Cultural Paradigm Research Articles

Cathectic Mechanisms of Culture. Part 1

The first part of the article introduces a new research program that focuses on the constitutive role of emotions, affect, and their intensity in meaning-making. It opposes the existing broad tradition that effectively posits culture as information and sees cultural processes as coding, transferring, and processing information. I suggest that such a “cybernetic” paradigm of culture stems from the implicit or explicit domination of the computational models of cognition in sociology. However, current progress in cognitive neuroscience and its theoretical comprehension makes these models inadequate. The ongoing shift to distributed models of cognition calls for an adjustment of the concept of culture regarding its “vertical”, emotional dimension. Instead of seeing emotions as an “amplifier” of pre-existing cultural meanings or as a “fuel” of social processes, we should see emotions as an ingredient of an emergent synthesis that creates culture. The first part of the article introduces a historical-sociological reconstruction of theories recognizing an integral emotional dimension of culture; this is opposed to the entire sub-discipline of the sociology of emotions that broadly describes the mutual influences between social life and emotions as a human psychic trait. In the context of the ongoing debates about a cognitive turn in sociology, this historical-sociological reconstruction allows me to build a Durkheimian theory of cathectic mechanisms of culture based on the re-interpretation of the Freudian concept of cathexis. The article also contains the basic principles and implications of the sociological theory of cathexis.

Глобальные научные проекты

The article examines a set of scientific projects referred to the study of the prehistoric period of the Earth and the resurrection of extinct animal species using the characteristics of a global scientific project developed by I.T. Kasavin. The author reveals the unobvious connections between scientific and extra-scientific factors (such as media, utopianism, the influence of cultural paradigms, etc.), in particular, the influence of such scientific and cultural trends as posthumanism and global evolutionism was shown. The paradoxical nature of this set of projects is reflected by prospects and advantages associated with its implementation, what can be explained by the significant ideological and psychological component in its composition. The author considers the Pleistocene park in Yakutia awaiting its settlement by “resurrected” mammoths, as a Russian example of a global scientific project belonging to this direction. In addition to the identified by I.T. Kasavin characteristics the author proposes such a property of the global scientific and engineering project as the scientific and sociotechnical imaginary. The author briefly discusses a concept of the sociotechnical imaginaries in the context of the works by Sh. Jasanoff. As well the author consideres the scientific imagination (the concept of which is still based on Jasanoff’s ideas) and its role in science diplomacy using the work of S. Robinson. Finally the article concludes about the problematic points of using the concept of imaginaries in the study of science and technology (vagueness, inconsistency, lack of elaboration, if any possible) and makes a comparison of this concept with the idea of a global scientific project.

The Hlukhiv Children’s School of Arts as a component of the formation of professional music education in the Sumy Region in the Twentieth Century

The article is devoted to highlighting the process of formation of the artistic and educational component of the cultural paradigm of the Hlukhiv region of our time. The stages of the formation of professional musical education and the activities of its main carrier — the Hlukhiv Children’s Music School — have been studied. An excursion into the history of the creation of the Hlukhiv Children’s Music School was made and the prerequisites for its emergence were highlighted. As part of their analysis, the period of the educational process within the framework of estate culture and the gymnasium phase of Hlukhiv’s education is covered. The main material and technical problems that accompanied the process of establishment of the institution are highlighted. The main forms of music-making in the institution, the artistic network of the region, subject-specialist directions and the role of its educational activities are analyzed. The personal contributions of school leaders to the development of musical education are studied, and the statistics of musical education coverage of children of Hlukhiv Region are given. A parallel was drawn between the main tasks of the school and the professional direction of the teachers. The periodization of the formation of the Hlukhiv Children’s Music School has been developed.

THE SYNERGY OF BOB DYLAN'S REALITIES

The figure of poet-intellectual and musician-thinker Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, has been systematically attracting the attention of researchers from different countries since the 1960s. Today, a powerful corpus of literary, linguistic, artistic, and cultural explorations has been formed, which examines various aspects of Bob Dylan’s work. At the same time, there are certain research problems, which are developed periodically and are revealed in fragments. One of these research problems is that the issues related to Dylan’s creative activity are insufficiently researched. This article analyzes the phenomenon of the prominent poet and musician, taken in a global dimension. This work considers the main components that made up the “secret formula” of Bob Dylan’s socio-spiritual success. In particular, the reality of the actual society, relayed by the figure and texts of the artist, is allocated firstly in the 1960s. The reality of the complexities of Bob Dylan’s own nature, represented by numerous socio-cultural manifestations of the poet-musician, is highlighted. The reality of historical values, embossed by Bob Dylan’s intellectual dynamics, is singled out and considered in detail. The reality of the cultural paradigm, within which his artistic development has been going on for decades, is also outlined.

Сюжеты и образы истории и культуры Дальнего Востока в романе Всеволода Иванова «Голубые пески»

This article examines Vsevolod Ivanov’s novel “Blue Sands” from the point of view of the episodes of the history of the Far East and its culture reflected in it. In the images of the three central characters of the novel – Commissar Vasily Zapus, Baron Ungern and Khan Chokan Balikhanov, having real prototypes in the history of the 19th – 20th centuries and created by the writer on the basis of documentary materials – Ivanov primarily emphasizes their great goal – the liberation of his people from external dependence and their unification based on a lofty idea. The analysis of the novel’s characters reveals these goals: for Zapus it is the embodiment of the idea of a world revolution in Red Asia, for Ungern it is the unification of the tribes of the Mongolian root into one Middle state, for Valikhanov – the revival of the Alash Horde – Great Kyrgyzstan. The legend of the blue sands introduced by the writer into the novel, which belongs, according to the classification of the researcher of the people’s utopia K. V. Chistov, to the “legends of the deliverers”, shows that the thoughts of all the heroes of the novel are unfeasible. The answer to the question why large-scale historical rescue projects and bringing people to the land of happiness by a certain hero-deliverer, cannot come true, Ivanov in the novel “Blue Sands” gives, relying on the traditions of folk culture of Siberia and the Far East. The article compares the perception of fortune-telling by sheep’s shoulder blades, common among some peoples of Siberia and the Far East, by the hero of the novel Valikhanov, who studied in St. Petersburg and who does not believe in the meaning of the rite and has lost his sense of homeland, and the lyrical characters of Ivanov’s poem “Zhauryn- Kora”, for whom the rite is part of a common cultural paradigms. The author of the article concludes that the writer in the novel leads the reader to the idea that the loss of a sense of connection with your people, their aspirations and customs embodied in culture, dooms to failure the best thoughts about the salvation of this people.

Art Critique in the Pages of the Newspaper “For Socialist Realism”

In the 1930s–1950s, there existed a truly unique publication in Leningrad – the newspaper “For Socialist Realism”, which was the official organ of the All-Russian Academy of Arts and later became the organ of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. It was also the press organ of The I.E.Repin Institute of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. It was published from 1934 to 1941, then its publication resumed in 1945 and continued until 1954. The newspaper’s pages reflected all the major events of the Academy during this period, connected both to the cultural strategies of the Soviet state and the internal life of the Academy. Artistic and critical issues were discussed in various publications by art historians, artists and educators. Among the authors of this time featured in the newspaper were I.I. Brodsky, A.M. Gerasimov, E.F. Gollerbach, I.E. Grabar, S.K. Isakov, B.V. Ioganson, A.L. Kaganovich, P.E. Kornilov, S.V. Korovkevich, N.N. Punin etc. This article analyzes the newspaper’s activity, critical articles of that time, their reflection of the cultural paradigm of the era, and provides an assessment of the work of individual representatives of Russian art.

Realismus a dekadence jako „nákaza“ v dobové řeči o literatuře 19. století

The aim of this paper is not to analyze the thematization of diseases (whether specific or general) or contagion expressed in literary form, but to explore the ways in which the discourse of contemporary literary criticism applied imagery associated with disease to descriptions of shifting literary norms in conjunction with changing cultural and social paradigms of the time.

The Transgender Flipping Point: How Trans Instagrammers Flip the Script on Identity

Since Time magazine’s now iconic 2014 cover story featuring trans actress Laverne Cox proclaimed the contemporary moment ‘The Transgender Tipping Point’, there has been much debate about the recent proliferation of trans representations across all media sectors. Trans scholars, culture producers, artists, and activists have argued that this is not only a misconception, but it occludes the corpus of trans visual culture made by and for trans culture producers reflecting a wider diversity of trans experiences that do not readily reflect dominant cultural paradigms. Defined as a self-image made with a hand-held mobile device and shared via social media platforms, the selfie has facilitated self-imaging becoming a ubiquitous part of globally networked contemporary life. Beyond this, selfies have facilitated a diversity of image-making practices and enabled otherwise representationally marginalized constituencies to insert self-representations into visual culture. A close look at the prolific selfie practice of Black British, gender-non-conforming, trans-femme performance artist Travis Alabanza reveals their use of Instagram to be a critical intervention into contemporary culture. In self-imaging complex, expansive, and intersectional identity, Alabanza’s oeuvre produces new visual exemplars that defy stereotypes and erasures produced by dominant culture while simultaneously challenging our previously held conceptions of identity and self-portraiture. Alabanza’s work decolonizes the relationship between the subject and the portrait, encouraging viewers to consider the complex dialectical relationship between images, aesthetics, and communication about identity, performativity, gender, racialization, class, and subcultural affiliations.

ВИВЧЕННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЛІТЕРАТУРИ В КУЛЬТУРОЛОГІЧНОМУ КЛЮЧІ: ВІТАЇЗМ НАЦІЇ, ВІДОБРАЖЕНИЙ У МИСТЕЦТВІ (на основі немовознавчих праць Івана Огієнка)

The study of Ukrainian literature as a kind of art, and therefore in the rich palette of national and world cultural heritage, corresponds to the trends of liter-ary and cultural education. The purpose of the article is a generalized ideological and theoretical analysis of the methodology of studying Ukrainian literature in a cultural key. According to the NUS Concept, one of the ten key competencies is awareness and self-expression in the fi eld of culture. This competence is related to the understanding of works of art, the formation of one’s own artistic tastes, the independent expression of ideas, experiences and feelings through works of art. The formation of cultural competence within school programs does not have a special targeted subject, but takes place in the synergy of infl uences on the student’s personality during the study of a number of related disciplines. Perhaps the greatest potential to form cultural competence have the disciplines of the lin-guistic and literary cycle, in particular Ukrainian literature. Lessons of Ukrainian literature, in which the cultural context is systematically involved, are able to form a full-fl edged understanding of the pupils about the cultural paradigm in the conditions of which national literature arose and developed, as well as to give pupils a holistic understanding of the place of the artistic word among other types of art. The key note of the authors of the NUS Concept is that awareness and self-expression in the fi eld of culture is based on a deep understanding of one’s own national identity. All this motivates the correctness of the complex scientifi c vec-tor of the current research, the source of which is the non-linguistic works of Ivan Ohiienko (with an emphasis on the book “Ukrainian culture. A brief history of the cultural life of the Ukrainian people”). First, the appropriateness of studying literature in the national and cultural plane is substantiated. Secondly, it was in-vestigated how Ivan Ohiienko appeals to the worldview dominants of vitalism as a thought code of the indestructibility of the Ukrainian nation in the constructed algorithm of presenting the material. Evidence of the vitality of the Ukrainian nation is precisely the unique culture, in particular literature. The formation of cultural competence by the Ohiienko’s traditions is highlighted in the article. It contributes to building a solid foundation for the national self-identifi cation of schoolchildren. Further research on the topic should be organized empirically by tracing how the teaching of Ukrainian literature in the cultural paradigm aff ects the national self-awareness of pupils and motivational mechanisms regarding the study of literature as a kind of art and an essential form of existence of the national spirit

Embedded Cultural Patterns in Abu Firas Al-Hamadani’s Ra’iyyah: Arabic Poetry

This paper tackles the cultural patterns in Abu Firas Hamdani's captivity poetry, namely Ra’iyyah poem. The poet, who is normally a part of ideological, cultural, or social paradigms, represents and regenerates, consciously or unconsciously, the cultural patterns, especially those represented by his predecessors in their literary works, whether in prose or verse. Antonyms and displacement, and many other linguistic tools, allow a space for the poet to freely criticize, expose, and thus persuade authorities into setting him free. Undoubtedly, cultural criticism, a product of postmodern thoughts, is one of the prominent trends in the world of literary criticism, and it places the focus on culture as a platform from which the authors express their status and agenda. The embedded cultural patterns that are traced in Abu Firas’ poetry are divided into three major themes, based on the suggested cultural patterns as elaborated in the current study.

HYBRID SPECULATIVE FICTION AS A GENRE PHENOMENON IN MODERN LITERATURE OF THE U.S. AND RUSSIA

The article is devoted to theoretical exploration of modern hybrid speculative fiction. This term comprises a huge body of creative works which are written at the intersection of genres related to speculative prose. On the one hand, hybrid speculative fiction is rooted in post-modern epoch, on the other hand, it returns to the principles of hybrid genre genesis, which flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. The tendency to genre eclecticism is a common feature of a great number of modern creative works and seems to be an efficient way out of conceptual crisis emerged in speculative fiction at the close of the 20th century, that is why the future development of speculative fiction is expected to be closely connected with the expansion of hybrid genre forms. The overall goal of the article is to scientifically comprehend hybrid genres in modern speculative fiction of the United States and Russia. The investigation of hybrid speculative fiction as a genre and cultural phenomenon leads to setting three goals. Firstly, it is necessary to determine genre taxonomy of such genres of traditional speculative fiction as science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Secondly, it is necessary to investigate genre-forming models, which underlie modern hybrid works. Thirdly, it is important to understand common features of the works of hybrid speculative fiction. The study of the genre interaction in modern speculative fiction is based on the descriptive and functional methods. The comparison of Russian and American works involves the use of comparative, typological and cultural-historical methods. Using the genre blocks common for both literary criticism, readers’ expectations and publishing practice, it is possible to identify such genre-forming models of hybrid speculative fiction, as: science fiction+fantasy; science fiction+horror; fantasy+historical novel; fantasy+postmodernist novel. It is also possible to sum up such common features of the works of hybrid speculative fiction, as: irrational world outlook; distortion of the very structural basis of traditional science fiction; shift of sociocultural model of world outlook; polyphonic principle of narration and potentially an endless unravelling of the plot without a pronounced climax; postclassical narrative model; the complexity of storyline. To conclude, modern hybrid speculative fiction can be treated as a separate literary and sociocultural phenomenon in the literature of the U.S. and Russia. It destroys inner canons of traditional science fiction, it is deeply influenced by post-modern cultural paradigm, and could be described as a significant cultural movement, which is aligned with demands and values of modern society.

Culturological reflection on creative interaction between director and actor: neurolinguistic technologies as cultural-creating paradigm in the field of stage arts

The purpose of the article is to conduct a cultural reflection on the technology of neurolinguistic interaction between the director and the actor in the process of interpersonal communication when working on staging a performance. The methodology of research is in accordance with the culturological discourse and is based on the application of a set of general scientific methods for specific scientific methods. In order to study the problem in historical sequence, the historical method is applied. Illumination and analytical measurement of the constituent components of the problem under study required the use of a system-analytical method. In order to study neurolinguistic technologies as a cultural paradigm in the field of performing arts, a system-structural method for analysing a system of interconnected and interacting elements is applied. The hermeneutic method is used for cultural reflection of the creative interaction between the director and the actor and the interpretation of the theoretical provisions of the problem under study. To draw the general conclusions of the study, the method of generalisation is applied. Scientific novelty lies in the cultural reflection of the creative interaction between the director and the actor and the consideration of neurolinguistic technologies as a cultural paradigm in the field of performing arts. Conclusions. An analysis of the question raised in the article about the cultural reflection of the creative interaction between the director and the actor made it possible to state the importance of using neurolinguistic technologies as a cultural paradigm in the field of performing arts. It was found that neurolinguistic technologies, regardless of the specific purpose or content, are directly aimed at the creative interaction between the director and the actor, constitute a harmonic integrity and can always be used to establish a creative tandem when staging a performance. It is shown that the use of neurolinguistic technologies in the process of communication will contribute to a better mutual understanding between the subjects of the creative process and will favour a clear relationship between the director and the actor when working on the performance. Taking into account the neurolinguistic features of the actor’s priority sensory channel, using the techniques of reflection, adjustment and anchoring of the result obtained in the creative process will contribute to establishing a rapport between the director and the actor, will allow the director to consciously lead the actor throughout the entire creative process of working on staging the performance and will lead to the interaction between the director and the actor. Consequently, the culturological reflection of the creative interaction between the director and the actor made it possible to illuminate the complex of artistic principles that clearly work, are adequate to their purpose, give effective results and fully correspond to the nature and content of the cultural paradigm of modern stage art.
 Key words: culturological reflection, neurolinguistic technologies, creative interaction, actor, director, culturology, performing arts, cultural paradigm.

Culture management as a factor of overcoming social exclusion and alienation: the animation approach

The purpose of the article is to substantiate animation approach to sociocultural activities and culture management as a mechanism of overcoming social alienation and exclusion, and to present a system for animation sociocultural activities management.
 The methodology. The research is based on a cultural studies paradigm, which provides for establishing a place of social exclusion phenomenon in the contemporary model of humanity’s culture. Interconnected fundamental and applied cultural studies constitute the foundation of deep analysis of culture management and contemporary culture practices. Synthesis of scientific knowledge and generalization of scientific facts acted as a foundation of conclusions about the significance of animation approach in culture processes management. Systemizing and modeling as scientific cognition methods enable designing an animation sociocultural activities system, which allows realizing the process of overcoming social exclusion.
 The results. During the research, it was established that characteristic features of culture management, through the prism of animation approach to sociocultural practice, manifest themselves as: stimulation and motivation of people and groups to directly participate in sociocultural processes; ensuring active performance; accompaniment of initiatives in sociocultural field; assistance in self-organizing; ensuring eventfulness and creativity of cultural practices to improve the animation effect. This shapes animation management as a process of creating conditions for uncovering creativity in various manifestations (social — self-organization, artistic – art, civic — social activities etc.). Culture management within the context of applied cultural studies, through the prism of animation approach, must study contemporary practices, ensure culture-creating being, facilitate creative self-development of society’s subjects and improve their participation in opposition to alienation in the sociocultural space.
 The scientific topicality. Rethinking of topicality of scientific research in contemporary sociocultural situation is caused by contemporary crisis realities. It is especially related to theoretical generalization of contemporary culture space management, which reacts promptly to challenges under conditions of extermination of our people’s cultural heritage. Special kind of responsibility rests upon those who must ensure active inclusion of society’s subjects into culture-creation processes, facilitate overcoming social alienation, and accompany continuousness of translation of Ukraine’s values on “the culture front”. Under such conditions, cultural practices that possess deep meaning, inspirational, culture-rehabilitating effect, and renew lost faith in the beauty of true human being become topical, which animation approach to sociocultural activities manifests in itself.
 The practical significance. A system of animation sociocultural activities was developed, which incorporates animation approach in culture management in order to overcome social exclusion and alienation. The system is based on high level of openness, motivated participation of social subjects in improving system’s functioning, the presence of a great number of various elements, which causes expansion of the system’s organization element etc. Based on the system, contemporary animation culture practices are improved and developed.

Beyond Borders and Biology: Lisa Myeong-Joo’s Self-Portrait of a Circle (2016)

Situating the art of Lisa Myeong-Joo in a history of South Korean–Australian politics and cultural relations, it is possible to see her series Self-Portrait of a Circle as an interrogation into the limits and imaginative potentials of the adoptee body in contesting the bodies of the nation-states of South Korea and Australia. In this essay, I argue that Lisa Myeong-Joo consciously plays with ethno-nationalist conceptions of representation and appearance through “performative anonymity” and equivocation toward place. By interrogating the dominant biological and cultural essentialist paradigms of family and state, Lisa Myeong-Joo’s practice contributes to ongoing scholarship on the Korean diaspora.

Spanish Humanitarian Policy in Latin America: Peculiarities and Priorities

The article deals with the establishment and formation of the humanitarian policy of Spain, the evolution of the concept of “Hispanidad” in relation to Latin America, when Spain, along with the expansion of investment and economic cooperation, was building up educational, scientific, cultural interaction based on a common historical past, and intended positioning itself as a “bridge” between the EU and this region. The authors apply the theory of constructivism, based on the position that “historical and cultural paradigms,” norms and beliefs, and not only economic power influences the rapprochement of states. The chronological order makes possible to trace the evolution of the features and priorities of the country’s humanitarian policy, starting from the second half of the 2010s, when it was reduced to the dominance of the educational and scientific factor in Spanish public diplomacy towards Latin America. The Spanish state has achieved significant results in improving the system of higher education, making it attractive to foreign students. The activities of public and private structures (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AECID, Carolina Foundation, Casa America) are focused not only at creating a positive image of Spain (the Program “Spain Global”), but also at forming a common Ibero-American scientific and educational space. In the Ibero-American Community of Nations (ICN), which unites countries on the basis of language and culture, an important place is given to youth problems related to the availability of quality education and employment, as well as issues of digitalization, economic modernization, renewable energy. Within the framework of the ICN, the Tordesillas Group, the Association of Ibero-American Universities, the La Rabida Group, etc., are intended to implement the 2021 Goals in the field of education. The use of professional research networks, the introduction of new skills and competencies for students and teachers, the creation of the Ibero-American Institute for Education and Productivity (IIEYP), focusing on the relationship between education and economic growth, became a real basis for strengthening a common Ibero-American educational and scientific space as a main priority in the actual humanitarian policy of Spain.

აგიოგრაფიული ტრადიციები და სამეგრელოს ქრისტიანული რეალიები

Samegrelo is a particularly interesting region for studying the identity and uniqueness of Georgian Christian culture. This book analyzes various source materials relevant to this topic. Christian cultural ideals, paradigms or symbols are clearly revealed in these sources. Source materials are distinguished thematically, chronologically, and functionally: words, concepts, phrases; poetic or other genres folkloric texts including proverbs, parables, myths; relics depicting liturgical, ethnographic-ritual practices and related terms; micro and macro toponyms; vocabulary containing symbols of trees, plants, animals and numbers; facts about everyday life. The book is divided into separate articles and sub-chapters based on the content and systematic grouping of the obtained information. Through comparing these genres, the parallels between hagiography and the mentioned materials are particularly interesting and reveal obvious similarities between them. Hagiography is the main source of medieval Georgian religious knowledge. Certain systems of thought; a special form of contemplation of the world; aesthetic and ethical views; philosophical thought - all of these were formed in Georgia during the medieval period and are sometimes expressed in the form of theoretical discussions in Georgian hagiography, and sometimes through pieces of art. The worldview established by Christianity was most clearly reflected in hagiography. Since it is the most reliable source for the study of medieval thought, the assessment of the Christian realities of Samegrelo is mainly based on comparison with hagiographic literary traditions.

Marco Topchii’s style in the context of modern world guitar performance

Statement of the problem. Marko Topchii (1991) is one of the famous Ukrainian guitarists who began to conquer the music world at an early age. Winning in competitions (more than 90 times), performances in the world’s most prestigious concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Corto Hall, conservatories of San Francisco, Madrid, Vienna, Bologna) are the result of immense talent and great professional work. The young guitarist is one of those who expand the guitar repertoire by creating arrangements for guitar, in particular of works by J. S. Bach, M. Ravel, M. Mussorgsky. These facts contribute to the relevance of the topic of the article and create a context for the theoretical research of M. Topchii’s performance principles. Recent research and publications. A number of works are devoted to the theme of musical / composer’s thinking (Dys, 1989; Kotlyarevskiy, 1989; Malyi, 2018), guitar thinking and style (Tkachenko, 2008, 2012; Nikolaievska, 2008), M. Topchii’s performance style (Chechenia, 2021, 2016), “musical interpretation” (Moskalenko, 2013), “performance style” (Martienssen, 1930; Katrich, 2000; Tkach, 2012). The purpose of the study is an attempt to identify the features of M. Topchii’s performance style through the context of shaping his musical thinking, communication, social and cultural paradigm and worldview. The scientific novelty is explained by the lack of study of M. Topchii’s personality in Ukrainian and world musicology. M. Topchii’s performance thinking is revealed on the example of the analysis of his own transcriptions of J. S. Bach’s Choral Prelude “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” and M. Mussorgsky’s suite “Pictures from the Exhibition”. The study uses such methods of contemporary cognitivism as historical and cultural (research of the evolution of guitar schools, performance, development of M. Topchii’s style and thinking) and interpretative (identification of principles of performance / interpretation of works); comparative method of analysis of M. Topchii’s style in the context of guitar performance. Results and conclusion. M. Topchii’s style is a concentrated combination of the best achievements of guitar performance schools, which originate from A. Segovia and F. Tarrega. In the context of guitar art, M. Topchii is a unique performer, which is due not only to the number of victories in international competitions and performances on the world’s most prestigious stages, but also to the fact that M. Topchii demonstrates original interpretation of musical works, depth of understanding of the composer’ idea and high technical level of playing the instrument. These qualities make up his unique performance style – emotional, monolithic, crystallized.

Stendhal’s Consumptive Heroine: Lamiel and Tuberculosis

Abstract This article offers a close reading of Stendhal’s Lamiel, arguing that the eponymous heroine suffers from, but also manipulates the symptoms of, the quintessentially nineteenth-century disease, consumption. It first establishes Lamiel as a consumptive heroine by comparing the novel to contemporary medical discourse on the disease, most notably to the work of René Laënnec. It then analyses the fausse phtisie scene, a passage in which Lamiel uses the blood of a dead bird to simulate haemoptysis, contending that the performative nature of Lamiel’s illness is of primary importance. Comparing Lamiel to other Stendhal novels, the article highlights that the heroine asserts her own identity by assuming abjection, whereas other characters are threatened by the abject. It further demonstrates that this scene amounts to Lamiel’s rejection of Romantic tropes of passive female patienthood, arguing that the novel forges a new mould for the representation of consumptive heroines. This article contributes to our understanding of how literature can manipulate, undermine, and even reject medical and cultural paradigms of illnesses as ubiquitous to the nineteenth century as tuberculosis.

Probing the Gendered History of Aegean Survey Archaeology

Probing the Gendered History of Aegean Survey Archaeology

Architecture of Post-Soviet Kazakhstan: Key Stylistic References in Public Facilities

The paper is devoted to the question of stylistic directions in the development of architecture in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The construction boom that marked the great restructuring of the entire cultural paradigm of the country after the collapse of the Soviet empire is expressed in the stylistic diversity of architecture of the present time. The article notes that at the foundation for the context of the current urbanization of the steppe region lies a reimagining of both Kazakhstan's own cultural heritage and all architectural currents of the 20th and 21st centuries. The study identifies the most popular stylistic references in the artistic and visual architectural solutions in the country's major cities. Particular attention is paid to the balance between neoclassicism, modernism, and postmodernism in the characteristic of the general field of transformations of the urban environment. The role of new technologies in the development of modern architectural plasticity and the overall artistic language of architecture in present-day Kazakhstan is analyzed. It is argued that all its apparent diversity comes as a result of the influence of contemporary global architectural practice.