a philosophical project of Yakov Druskin who addressed the problem of temporality in a highly original manner. Druskin combined philosophical reflection on time in its existential meaning with the search for intellectual methods and linguistic techniques to transcend our ordinary reality. Among these methods, in Druskin’s works present at least two major modes—meditation and “hieroglyphs”—can be identified. Both methods, however, aim at “transforming rather than informing” and at enabling us to linger in a “certain equilibrium with a minor error”.

The existential problem of the person in the story by O.Bokey “Atau-kere”

The scientific article deals with the problem of Existentialism, which has not lost its relevance in modern society. The scientific opinions of many scientists underlying the research were discussed, the psychological characteristics of Existentialism and its basic concepts were analyzed. Revealing the relationship between science and Existentialism, existentialists supplemented the reasoning: "from a scientific point of view, it is impossible to be silent about the existence of man" with an argument, analyzing the actions of the heroes of O. Bokey's story "Atau-Kere". Although the existentialist did not investigate human existence from a scientific point of view, the existentialist in the work scientifically grouped the actions of the characters, demonstrating the psychological sequence of thinking. He noted that the existence of images in one's own world is a complex psychological process. We tried to find ways to solve this problem by analyzing the actions of the heroes. That's the scientific basis of the article. Existentialism considers two types of human life: false and true. The first is the daily life of a person, and the next is his life, detached from social relations and independent of anyone, listening to his inner nature. The author in his article tried to prove that the way to solve this problem lies in spiritual wealth.

SIEGFRIED THE DRAGON SLAYER AS A MODEL OF ACTIVE BEING: UNITY OF MYTH AND PHILOSOPHY ON THE ISSUE OF FREE WILL

The relevance and topicality of the study is determined by the crisis of personal existence, as well as the denoting sociocultural phenomenon of the category that has exhausted its epistemological significance at the historic moment of the “values shift” – the displacement of the classical paradigm by the paradigm of postmodernism and the transformation of traditional society into “open” one (or “consumption society", as one would say now). One of the results of such a global modification of communication strategies and tactics, cognitive practices and even certain stable constructs (such as national concepts, cultural meanings, and stereotypes of psychological and so-cial behavior) was the restoration of the priority of myth (as a form of worldview and a way of transforming the world) and, accordingly, a revival of interest in mythology and the mythological picture of the world. The subject of the study is the syncretic unity of philosophical consciousness and mythological consciousness. The article analyzes the “existential” problem of modern man’s existence, which is solved differently by different philosophical currents, which, however, share one common idea that the “essential” nature of human activity is revealed in a communicative act; the cognitive meaning of the individual’s will is refined and corrected in public discourse. We should agree with an almost axiomatic statement that orientation towards “genuine existence” is conditioned by freedom and independence, as well as by “critical reason”. The paper proves that activity – not in the sense of production, political, creative cultural or other activity, but in the sense of internal readiness for the productive use of human potency for the benefit of both the individual and the collective – is fundamental for such a special (mythological heroic) state of mind. It is stated that the modus of being in modern “anthropological” philosophy is opposed to the modus of possession; in order to “be”, a person must give up self-centeredness and gain his or her independence. The modern man’s freedom of choice is determined by the logic of culture, the institutions of “open” society and the factors of globalization; however, the cultural heritage of the past retains its significance, the “primitive power” of myth fertilizes mass culture, and the typological image of a hero (as immaculate as Siegfried) becomes a temptation for the “alienated” subject of conceiving the world.

The Neuronal Crisis: Meditate to Comprehend the Nature of Psychosomatic Epidemic

This articles describes the “neuronal crisis,” the epidemic of psychosomatic illnesses observed all over the world, particularly in the West. The paper looks into the deeper real causes and seeks the most effective kind of cure for this malady. This leads to rational consideration of the metaphysical dimension of the human being and the fundamental problems (those of evil, of freedom, of God, of the soul, and of the body), where lack of sufficiency plays a major part in the etiology of these pathologies, as the desire for the Absolute is the basis of the unconscious. This approach presumes the Freudian model but denies its purely libidinal interpretation that substitutes desire for the Absolute with libido. Hence, an explanatory system applied to increasingly serious pathologies: ailments, neuroses, depressions, and psychoses. Frustration of one’s desire for the Good gives rise to a sublimation of finite goodness. The inevitable desublimation, caused by anguish because of the Evil, intense guilt, and the dramatization of evils, causes neuroses as awkward but inevitable solutions to the existential problem that is still unresolved, due to lack of functional and experimental knowledge. Psychiatry and even medicine must take into account the metaphysical layer, and, therefore, operate within an existential dynamic, aiming to progress in wisdom and to discover man, man’s brain and body, as these are structured around the axis of his desire.

CHEKHOV’S BASICS OF VICTOR PETROV-DOMONTOVYCH’S NOVEL “WITHOUT FOUNDATION”

The goal of the study is to analyze the novel «Without Foundation» through the prism of A. Chekhov’s works, in particular, the play “The Cherry Orchard”.Research methods are determined by the goal. The method of intertextual analysis is used to identify various models and forms of literary dialogue in the text. Comparative and typological, structural and mythopoetic methods are used in contextual analysis and interpretation of the novel to clarify the author’s artistic concept.Results. It is indicated that the play by A. Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard” from the moment of its appearance, due to the scale of artistic generalization of the loss of home and motherland, began to play the role of a pretext to all artistic and philosophical searches of the twentieth century to comprehend the existential problem of baselessness, loss of personal in the period of historical catastrophes. Meanwhile, the review of literary studies indicates the absence of the special scientific study of cultural and artistic dialogue between V. Petrov-Domontovych and A. Chekhov, which narrows the intellectual horizons of the novel. It is not easy to recognize and distinguish Chekhov’s images and reminiscences in the general cultural context of the novel. The presence of A. Chekhov in the artistic world of Petrov-Domontovych is not a direct, but an indirect dialogue, when the consonance of aesthetic intentions is manifested in identical situations, conflicts, characters of heroes and is conditioned, among other things, by the cultural context, the cultural thesaurus. In the study, through the prism of Chekhov’s works, such motives as home, garden, steppe, alms, etc. are interpreted. It turns out that the main appeal to A. Chekhov is an ephrasis of Linnik’s painting with the eloquent title “The City is Cut”, which directly echoes the finale of “The Cherry Orchard”. For the main character of the novel, the canvas is a text, sounds, and its main sound, which, like A. Chekhov’s, breaks the silence, is the knocking of the ax on the tree. The Varangian Church, symbolizing the eternal, was under the threat of the destruction of the present, as in its time the poetic Chekhov’s garden. Conclusions. Domontovych-critic was inclined towards a combined concept of modern literature, which he proposed to call “schematic synthesis”. With his own novel “Without Foundation” Domontovych-writer demonstrated a model of a new Ukrainian novel, which, depicting his own, was not intended for “home use”, but thanks to intertextual poetics organically fit into the European literary context.Key words: A. Chekhov, “The Cherry Orchard”, intertextual poetics, mythology, modernist novel. Мета дослідження – аналіз роману «Без ґрунту» крізь призму творчості А. Чехова, зокрема, п’єси «Вишневий сад».Методи дослідження зумовлені поставленою метою. Метод інтертекстуального аналізу використовується для виявлення в тексті різних моделей і форм літературного діалогу. Порівняльно-типологічний, структурний і міфопоетичний методи застосовуються у контекстуальному аналізі та інтерпретації роману для з’ясування авторської художньої концепції.Результати. Вказано, що п’єса А. Чехова «Вишневий сад» з моменту своєї появи завдяки масштабам художнього узагальнення втрати дому і батьківщини стала виконувати роль претекста до всіх художньо-філософських шукань ХХ століття щодо осмислення екзистенційної проблеми безґрунтярства, втрати особистого у період історичних катастроф. Проте огляд літературознавчих розвідок свідчить про відсутність спеціального наукового дослідження культурно-мистецького діалогу В. Петрова-Домонтовича із А. Чеховим, що звужує інтелектуальні горизонти роману. Упізнати і виокремити чеховські образи і ремінісценції у загальному культурному контексті роману непросто. Присутність А. Чехова у художньому світі В. Петрова-Домонтовича – це не прямий, а опосередкований діалог, коли співзвучність естетичних намірів проявляються у тотожних ситуаціях, конфліктах, характерах героїв і зумовлені, зокрема, культурним контекстом, культурним тезаурусом. У дослідженні крізь призму чеховської творчості інтерпретуються такі міфологеми, як дім, сад, степ, милостиня тощо. Доводиться, що голо-вна апеляція до А. Чехова – екфрасис картини Линника з промовистою назвою «Місто рубають», який напряму перегукується з фіналом «Вишневого саду». Для головного героя роману полотно є текстом, що звучить, і головний його звук, який так само, як і у А. Чехова, порушує тишу, – стукіт сокири по дереву. Варязька церква, символізуючи вічне, опинилася під загрозою нищення нинішнього, як свого часу поетичний чеховський сад.Висновки. Домонтович-критик схилявся до комбінованої концепції сучасної літератури, яку пропонував назвати «схематичним синтезом». Власним романом «Без ґрунту» Домонтович-письменник продемонстрував зразок нового українського роману, який, зображуючи своє, призначався не для «хатнього вжитку», а завдяки інтертекстуальній поетиці органічно вписувався в європейський літературний контекст.Ключові слова: А. Чехов, «Вишневий сад», інтертекстуальна поетика, міфологема, модерністський роман.

SUBJECT GROUP OF OXYMORONS WITH JOY / SADNESS SEMANTIC LOAD IN POEMS OF VASYL STUS

Vasyl Stus is a brilliant representative of Ukrainian existentialism, a person of tragic fate. Emotionalism and complexity of his poetic manner, «obscureness» of verses to his contemporaries and even the majority of readers are neither escape from reality, nor deliberate inversion of reality, of which the poet was blamed by the Soviet critics; it is more of a creation of Stus’s own reality, search of new ways for Ukrainian literature to move forward. Finding a solution to the existential problem of meaning in the person’s existence, inner world, spiritual experience in relations with the world is the object of Vasyl Stus’s creative concept. Guided by philosophical tenets of existentialism, the poet’s persona is in search of his identity within it. This search causes horror, despair, and a sense of existential tragedy. Thus, the poet’s existentialistic nature has determined the figurative method of expressing his philosophy. V. Stus’s existentialism, the depth of his philosophical thinking are brilliantly expressed in conceptual polysemantic images that fill his poetry. The main ones among them are oxymorons. The existentialistic spirit in his poetry is manifested in the form of oxymorons, which we associate with the peculiarities of the poet’s tragic worldview and great capabilities of oxymorons for its expression, as well as with the features of his poetic style that are unusual for Ukrainian literature: reach after condensed and concentrated imagery; poetical reproduction of the emotional charge of facts; search for new overtones in the words to convey new emotional and psychological connotations. Poet’s use of oxymorons represents the hard way he went from contradictory worldview, internal disharmony, complex and unconventional worldview to all these internal conflicts being reflected in his extraordinary imagery. This present article deals with the subject group of oxymoronic imagery with the joy/sadness semantic opposition in the poetry of the Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus; analyzes the semantic connection of oxymoron with the peculiarities of the artist’s worldview. New figurative meanings acquired by the lexemes in oxymoronic expressions are the means used by the author to manifest his attitude towards reality.

Solidarity at Issue: Pandemics and Religious Belief

A global pandemic such as that of the 2020 Covid-19 corona virus, causing great suffering and loss of life, brings home the difficult conditions that make for our fragile human life. But the question that religious belief poses, about “natural evil” in a world created by a loving God, satirised by Voltaire in the 18th century, masks the more existential problem, the possibility of greater human solidarity. In the background is the Deist view of God complementing the “polite society” of mutual benefit and guaranteeing the latter’s benevolent outcome. It is a worldview, as Charles Taylor (2007) explains, that has put aside the premodern idea of human transformation, that was symbolised by religious virtuosi, saints, theophanies, and so on, now looked upon with suspicion by modernity. But the possibility of transformation, of a generous human response to suffering, is what is called for in a pandemic. In Camus’ novel, The Plague, we see the more authentic response that resists being boxed in by religious enthusiasts to a constricted and ideological affirmation of a cosmic picture that obscures the fault-lines of bourgeois society.