Employment Problems of Muslim Migrants in France (Exemplified by Paris). Part 1

The first part of the article briefly covers the history of immigration to France, social conflicts associated with migrants, and the results of French research on discrimination of immigrants in employment. In spite of the high unemployment rate, compared with other European Union countries, France remains one of the centres of migration and receives a significant number of migrants and refugees every year. The origins of immigration to France go back to the mid-19th century. Initially, it was mainly for political reasons, in order to find a job or receive an education. Between the First and the Second World Wars, France accepted both political (e.g. from Russia, Germany and Spain) and labour migrants (from Africa and Indo-China). After World War II, the French government actively invited labour migrants from the French colonies, primarily, from North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco). When the Algerian War ended, the Harkis – Algerians who served in the French Army – found refuge in France. By the late 1960s, the Moroccan and Tunisian communities were formed. Up to the 1980s, labour migration was predominant. However, with time, the share of refugees and those who wanted to move to France with their families started to increase. This caused a growing social and political tension in French society resulting in conflicts (e.g. the 2005 riots in Paris). Moreover, the numerous terrorist attacks and the migration crisis of 2014–2016 had a particularly negative impact on the attitude towards migrants. All these issues have to a certain extent affected the employment of the Muslim population in France.

Semantic Potential of Tactile Metaphors (Based on Words Naming the Property of Softness)

This article describes the results of the study on the psychophysiological phenomenon of synaesthesia projected onto language and speech. Synaesthesia is considered on the basis of words with the root myagk- (myagky, myagko, myagkost’, smyagchit’), which in their original meaning name the tactile sensation of softness. The paper aimed to identify the potential of this vocabulary and the sensory impression behind it as a means of conceptualizing knowledge about the world as well as to study the mechanism for the development of metaphorical, primarily synaesthetic, semantics. It is important to assess the sequence of expression of synaesthetic semantics and meanings that go beyond synaesthetic meanings, as well as to study whether vocabulary with the original semantics of softness can figuratively conceptualize knowledge. The research revealed a universal ability of this kind of vocabulary to conceptualize all types of sensory impressions (visual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory) when used metaphorically. In addition to conveying a multimodal perception of the world, these words can express new sensory sensations, unusual for the speaker, for which there are no special names in the language. Along with the synaesthetic semantics itself, vocabulary with the meaning of softness is able to reflect the psychological impressions of comfort, pleasure and enjoyment, as well as the psychological characteristics of a person and the psychological aspect of interpersonal interaction, including speech. The next stage of abstraction of the tactile impression is the development on its basis of quantitative semantics, i.e. the meaning of low intensity of the manifestation of an attribute or an action in their psychological perception. The results obtained can be used to identify the mechanism for conceptualizing sensory impressions and forming synaesthetic metaphors, as well as applied in the practice of lexicographic description of cognitive metaphors.

Biblical Lexical Items vs Biblical Phraseological Units: Specifying the Notions (Based on English and German Texts)

This article discusses the problem of delimiting the notions of biblical lexical item and biblical phraseological unit within the framework of studying the formation and development of biblical phraseology as a separate branch of general phraseology. The author believes that biblical phraseology should to be considered as an independent research area due to the progressive development of the study of phraseology in general, as well as the growing interest among scholars in phraseology of biblical origin and pertinent research materials that have accumulated over the past two decades. To begin with, the paper specifies the status of the biblical phraseological unit as a phraseological unit. Further, the definitions of the above-mentioned notions are analysed and a typology of biblical lexical items and phraseological units of biblical origin is developed based on a review of scholarly works dealing with various aspects of biblical lexical items and biblical phraseological units. Examples of the use of biblical lexical items and biblical phraseological units in English and German texts are provided as illustrations. The research methods applied here include analysis and synthesis, generalization and hypotheticoinductive method; comparative, contextual, and classification methods, as well as analysis of definitions, phraseological identification, and phraseological analysis. The author concludes that biblical lexical item is a broader notion, which includes biblical phraseological units. Biblical lexical items are numerous and diverse in terms of composition and can be presented in the form of multi-level linguistic units (from a word to a sentence), while biblical phraseological units are structured as fixed expressions, from a phrase to a sentence. Thus, a biblical phraseological unit is defined as a fixed reproducible linguistic unit in the form of a phrase or a sentence, having integrity of nomination and integrity of meaning that is etymologically related to the Bible. It is emphasized that the specificity of phraseological units of biblical origin is manifested at the formal, content and functional levels.

The Phenomenon of Late Soviet Mysticism

This article studies the phenomenon of mysticism in Soviet culture of the 1960s – 1980s. The starting point are the elements of mystical discourse in late Soviet cinematography, which captured both Soviet life and the Afghan War. This is surprising since official Soviet ideology strongly rejected mysticism. The very definition of mysticism in Soviet dictionaries was not entirely correct, since it gravitated towards theistic mysticism, focused on experiencing mystical unity with the Absolute. Meanwhile, starting from 1965, the Soviet Union saw a “mystical renaissance” due to the popularization of mystical literature (W. Messing, M. Bulgakov, D. Andreyev). Special mention must be made of A. Martynov, who outlined the paranormal phenomena of the Soviet period. One of the factors of this “mystical renaissance” was the traumatic experience of World War II, which was channelled into the Great Victory cult. This quasireligious practice included the meditative moment of silence, the eternal flame and monuments to the Motherland. Among other factors can be named a certain acceptance of religion as a form of culture and the New Age movement that came from the West. To a large extent, the revival of mysticism in the Soviet Union was facilitated by the crisis of science: the paradoxes of the vacuum theory and synergetics with its idea of generating order out of chaos. The main form of expression of late Soviet mysticism was the idea of a parallel world as a source of “paranormal phenomena”: for Messing and Martynov it is a mystical field, for Bulgakov, the fifth dimension, while for Andreyev, Shadanakar. In the Soviet Union, mass hypnosis associated with telepathy, as well as telekinesis, teleportation, levitation, and poltergeist were regarded as mystical phenomena. In addition, this article analyses the correlation between the notions of mysticism, spirituality and occultism. Their meanings overlap to a certain degree, since all three imply the existence of another world and the possibility of communicating with it. However, spirituality, which is actively used in world religions, belongs to the light side, while occultism is thought of as the dark side of mystical phenomena.

Awarding Law Enforcement Officers of Soviet Republics During the Civil War in Russia (1917–1922)

This article analyses the practice of awarding law enforcement bodies during the Civil War in Russia. The abolition of awards of the Russian Empire in 1917 resulted in the need to establish a new award system simultaneously with the creation of law enforcement structures in the Soviet republics. The study is based on historical method, objectivity and systematic approach. To process quantitative data, the author used statistical analysis for calculating the results obtained by means of continuous sampling. On the basis of archive materials, published sources and memoirs, it is concluded that the award systems established in the Soviet republics were similar in many respects. With the RSFSR serving as a model, the other republics developed their own awards by analogy. During the Civil War, a significant award arsenal was created, which had both individual and collective status. Law enforcement officers were presented with republican awards as well as departmental decorations. The former were given by the republic’s highest authorities, while the latter by the command authorities of the Cheka–Internal Service–State Political Directorate. The analysis of the award practice indicates that the highest republican awards – orders – were used very rarely to distinguish law enforcement officers. The most common types of employee rewards were valuable gifts, certificates of acknowledgement, as well as material bonuses. The units of the Cheka–Internal Service–State Political Directorate were awarded with revolutionary banners, certificates of acknowledgement, and honorary names. The author concludes that the award system of law enforcement bodies was similar to that of the Armed Forces. The provisions of the established awards did not cover the service of Chekists and policemen. In order to stimulate the work of law enforcement bodies, special awards were introduced. However, their use began only after the formation of the USSR.

Symbolic Macroconcept Strength/Power in the Aspect of Primary Signs

The purpose of this article was to describe the symbolic component among the primary (motivating) signs of the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept. Objectives of the article: 1) to identify a complete list of motivating signs of the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept; 2) to single out symbolic signs among them; 3) to describe the ways of objectification of symbolic primary signs and provide examples from the Russian language. This research is relevant due to the importance of describing the special class of symbolic macroconcepts. The scientific novelty of the paper lies in the fact that for the first time the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept is presented in the aspect of its primary signs. The key research methods used here are descriptive, interpretive, and conceptual, as well as component analysis of dictionary definitions. The author revealed 59 motivating signs of the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept on the basis of 10 etymological and historical-etymological dictionaries. None of the dictionaries used contain a complete set of primary signs of this macroconcept. The large number of motivating signs indicates that STRENGTH/POWER is an important macroconcept, whose primary signs have syncretic nature. Eight out of 59 motivating signs are symbolic, which is 1/7 of the total number. This ratio is a sufficient basis for classifying the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept as symbolic. The language material from the National Corpus of the Russian Language shows the relevance of all the identified symbolic signs. Symbolic primary signs of the STRENGTH/POWER macroconcept in Russian linguoculture can be presented in the form of three blocks: 1) the transcendental (‘god’, ‘general name of the second angelic rank’, ‘miracles’); 2) the vital component of a person (‘spirit’, ‘soul’, ‘life’); 3) unusual human abilities (‘divine gift of producing miracles’, ‘ability to make changes in other things’).

Health Promotion Discourse in Modern Media (Based on the Texts of the National Health Service, United Kingdom)

Health promotion discourse is a relevant object of linguistic analysis as in its texts verbal and non-verbal means of communication are used to make a pragmatic impact on the largest possible audience. This article aimed to identify the characteristic features of health promotion discourse in modern British media. The material included texts on obesity published on the official website of the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom, which represents government policy in the health sector. The study applied the methods of descriptive interpretive analysis, as well as contextual, and discourse analysis. This paper defines health promotion discourse as a communicative interaction on disease prevention issues and health awareness. In addition, it indicates the main features of media texts and their implementation in health promotion discourse. The authors found that NHS media texts on health promotion are characterized by common features of media discourse: a specific topic-based structure, an active usage of visual and graphic techniques, as well as multimodality, interactivity, and coverage of burning issues (health-related, in this case). Moreover, these texts have features inherent in media texts of online medical discourse, such as linguistic and therapeutic orientation (reflected in speech acts of advice expressed with varying degrees of categoricalness), targeted inclusiveness, and stylistic convergence (mixing of different functional styles). In addition, on the basis of the material studied, the paper identifies the following strategies specific to health promotion media texts: personal choice, developing trust in the author, and creating an image of the author as a friend. These strategies act as tools to achieve the main function of health promotion discourse, i.e. to influence the readers in order to maintain their health and prevent diseases.

Interaction of the Synod and Its Institutions with the Secret Chancellery in the First Half of the 1720s

This article studies the mechanism of interaction of the Synod, its institutions and bodies of the central church administration with the Secret Chancellery during the first half of the 1720s. The analysis is based on the documents of the Synod containing correspondence with the Secret Chancellery. This study is a continuation of the research on the relationship between the Secret Chancellery and the Russian Orthodox Church, whose resluts had been published earlier. A deeper immersion in the topic provided greater insights into the joint activities of the synodal institutions and Russia’s main penal body at the time, as well as revealed the details of the most important contacts and pertinent problems. Of particular importance is the activity of the Chancellery of the Most Holy Synod, through which official correspondence with the Secret Chancellery and control over the implementation of its decisions as well as defrocking of priests before the start of investigation were carried out. Further, the paper describes the categories of convicts who were sent to the Synod from the Secret Chancellery and looks into the differences in their position. Contrary to the prevailing opinion about the absence of relations between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery, the author concludes that in practice there was a certain mechanism of interaction, which concerned investigations regarding the accused from among the clergy and their commital, as well as granting official requests from both parties, sending ecclesiastical experts, and enforcing sentences of the Secret Chancellery. In addition, facts are considered that testify to extremely complex and contradictory relations between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery. The author concludes that the relationship between these institutions was not systemic, but developed in the context of the state’s general advance on the church and subordination of the latter and the clergy to state interests. The mechanism of interaction between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery was formed in line with this trend as well.

“A Part of Speech” by Joseph Brodsky: Bilingualism as a Creative Method in Poetry

This article is an attempt of textological conceptualization of an interlingual transfer (doubling) of a literary text. This transfer, in case it has been done by the author him/herself, is traditionally called self-translation, yet it can also by qualified as an adaptation of the “old” text to the perceptive abilities of the “new” recipient, i.e. a collective reader representing a different national and cultural medium and bearing its values as a prevalent aesthetic waymark. Special importance in the above process is attached to such a significant feature of any literary text of high quality as its elasticity. The textological approach to the scientific understanding of the differentlanguage text binary is often complemented by the bilinguological categorization of the subject, i.e. a text of poetry and, at the same time, a poetic cycle. From this standpoint, the mode of primary/secondary character of the two interconnected texts might lose its substantial preciseness. Further on, the article scrutinizes a landmark (for the Russian culture) literary text and its self-translation: the poetic cycle “A Part of Speech” by Joseph Brodsky. Four conceptual dominants of the cycle, with regard to their axiological hierarchy, are distinguished: 1) space/distance – location – oblivion; 2) time (epoch) – history – event – oblivion; 3) love – breakup – oblivion; 4) speech – art – extension – immortality. Further, a comparative analysis of their different-language verbalization is carried out. It is stated that Brodsky’s creation of this bilingual cycle reflects his striving for a cultural adaptation of each version to the background knowledge, historical experience, principles, traditions, aesthetic attitudes and, generally, sentiments of different groups of readers. In some cases this is done by means of the national language only, in other cases by the general complication of the poems’ figurative fabric.

Linguistic Representation of the Image of China in Russian-Language Blogs About Chinese Art Embroidery

The image of China, whose culture and traditions are actively discussed in mass communication, is the subject of intense interest among scholars of various humanities fields. At the same time, linguistic studies very rarely involve texts of modern media communications reflecting the country’s image in the aspect of traditional art. This article examines the linguistic means of representation of the image of China reflected in the Russian-language texts of blogs about Chinese art embroidery. The topicality of the paper is determined by the interest in the study of the cultural image of the People’s Republic of China in Internet communication. The novelty of this research lies in turning to a new medialinguistic object – modern cultural and educational Russian-language texts of blogs devoted to Chinese art – and its linguistic study. As a source material the author used blogs posted on the online platform LiveJournal. The empirical material was studied using the methods of contextual and medialinguistic analysis. It was found that in these texts the media image of China is created through the prism of five main aspects of Chinese embroidery as a unique art form: the popularity and worldwide recognition of Chinese embroidery; the centuries-old history of Chinese embroidery; embroidery schools and styles of embroidery; evaluations of the texts’ authors; evaluations of the addressee. In addition, the article reveals the linguistic means that create an image of this unique art form. It is concluded that the image formed through a comprehensive description of this type of Chinese art represents China as the birthplace of silk as well as a country with ancient traditions and unique culture.