Contemporary Mass Research Articles

Board assignment heuristics for nail laminated out-of-grade timber

ABSTRACT Structural sawn timber, sourced from softwood plantations, is widely used in lightweight timber-framed residential housing and in engineered wood products for contemporary mass timber construction. However, a significant proportion of milled timber boards are considered ‘out-of-grade’, failing to attain a structural grade under existing classifications systems due to various stiffness, strength, and/or utility-limiting features. This study investigates the potential of controlled lamination techniques to produce structurally usable laminated timber products from out-of-grade timber, using a minimal number of requisite boards. Numerical and experimental methods were employed to compare different board assignment heuristics, in terms of reducing the stiffness variability in laminated board populations. The results indicate that controlled board locations produced remarkably consistent laminated products, achieving very low variability even with a minimum lamination of only two boards. The findings of this paper suggest that controlled lamination techniques have the potential to transform low-value out-of-grade timber into a valuable resource for value-added applications, challenging the existing market perception that out-of-grade timber lacks structural usability.

LINGUISTIC BATTLEFIELD: NEOLOGISMS IN THE MASS-MEDIA DISCOURSE OF UKRAINE, THE UK AND THE USA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

The article under consideration examines the peculiarities of the formation and use of neologisms in the publicistic discourse of Ukraine, Great Britain, and the United States in the context of Ukraine’s war against the Russian invaders. The purpose of this study is to investigate neologisms in Ukrainian, British English, and American English from a comparative point of view. Due to the constant change and transformation of languages, a large number of neologisms have been created, which remain unexplored and through which can be seen as the aspect the development of languages and societies can be studied from. The nature and functional peculiarity of neologisms in British English, American English, and Ukrainian are still an unexplored area in modern Ukrainian linguistics.The object of the given investigation is neologisms that appear in the contemporary mass media discourse. The language of the media is very dynamic, and one cannot help but notice the activity of innovative processes in the vocabulary of modern media. The relevance of the work is because the latest media resources of Ukraine, the UK, and the USA of recent years were chosen as the research materials. The significance of the study lies in gaining knowledge about the types, nature, features, and main ways of formation of Ukrainian and English neologisms in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

On the Re-Alienation Experiences of the Amateur Runners in Istanbul

In contemporary mass culture, individuals are increasingly subjected to standardization, homogenization, and objectification, leading to experiences of alienation within the societal framework shaped by it. Despite efforts to fortify connections with oneself, the environment, society, and meaning, individuals may still find themselves immersed in alienation within the societal structure they inhabit. Through heightened awareness, individuals strive to reclaim their authentic identities, utilizing various means to distance themselves from alienation. However, this pursuit may paradoxically result in renewed ruptures in connections, as individuals encounter re-alienation, finding themselves ontologically identical yet formally distinct within the alienation process. Amidst the complexities of modern life, individuals often seek self-realization through recreational pursuits like running. Hence, this study endeavors to examine the phenomenon of re-alienation, particularly among amateur runners. By conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews with runners in Istanbul, the study explores both the process of distancing from alienation and the experience of encountering re-alienation through running. Through its investigation, the study aims to contribute to scholarly discourse on alienation, self-realization, and re-alienation with the lens of critical communication studies. By analyzing the lived experiences of individuals, the research seeks to deepen our understanding of the intricate dynamics of alienation and resilience in contemporary society. Research findings show that running as a recreational activity strengthens individuals' connections with themselves, nature, their social environment, meaning, and values, thereby allowing for a sense of autonomy to be achieved; however, due to social infrastructure and individual psychological tendencies, subject and object fetishes can be developed in relation to running activities, leading to experiences of re-alienation. Keywords: alienation, self-realization, mass culture, sports and recreational studies, critical communication studies

The Impact of the Gastronomic Norms of Contemporary Mass Culture on Public Catering for Children

AbstractSince the start of the new millennium, there has been a marked turn in nutrition-related ethnographic research in Hungary. Following the reconstruction of the historical and regional processes of change in Hungarian dietary traditions, professional attention has increasingly shifted towards the present day. In this study, I first summarize the most important aspects of contemporary gastronomy and the respective research opportunities, before exploring the question of the relationship between contemporary food culture and public catering for children. The conclusion reached is that public catering for children and the food on offer in school canteens cannot be discussed without an understanding of the changes taking place in contemporary food culture, which in turn cannot be understood without taking into account contemporary social and cultural developments. Until the slowly changing culture of public catering becomes more closely aligned with the rapid changes in eating at home and in restaurants, fewer and fewer children will make use of school canteens, and where they do, they will barely touch the food but prefer to go hungry.

Science, Folklore, and Ecology of Knowledges in Aoyama’s Detective Conan Anime

During the Anthropocene, science and folklore have been efficient explanatory models of the world. However, numerous studies suggest a convergence of both perspectives in contemporary mass media productions, being Japanese animation a clear example. The aim of the research presented here was to analyse how science and folklore are integrated and opposed in Aoyama’s Detective Conan, an anime where cases often happen in rural Japan and where folk references confront Conan’s detective reasoning. To reach this objective, a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative study of the presence of folklore in this work—through aspects such as characterisation or narratives—was conducted in 75 cases and over 155 episodes which include references to folklore in their background, plot, or characters. The analysis revealed that, when folklore and science interact, rational thinking is usually preferred over folk beliefs; characters are stereotyped according to their genre or origins; and, more importantly, supernatural beliefs can be included in detective fiction without being ridiculed by the most rational characters.

Punishment is purple: The political economy of prison building

The United States is unique among rich countries in the world in its level of contemporary mass incarceration, a massive social change that has reshaped the nature of inequality and social mobility. We have more than tripled the number of prison facilities since 1970. Despite employing nearly 450,000 corrections officers, occupying a land mass of roughly 600 square miles, and costing conservatively $30 billion to build, this massive public works project has transformed the American countryside virtually unnoticed, with nearly 70% of U.S. facilities being built in rural communities. We suggest that mass incarceration—more than 2 million locked up annually—was not possible without the transformation of the American countryside through the prison boom—the increase from roughly 500 to nearly 1700 carceral facilities. There is a longstanding belief that the rural town leaders and politicians responsible for the prison boom are almost exclusively white, male, Republicans. We explore the political, social, and economic influences of prison building across states, regions, and cities/towns. Using multilevel modeling, we find that racial and economic disadvantage predicts prison building in towns, and party affiliation of state legislatures predicts prison building across different periods of the prison boom. While others find a link between Republican Party strength in state legislatures and mass incarceration, our findings suggest that prison building, like other types of punishment, results from bipartisan political support for the state's ability to punish. We conclude by advancing an expanded theoretical approach to the prison boom.

Philosophy at Leisure: How Is Festivity Possible?

The article explores the conditions enabling the celebration within the context of philosophical, enlightening, and educational activities. The authors contemplate the role of leisure in human life, referencing Plato’s view of leisure as a prerequisite for philosophical discussion, Aristotle’s concept of intellectual leisure for the free citizen, Josef Pieper’s understanding of leisure as a means for personal and spiritual development, and Sebastian de Grazia’s perspective on the interconnection between leisure and creativity, culture, individual freedom, and society. It is argued that leisure as an intellectual activity has not become customary in society since Aristotle’s time and, in the modern world, the definition of this concept is confined merely to the realm of entertainment. This limitation necessitates the search for new forms of intellectual leisure that are relevant in the context of contemporary mass culture. The authors analyze the philosophical ball as a form of intellectual leisure, particularly focusing on the years of experience in organizing annual festive events by the family philosophical club “School of Socrates” at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. The external, attributive form of the philosophical ball is linked with Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalization of culture: its spectacles, theatricality, the presence of masks and costumes, and the involvement of all participants in a unified action. The internal content of the philosophical ball is determined by philosophical concepts, historical figures, or artistic images relevant to the specific era and culture, facilitating the perception and discussion of the proposed philosophical ideas. The narrative is further enriched by a case study detailing the methodological orchestration of a philosophical ball themed around Russian Symbolism. The authors conclude that the philosophical ball, as a form of intellectual leisure, addresses epistemological tasks and serves enlightening and educational functions: it engenders an authentic milieu of philosophical festivity, nurturing the creative impetus of its participants and facilitating a profound and universally accessible experiential odyssey into the realms of worldview and cognition.

Corporeal Representations of Lenin in Post‑Soviet Ideological Games

This article discusses the significance of the study of Lenin's corporeality in the context of mass and elite culture of the post-Soviet space. The author highlights the importance of understanding the role of Lenin's images in the ideological and political context and suggests analyzing them using theoretical tools. The article also shows that interest in Lenin's images persists in contemporary mass and elite culture, being realized in such strategies of representation of Lenin's bodily aspects as phantasmagoric mystification, “skomoroshchestvo”, annihilation and dehumanization.
 The phantasmagoric strategy of representing the leader of the world proletariat includes attempts to depict Lenin in unusual and paradoxical bodily images, often with elements of fantasy and mystification. The strategy of “skomoroshchestvo” allows researchers and artists to play with Lenin's image and reinterpret it in a comical and absurd way. The strategy of annihilation emphasizes the contrasting views and emotions associated with Lenin's image in the contemporary world and provokes discussions about the boundaries of art, symbolism and respect for historical figures. The strategy of dehumanizing Lenin in the representation of his corporeal image is expressed in transformations that take him away from his human historical context and reduce him to an object of irony, satire and symbolic associations.

Small Cities: Results of The Struggle Between Two Positions

The destruction of the USSR led to the deindustrialization of Russia, particularly in small cities, including the closure of agro-industrial enterprises closely connected with the disrupted agricultural sector. The reduction/alteration of the labour market in small towns and rural areas caused population outflow, fundamentally distinguishing contemporary mass migration. The scale of moving to gas and oil production areas and capital cities has increased. Significant regional disparities in salaries also became a factor, even seen in the minimum wage (MROT), upon which many calculations and allowances rely. For instance, in Moscow in 2023, it stands at 24,801 rubles, while in the Yaroslavl region, it's 16,242 rubles. The formation of a "service economy" in the guise of a "servant economy" (security, cleaning, resale, catering, food delivery, tutoring, etc.), often yielding good income but not demanding specialised knowledge, is another factor propelling migration from peripheral areas.
 The depopulation of Central Russia, Siberia, the North, and the Far East, coupled with the loss of food security, demanded that the government formulate plans for the country's territorial development. This article analyses two development concepts characterising the discourse within the spatial infrastructure of the country. The first relies on the economic efficiency of investments in agglomerations and the unprofitability of supporting small settlements. Its proponents' arguments were most clearly articulated by E.S. Nabiullina in 2011 when she held the position of Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. This concept continues the traditions initiated by the "young reformers" in the 1990s: what brings quick revenue and reduces costs is considered promising.
 The second concept is based on analysing the functions of small cities as elements not only of the economic infrastructure but also of the geopolitical, domestic political, geographic, and social infrastructure. The article particularly emphasises the works of scholars from related disciplines such as geography and economics, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the role and position of small cities within the socio-economic space of the country.

TV Series in a Big City: Geo-Poetics of Telenovelas 1980s—2020s

The article explores the influence of toponymic images on the aesthetics of popular foreign and Russian television Series. The television series is a specific artistic model, the transformation and functioning of which is the result of significant television influence on the audience. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that, being a key genre of contemporary mass culture on one hand, and a multimedia text on the other, the series allows visual content to displace verbal content and constructs a certain reality in the minds of viewers. Within the framework of the geopoetic approach, the authors of the article examine the image of the city in television projects from different years, analyze the functions of urban signs and symbols, and identify various artistic techniques used to characterize characters and represent national-cultural spaces. Special attention is given to the role of the city as a setting and a tool for plot development in TV shows. The result of the study is the identification of the dynamics of the city image in television projects from the 1980s to the 2020s, which allows us to characterize television Series not only as a source of entertainment, but also as a social and national project that claims one of the dominant positions in contemporary culture.

Antinomies of digitalization and visualization in the contemporary mass culture

The article is a review of two books that differently assess the processes and results of informatization, networkization and digitalization of the mass society, which have given rise to many phenomena that are antinomic in nature, primarily due to the interweaving positive and negative consequences for social interaction. In the first book - Post-Truth or Fake: The Issue of Truth in Social Media (Saint Petersburg: Vladimir Dal; 2023. 303 p.) - N.A. Rhodossky conducts a ‘retrospective analysis’ of the concept and role of the media in “the development of philosophy of cyberculture”; the book is a ‘compendium’ of categories and conceptual approaches to the study of social media. The second book by A. Bruns Are Filter Bubbles Real? (Transl. from English by A. Arkhipova; ed. by A. Pavlov. Moscow: HSE Publishing House; 2023. 120 p.) focuses on one aspect in the functioning of social media - “the influence of the ideologically biased echo chambers and filter bubbles on the nature of public discussions”, and also systematizes the conflicting assessments of the consequences of the ever-increasing digitalization of our everyday life.

The Vertical Context of Contemporary British Short Prose

The article is devoted to the study of vertical context in contemporary British short prose as the necessary prerequisite for the appreciation and accurate interpretation of fiction. The paper focuses on the socio-historical and philological vertical context of the short stories by contemporary British writers, which comprise Volumes I and II of “Story Time. Contemporary British Short Stories in the EFL Classroom”, a series of textbooks for tertiary education. The paper highlights realia, toponyms, anthroponyms, textual elements referring to characters’ social background and allusions as the most significant categories of vertical context. The authors draw the conclusion that the study of vertical context is of primary importance for achieving adequate understanding of literary texts and thus needs to be taught through practical assignments designed for students reading contemporary prose. They also comment on the current trend that consists in the restructuring of vertical context by shifting from allusions to classics to alluding to contemporary mass culture, quoting contemporary precedent names and titles.

Recent Advances in 3D Printing of Polymers for Application in Prosthodontics.

Contemporary mass media frequently depict 3D printing as a technology with widespread utilization in the creation of dental prosthetics. This paper endeavors to provide an evidence-based assessment of the current scope of 3D printing's integration within dental laboratories and practices. Its primary objective is to offer a systematic evaluation of the existing applications of 3D-printing technology within the realm of dental prosthetic restorations. Furthermore, this article delves into potential prospects, while also critically examining the sustained relevance of conventional dental laboratory services and manufacturing procedures. The central focus of this article is to expound upon the extent to which 3D printing is presently harnessed for crafting dental prosthetic appliances. By presenting verifiable data and factual insights, this article aspires to elucidate the actual implementation of 3D printing in prosthetic dentistry and its seamless integration into dental practices. The aim of this narrative review is twofold: firstly, to provide an informed and unbiased evaluation of the role that 3D printing currently plays within dental laboratories and practices; and secondly, to instigate contemplation on the transformative potential of this technology, both in terms of its contemporary impact and its future implications, while maintaining a balanced consideration of traditional dental approaches.

Performative Theodicy: Edith Stein and the Recovery of Lamentation

AbstractIn the context of contemporary mass atrocities and the search for justice, we offer a contemporary reading of the Book of Lamentations—a heartbreaking poem about a devastated city—through the witness of Edith Stein, a Jewish Catholic philosopher, educator, feminist, and Carmelite martyr of the Holocaust. Stein's own story of suffering gender and racial discrimination and her writings on empathy can help readers enter the world of Lamentations with compassion for those who bear the pain of acute injustice. In addition, her devotion in prayer and worship to the crucified and risen Christ as a Carmelite nun can help us find meaning in suffering. In her writings and witness, she teaches us that God's faithfulness does not abandon us to evil and that his unfailing love rescues us and transforms us into people of compassion and hope in the world.

«Ведьмы» и «валькирии» хранителя древностей: к типизации женских образов в дилогии Ю. Домбровского

The aim of the study is to identify the ways of typification of female images in Yu. Dombrovsky’s duology “The Guardian of Antiquities” and “The Faculty of Useless Knowledge”. As a result of the analysis, it was found that typification takes place at three levels: mythological, socio-historical and at the level of mass culture. At the same time, all the levels are connected by the author’s consciousness, which is defined as archaeological and androcentric. The mythologisation of the artistic world of the duology is explained by the specifics of the “archaeological” type of consciousness as one of the variants of the author’s “self” presented in the text. It is found that the female characters in Dombrovsky’s duology are variants of the “witch” archetype, they have a connection with myth and ritual, they remain “prophetesses”, “maidens of fate”, creating written texts in social reality: complaints, protocols and denunciations. The typification of female images also occurs with the help of the stereotypes of contemporary mass culture individually processed by the author. The study is original in that it is the first to analyse the androcentric paradigm of world understanding and modelling in Yu. Dombrovsky’s duology, where male norms and scenarios of conduct in life are claimed to be universal. “Physicality” as sexuality becomes a criterion for evaluating female characters.

ALLUSION QUEST FOR TRANSLATORS: TO TRANSLATE OR NOT TO TRANSLATE

Research purpose. The research aims at identifying and revealing the tendencies of translating allusions from English (as the source language) into Lithuanian (as the target language) in the texts of The Economist and their correspondences in the magazine IQ.
 Methodological approach. The paper suggests the theoretical background of the concept of allusion and the main strategies of its translation. The practical analysis is based on 54 examples found in the 28 articles of the source language with their corresponding translations into the target language. The descriptive contrastive linguistic method has been applied for processing the data selected.
 Findings. The analysis of the cases of allusion transference reveals the fact that the most common allusion translation strategies from the source language into the target one involves the direct translation and the direct translation with minimum changes complying with the rules of the Lithuanian language system, which allow a translator to remain faithful to the source text and convey the initial intention to well-educated and literate audiences. The ways of translation by adding extra allusive guidance and translator’s notes, using a more familiar substitution, or eliminating the allusion in the target language have been fewer in number, but with a skilful application accommodate the needs of the source language audiences. 
 Value and practical implications. The texts of contemporary mass media demonstrate the presence of a variety of historical, religious, cultural, and literary references that usually pose a real challenge to a translator intending to convey the author’s original intention and, at the same time, make the message comprehensible for the target readership. A well-chosen strategy for allusion translation in the texts of mass media can attract larger audiences and help to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.

The ‘I was here’ syndrome in tourism: The case of Poland

Tourism appropriates tourist attractions and takes possession of them, marking them both physically and symbolically. Tourists visiting attractions tend to create distinctive marks, usually characterised by some significance in terms of self-identification, on the places and monuments visited by them, and this could be regarded as a symptom of a specific ‘I was here’ syndrome; in the present study, the authors examine the prevailing practices of marking attractions in tourist spaces, as also the marks themselves. We endeavour to identify the nature of the phenomenon and the consequences for both the attractions and the subjects managing them. The survey carried out involved sev- eral chosen sites in Poland, all of which are characterised by a recognised historic status in the realm of public space as well as a clearly identified sociocultural or legal value, which by definition imposes the requirement for adhering to a certain behavioural code when within their precincts and towards them, and excludes other kinds of behaviour. These attractions are all subject to different forms of institutionalised control, which, however, fails when it comes to safeguarding them from the practices of marking undertaken typically by tourists; these occurrences have become a routine phenomenon, which is unsurprising given the fact that the rituals of the contemporary mass and mediatised tourism have made this kind of tourist behaviour common, albeit on a lower scale than previously expected.

REPRESENTAMEN OF MORALITIES ON LANGUAGE AND VISUAL SIGNS IN INCREDIBLES 2 FILM

Film stands out as a compelling contemporary mass medium that has witnessed substantial growth. This progress has given rise to numerous film genres, intended to captivate audiences across generations, including the realm of animated cinema. Often, films convey messages depicting the dichotomy between good and bad characters in everyday life, typically portraying the vulnerable and kind-hearted individuals facing oppression from self-centered antagonists. However, in fictional works like "Incredibles 2," superheroes emerge as guardians, shielding society from menacing forces. This research aimed to provide a comprehensive elucidation of the interpretive process through the utilization of the triadic model. Furthermore, it endeavors to discern the facets of morality manifested through both linguistic and visual symbols within the semiotic framework of the movie "Incredibles 2." This was about semiotics which refers to Charles Sanders Peirce’s theory. This study used qualitative method as research design. Data in the study were signs appeared in the film. The findings section showed six kinds of sign that the writer founded in the Incredibles 2 film which are sinsign, qualisign, legisign, icon, indexes, and symbol that exists moralities signs. The findings on sign can divided into two parts, Language and Visual sign. Language sign can be utteranced by the speaker on the film from Mr. Incredible and a little boy. Visual sign could be shown by icon and symbol on the things in every capture. Keywords: semiotic, Pierce, moralities, Incridibles 2

The Role of Wushu Martial Arts Representation in the Contemporary Mass Culture of the World

ABSTRACT Wushu occupies a considerable place in world culture as one of the most widely known martial arts. Wushu is a remarkable part of modern popular culture and is present in the context of cinema, computer games, social networks etc. The study aim is to explore the significance and impact of wushu on contemporary culture through values and motivations of Chinese and foreign audiences. The relevance of the proposed study lies in the proposal of an approach to determining the characteristics of the influence of wushu as an independent cultural phenomenon. The study population was 916 participants from China and around the world, aged 14 to 68. They were divided into two groups: Chinese and foreigners. During the online survey, the participant was inquired to subjectively assess the meaning of wushu, pass a test on the ability to identify wushu among other martial arts and an associative test to determine the values and motivations associated with wushu. The large differences were identified in the values and motivations of the Chinese and foreign audiences in relation to wushu, including gender and age differences. Wushu has been found to retain an important traditional influence on Chinese society than might be expected.

On some peculiarities of parenthesis functioning in contemporary popular science texts (based on the English version of National Geographic)

The article is devoted to the study of contemporary English media texts from the point of view of functional syntactic peculiarities of its expressiveness, especially on the example of parenthesis as a means to influence the recipients. The domineering cognitive-discursive paradigm of text studies allows one to analyze media text from the point of its integral impact on the addressee. Contemporary mass media use different ways of influencing the readers, for example, television, radio, printed and electronic press, blogs and videoblogs. A special interest lies in the printed press, which uses integrated means of transmitting information, including references to Internet sources and TV shows. Despite using different ways of influencing the recipients, the key means of conveying author’s intentions is its syntactic organization. Due to different syntactic constructions authors of a media text can facilitate a topic disclosure, forming the readers’ opinion about a subject matter and the author of the text. A great role is played by parenthesis, which is widely used in popular science texts to explain terms, comment on certain events or sources of the information given in the article, clarify some information, etc. In the given article we analyze some functions of the parenthetic constructions on the example of the texts taken from the magazine National Geographic and unified by the topic «Science» in accordance with the author’s communicative intentions. Using continuing sampling method in choosing the examples conveying the category of expressivity, it was discovered that the domineering function of a parenthetical phrase in the analyzed texts is a comment, which serves as a means of representing an author’s point of view and adding information to the facts thus forming the readers’ opinion.