Language Norms Research Articles

Lexical Interference of Russian and Karelian in the Diachronic Aspect of Language Policy

Introduction. At the moment the territory of the Russian Federation comprises 138 endangered languages, which determines the relevance of studying the influence of the state’s language policy on the development of the Karelian language. The purpose of the study is to analyze the way language contacts influenced Karelian. The novelty of the study lies in the consideration of linguistic interference in the historical context.Methodology and sources. The study is conducted using the publications in Karelian of the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods, as well as articles from modern electronic periodicals. The research material was broadened by interviewing several informants. The data was collected and analyzed using the method of continuous sampling, questioning, participant observation, and comparative analysis. The theoretical basis of the research is the social typology of languages and the typology of language situations.Results and discussion. Different historical periods ended in changing Karelian in different ways and making it adopt some features of Finnish, Vepsian and Russian. The texts of the pre-Soviet period show that lexical units of Russian origin denote everyday realities or religious concepts. The Soviet period texts demonstrate the maximum number of Russianbased lexical units, that are related to everyday life or Soviet ideology and realities. In the texts of the modern period, there is the least number of words of Russian origin, that are mostly borrowings that have long been a part of the language norm of Karelian.Conclusion. With the distinctive features relevant to the typology of language situations taken into account, the present language situation in the Republic of Karelia can be defined as multicomponent multilingual, being demographically out of equilibrium and communicatively unbalanced. In different historical periods Karelian was influenced, in varying degrees, by Russian; this is clearly reflected in the vocabulary. Nowadays professional and amateur activists striving to revitalize the Karelian language are oriented mainly towards its Baltic-Finnish basis.

THE DYNAMICS OF ASPECTS OF VERBS IN THE LITERARY TEXT: FUNCTIONAL AND STYLISTIC ASPECT (BASED ON THE LITERARY PROSE OF P. ZAHREBELNYI)

Abstract
 Background. One of the most important problems of modern Ukrainian linguistic studies is the comprehensive study of the language as a dynamic system, which has recently been noticeably «updated» at all levels. Under the influence of a number of social factors the lexical-semantic and derivational systems change most noticeably, the dynamics of other linguistic systems, morphological system in particular. In various socio-communicative fields, the functioning of many variabilities of grammatical forms of verbs that show the category of aspect of the verb is observed. New tendencies in the formation of perfectives and imperfectives in this regard are the most significant, they are most active in informational and publicistic, scientific, literary discourses.
 The purpose of the article is to identify and prove specific features of perfectivations / imperfectivation of aspectual pairs of verbs in the language of prose of P. Zahrebelnyi The main tasks of the article: to describe the writer's perfectives and imperfectives as stylisthemes that in the literary discourse of the prose writer represent the category of occasionality; specify the methods of their derivation; identify the main functions of stylisthemes in the author's novel. 
 Methods. In this publication were used general scientific methods such as observation, analysis, synthesis and comparison; within linguistic methods, there is the descriptive method which is used for interpretation of perfectivation / imperfectivation in the literary discourse of P. Zagrebelny; method of integrative analysis is the basis of the overall study of the set of stylistic matters that represent the grammatical category of aspect in the writer’s language; method of linguistic analysis allows to determine stylistic functions of author’s individual perfectives and imperfectives in the vertical context of analyzed novels. 
 Results. In the morphological system of the modern Ukrainian literary language, not all verbs form aspectual pairs. One-aspect (non-biaspectual) verbs form quite a steady subsystem within the verbal system of the Ukrainian language. However, within grammatical verb categories span different points of tense, aspect, state, the person of a verb, functioning of active and passive particles became visibly active from the end of the 80s – beginning of the 90s of XX century. At the beginning of the 20s of the XXI century we can see consequences of tendencies that not only show the dynamic nature of the verbal system but also the dynamic consistency of grammatical norms.
 In the language of P. Zagrebelny's fiction, potential verbs, identifying the category of occasionality, reflect modern tendencies in the development of the Ukrainian language and can strengthen the potential of the literary standard. In the works of the author, written in the 60’s – the early ‘80s of last century, grammatical forms are found, which represent the perfection of verbs of imperfect form and the imperfection of verbs of perfect form, which in modern Ukrainian became more active only in the late 80’s – early ‘90s of the twentieth century. A specific feature of the writer’s linguistic style is the active production of aspectual pairs, which in the vertical context of his language creative work acts as a stylistheme. The whole set of individual author's perfectives and imperfectives is a consequence of an unusual (previously untraceable) combination of usual morphemes.
 Discussion. Numerous potential verb forms that mark the literary discourse of P. Zahrebelnyi demonstrate the author's linguistic sense to choose the ways of development of the Ukrainian language, the knowledge of tendencies of activation of its grammatical phenomena during the last few decades in particular. From the '60s of the twentieth century, the writer actualized numerous forms within verb grammatical categories, in particular the verb category of the form, which mostly corresponds to the modern linguistic and literary standard, significantly diversified the language of fiction with stylisthemes that are potentially close to commonly used linguistic units. We see prospects for further research of this topical problem in a comprehensive study of individual author's formation within the verb categories of state and personality / impersonality, which also reflect the dynamics of the stylistic norm of the modern Ukrainian literary language, represented in literary discourse.
 Keywords: grammatical category of aspect, perfective, imperfective, stylistic norm, literary discourse.

The Routledge Guidebook to Smith's Wealth of Nations

The Routledge Guidebook to Smith's <i>Wealth of Nations</i>

THE LANGUAGE OF THE MEDIA: LANGUAGE CONSCIOUSNESS, NORM AND ERROR

The projections of the categories of linguistic consciousness and linguistic personality as prototypes of the power of language in general are sought in the work. The cognitive method is used to analyze the relationship between language consciousness and language personality, on the one hand, and norm and error as a clash of phenomena in the developmental process of language, on the other hand. The power of language is manifested and proved by linguistic media explication and at the same time “regulates” it through language laws and language norms. The media language refers to developmental processes in the vocabulary of the language. Lexicalization and grammaticalization can be traced and regulated in the direction of enriching the language and its future as a cognitive passport of national identity. The media discourse is a source of non-normative uses that should be prevented; it presupposes modern and up-to-date regulatory mechanisms in the direction of language protection and preservation - again as a cognitive passport of national identity and cultural sovereignty. The phenomenon for us is the collision of language - speech on the territory of human consciousness as an emanation of cognitive claim and communicative intention, more precisely in their section. Consequently, the problem is the extent to which the linguistic personality has a definite consciousness in terms of linguistic laws in order to present culture in its natural and a priori presentation.

Mindsets and family language pressure: language or anxiety transmission across generations?

ABSTRACT This paper addresses language anxiety and monolingual mindsets not only as they relate to family language use, but also to divergent social, cultural, and emotional domains of family language policy (FLP) decisions. It explores associations between language practices within the family, beliefs about multilingualism and language ability (language mindsets), family relations, and negative emotions such as anxiety. Based on interview data from two Turkish families in the Netherlands with high levels of language anxiety, this paper demonstrates how anxiety plays a central and unavoidable role in FLP, influencing family language practices and language development unfavourably. Furthermore, it illustrates how parental anxiety about monolingual language norms among first- and second-generation immigrants affects children’s language use and development. The transmission of anxiety across generations can be prevalent in multilingual, transcultural families due to ‘fixed monolingual mindsets’, negatively influencing multilingual language practices in and outside the family. Anxiety and pressure in regard to monolingual mindsets influence family communication and bonding as well as immigrants’ social interaction both in the host and so-called home country. FLP, when it is built on monolingual mindsets, pressure and anxiety, therefore, has not only linguistic but also social and psychological costs for individuals, families, and society.

The category of mood in the Tatar translation of the work "One Thousand and One Nights"

The purpose of this study is to analyze the verbs used in the work "One Thousand and One Nights". The object of the study is the Tatar translation of the famous collection of fairy tales published in the printing house of Kazan University in 1897-1899. The author of the Tatar version of the work "One Thousand and One Nights" is the famous educator, translator and writer Fatih Khalidi. This work was widely popular among the Tatar people and had a significant impact on the formation of morphological norms of the modern Tatar literary language. The development of the plot, the dynamics of actions in them are built on verbal lexemes denoting eventfulness. They also contain emotionally expressive, interrogative-exclamation constructions, in which a significant place is also given to verb forms. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the features of the use of verbs in the work "One Thousand and One Nights" have not been sufficiently studied in Tatar linguistics. The factual material for the analysis was selected by the continuous sampling method. The analysis was carried out using descriptive, comparative-historical methods. As a result of the research, it was concluded that the activity of using verbs is associated with the narrative nature of the work. A feature of the collection of fairy tales is also the predominance of verbs in the form of the main voice, other voices are presented more passively. In the work "One Thousand and One Nights", the mode of action of verbs is presented in an analytical way, in which auxiliary verbs actively participate. They actively functioned in the language of the period under study, and most of them are widely used in the modern Tatar language.

Features of the use of pronouns in Tatar works of the kyssa genre of the second half of the XIX – early XX century

This article is devoted to the analysis of pronouns that are used in Tatar translated works related to the kissa genre. The object of our research is texts published in the second half of the XIX – early XX century in the Tatar language, which had a serious impact on the formation of the norms of the modern Tatar literary language. In the texts of the works of the kissa genre, personal pronouns are widely represented, and differ in phonetic variability. The parallel use of two or three forms in the language of one work can be explained by the writer's desire to find the most acceptable form close to the vernacular language. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the functioning of pronouns in the texts of Kyss were not the object of special scientific works in Tatar philology. The analysis was carried out using descriptive, comparative-historical methods. The material for the analysis was selected by the continuous sampling method. The results of the study allow us to conclude that in the texts of the kyssa pronouns are represented by Turkic-Tatar lexemes and differ in ambiguity. Within the framework of one work, the lexemes of the vernacular and Old Tatar written language are used, thereby demonstrating the peculiarities of the formation of the modern Tatar literary language. As a result of the analysis of the functional features of pronouns, it turned out that the authors operated on a wide range of pronoun semantics common in the Tatar spoken language.

An Intersemiotic Translation of Normative Utterances to Machine Language

Programming Languages (PL) effectively performs an intersemiotic translation from a natural language to machine language. PL comprises a set of instructions to implement algorithms, i.e., to perform (computational) tasks. Similarly to Normative Languages (NoL), PLs are formal languages that can perform both regulative and constitutive functions. The paper presents the first results of interdisciplinary research aimed at highlighting the similarities between NoL (social sciences) and PL (computer science) through everyday life examples, exploiting Object-Oriented Programming Language tools and an Internet of Things (IoT) system as a case study. Given the pandemic emergency, the urge to move part of our social life to the digital world arose, together with the need to effectively transpose regulative rules and constitutive rules through different strategies for translating a normative utterance expressed in natural language.

НОВИ ИСТОРИЧЕСКИ И ДИАЛЕКТОЛОЖКИ ИЗСЛЕДВАНИЯ НА БЪЛГАРСКИЯ ЕЗИК / NEW HISTORICAL AND DIALECTAL STUDIES OF BULGARIAN

The first three papers featured in Issue 4/2021 of Balgarski ezik present results of the work on a project titled Everyday Life in the Middle Ages according to Lexical Data from Bulgarian and Romanian – a bilateral effort between the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Romanian Academy. Mariyana Tsibranska-Kostova’s paper Magic and its Faces (the 61st Canon of Trullo in Slavic Translations) proposes an analysis of several representatives of the lexical-semantic group of performers of magical practices according to three translations of the canon. The author discusses the word-formation structure of the lexical group as well as the semantic adaptation of Greek names for unknown realia. The text of the 61st Canon of Trullo is published as an appendix. Elka Mircheva provides a discussion on the topic of Bad Thoughts are Worse than Illness (to the Analysis of Medieval Texts) by analysing examples of illness in Pope Gregory the Great’s Dialogues which have been interpreted by earlier studies as cases of psychological conditions. The author’s analysis points to the fact that some of these occurrences are evidence of the influence of bad thoughts resulting in unacceptable reprehen-sible behaviour. Vanya Micheva’s paper Names for Living Places in the Bulgarian Language Picture of the World in the Middle Ages deals with the linguistic and semantic realisations of the concept of living places in the Old Bulgarian classical and original works from the 9th – 11th centuries and in the works of Patriarch Euthymius. The author traces the process of enrichment of the names for living places and the changes in the conceptual content of the studied lexemes. Tatyana Braga’s paper A Little-known Damaskin from the Karlovo-Adzhar School of Calligraphy and Art: Odessa Damascus № 36 (62) – Palaeography, Codicology, Dating offers a meticulous palaeographic and codicological description of a Bulgarian written monument, the Odessa Damaskin № 36 (62) from the manuscript collection of V.I. Grigorovich. Nadka Nikolova’s paper Общ язик с виражение народно. The Language Norms in the Translation of A. Granitski’s За Тръговско писмописанїе (On Commercial Letter Writing), 1858 presents the results of a study on Anastas Granitski’s contribution to the establishment of the structural basis and spelling and language norms of the Bulgarian literary language of the Revival period. On the basis of her observations on adjectives, numerals, pronouns and verbs, the author comes to the conclusion that the text reveals significant convergence of written and spoken language. Maria Mitskova addresses some Issues in the Verb Morphology of Bulgarian Dialects in the Studies of Three European Slavicists from the First Half of the 19th Century – Vuk Karadžić, Victor Grigorovich, Stefan Verković. The paper emphasises the contribution of the first Slavicists whose work marks the origination of the scientific interest in one of the most characteristic features of Bulgarian verbs. Elena Kanevska-Nikolova and Simeon Marinov present a study on the Names for Women’s Outerwear in the Rhodope Folk Clothing based on ma-terial excerpted from various ethnographic, regional historical and dialectological studies. The authors examine ambiguous and synonymous terms, main word-formation patterns, as well as the etymology of some of the names under study. They go on to analyse the terminological unity of many names for women’s outerwear characteristic of both confessional groups to which the Bulgarian population in the Rhodopes belong. Georgi Mitrinov’s paper Is there a Pomak Dialect in Bulgaria? is a critical look at a study by Emel Balakchi dealing with the Bulgarian Rhodope dialects. The author addresses Balakchi’s attempt at presenting the Rhodope dialects as Pomak dialects, while ignoring the presence of a native Bulgarian Christian population in the Rhodopes. Using numerous examples, Georgi Mitrinov reveals the study’s lack of scientific competence and objectivity in presenting the characteristic features of the Bulgarian Rhodope dialects. The issue concludes with a paper that remains outside its thematic scope. Stative Predicates in Contemporary Linguistic Theories by Svetlozara Leseva, Hristina Kukova and Ivelina Stoyanova offers a critical overview of the thematic classes of stative verbs based on a contrastive study of several thematic classifications. The authors analyse the different views of the properties of stative predicates from an aspectual and semantic perspective.

Ambivalent attitude towards language as a consequence of unofficial bilingualism in Ukraine

The language situation of informal bilingualism in Ukraine is considered, as well as other factors that cause an ambivalent attitude towards the national language. The influence of citizens' memories of the Soviet past, the course of the war with Russia, the current legislation that strengthens the status of the Ukrainian language as a national language is analyzed. The fact of distorted understanding of the concepts of language norm, national language, native language, language convenient for communication is proved in the mass consciousness of citizens.&#x0D; The results of the questionnaire survey of students and teachers of the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, Kharkiv Higher College of Arts, subscribers of public libraries of Novobavarsky and Industrial districts of Kharkiv are outlined. Percentages are given. That confirms the ambivalent attitude of Ukrainian citizens to their native language.&#x0D; It is emphasized that the leading areas of modern sociolinguistics are issues of language policy, language situation, language variability.&#x0D; The language community in Ukraine and the social and communicative system in the country are deeply studied. The study of sociolects as group language features of different social groups and many borrowings that have a destructive effect on the literary Ukrainian language and citizens' awareness of the essence of the national language is being updated.&#x0D; The language situation with Ukrainian bilinguals, who have a Soviet past and remember the Russian language of instruction at school and university, is outlined, but given the requirements of today, diglossia is used in social communication. Diglossia is considered as a sociolinguistic phenomenon that involves the conscious choice of a language depending on the language situation.&#x0D; It is a common phenomenon in the Ukrainian communicative environment. The legislative framework on national language policy in Ukraine is not able to remove from the mass consciousness of citizens distorted ideas about their native language. Consequently, the logical chain is broken that in Ukraine the national language is Ukrainian, that it is native to Ukraine citizen and should be convenient for communication.

Writing as Being: On the Existential Primacy of Writing for a Deaf Scholar

This article employs analytic autoethnography to study online events and social media that I participated in as a deaf scholar during the COVID-19 pandemic. With reference to Derrida’s philosophy of deconstruction, this article asserts the existential primacy of writing as a critical subject of inquiry for confronting normative language ideologies about what language is and how and where language is produced, received, understood, and performed.

The psycho-pedagogical conditions for the formation of students’ professional and communicative competence in the course of teaching speech-oriented disciplines (from the author’s teaching experience)

The article asserts the necessity to create psychological and pedagogical conditions aimed at forming professional and communicative competence of university students in the process of teaching speech-oriented disciplines. Such conditions include understanding the professional ideal as a personal, inner motivation for learning; the use of the communicative-cognitive approach; the focus on the step-by-step personality formation of a communicative personality. To identify the above-mentioned conditions, the author employed the following research methods and techniques: structured observation of students’ speech, group and individual interviews with learners, psychosemantic approach, self-characterisation and self-presentation methods, socio-pedagogical investigation. The best practices aimed at a gradual formation of a communicative personality and learners’ professional ideal are described through the analysis of studying speech genres, the orthographic and pronunciation (orthoepic) norms of the Russian language.

Efficiency of the Method of Student Thematic Online Debates in the Development of Professional Competences in Future Specialists

The transition to distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers to adapt effective teaching methods to distance education. Theoretical analysis of scientific works allowed determining that student debates have significant potential for the development of critical thinking, communication skills. The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of the method of student thematic online debates in the development of professional competencies in future specialists. In the experimental study, several complementary techniques were used to determine the level of future specialists’ professional competence. The reliability of the obtained conclusions on the basis of the used methods was ensured by comparing the data obtained by each method, as well as the representativeness of the sample size and statistical significance of the experimental data. It is determined that the following competencies can be developed in students through the method of student thematic online debates: readiness to work in a team, ability to generalize, analyse and adequately perceive information, ability to communicate according to language norms, reasoned and clearly build oral and written speech. The study allowed determining that there are certain methodological features of using the method of student thematic online debates in the distance educational process. The method of debate is an effective approach to the organization of online learning, which allows obtaining not only theoretical knowledge, but also gives the possibility of applying them in professional activities in the future. Proof of the effectiveness of the proposed model of using debate within distance learning is confirmed by the unequivocally positive dynamics in the experimental group to improve the Value-orientation criterion, Cognitive criterion Communicative-activity criterion (in particular, at a high level of 13.79%, 7.38%, 11.56% respectively). The novelty of the presented scientific intelligence in the experimental study of the potential of online debates for students of agricultural universities, but with the potential to adapt the presented model of organization of the pedagogical environment for students of other specialties. The research materials can be used by teachers in the development of distance online courses, heads of distance learning coordination departments in higher educational institutions. The prospect of further research is studying the effectiveness of thematic online debates to increase the level of internal learning motivation in future specialists.

Grammar and variation in the classroom

AbstractGrammar is the structural foundation of successful communication, language use, and literacy development. Grammar is therefore sometimes viewed as the heart of language with an important place in language teaching. In a classroom setting, regulation of grammar knowledge through teachers is strongly influenced by teachers’ linguistic competence and beliefs. In this paper, we will first show the diversity in this knowledge by means of teacher interviews and speeded grammatical-acceptability data from pupils and students. We will then sketch a socio- and psycholinguistic perspective on several selected morphosyntactic variables in German. These will be discussed with reference to social forces that determine what is standard in a language (language norm authorities, language experts, model texts, and codifiers). Finally, we will draw a roadmap for teachers, language practitioners and editors looking for a qualified solution to grammatical cases of doubt in contemporary German and provide practical examples by drawing upon the German reference corpus.

The gender of the meme: women and protest media in populist Hungary

ABSTRACT Building on my research on what is called O1G activism in Hungary, this essay examines how and why the Internet meme becomes a gendered medium in particular sociopolitical contexts. O1G abbreviates a vulgar statement about Hungary’s prime minister that Internet users transformed into ever more creative Internet memes and circulated on social media. Although gender-based language norms discouraged women from using vulgar language, women nevertheless played a pivotal role in expanding O1G activism. Using NVivo to analyze the 646 O1G memes I collected for this project, I highlight that, curiously, women contributed Internet memes to O1G activism that reconnected them to gender-normative spaces, forms of labor, and behaviors. They produced memes that portrayed O1G nail designs, O1G cookies, and protests that paired O1G signs with flowers, teddy bears, and balloons. These memes illustrate that in a context in which toxic masculinity pervades political culture, Internet memes will also be gendered when used as protest media. Although O1G memes reinforced associations between women and feminized affective labor, paradoxically they also helped women gain visibility in political activism. I conclude that women’s production of O1G memes was an important step toward making political culture more inclusive in Hungary.

Revisiting past cyber operations in light of new cyber norms and interpretations of international law: inching towards lines in the sand?

ABSTRACT This article traces the evolution of interpretations of international law and international cyber norms on responsible state behaviour in cyberspace by reassessing five major – and allegedly state-led – cyber operations: Stuxnet 2010; Belgacom 2013-2014, the Ukrainian power grid 2015, the US presidential election 2016, and NotPetya 2017. Taking recent normative developments and emerging state practices as primary points of refence, it investigates how the current normative landscape can shed light on the nature, (il)legitimacy, and (un)lawfulness of these past operations. For each case, the analysis engages with: i) the elements triggering the violation of norms, principles and international law; ii) the legal and normative significance of recent sources of norms and interpretations of international law; and iii) the legal and political obstacles still lying beyond their application. Taken together, the reassessment of these cyber operations reveals how, in hindsight, the international community has come a long way in calibrating its normative language and practices in calling out irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace. With states taking small, but unprecedented, steps through public attributions and statements on international law in cyberspace, most of the past cyber operations analysed here would arguably feature an attribution in the current climate. At the same time, substantial differences in national interpretations of international law continue to stand in the way of clarity on the terms of its application. In light of this, this article ultimately suggests that cyber norms and the interpretations of international law require further granularity to become ‘lines in the sand’.

Producing New Affective Concepts of Race in an English Classroom

ABSTRACT Focusing on moments in the English classroom imbued with affective forces that produce racial differentiation is central to the support of classrooms addressing race and racism. This work focuses on an event in an English classroom where race was constructed in ways that disrupted not only silence but habitual ways of social differentiation. Through an analysis of two student’s responses to an image of Basquiat, I make the case for how affect as a constellation of language, power, bodies, and historical, cultural, social and political norms and conventions informed each students’ response. I also address how affective encounters can prime teachers for future discussions and activities that also/further disrupt ideologies of race.

“PRYІAZNI YIKHNOYI NEVYMUSHENYІ ZNAK” (AUTHOR’S STRESS OF VERBAL NOUNS IN MYKOLA ZEROV’S POETIC SPEECH)

The article analyzes peculiarities of stress in author’s and translated poems by Mykola Zerov. In the focus of attention are those cases where the text has graphic marks, which are present in the autographs of the poems. Such texts include verbal nouns with the following stress: zero suffix masculine and feminine nouns, with suffix -к(а), feminine and neutral ones ending in -ання, -ення, -іння. Main reasons of origin of such stresses are identified: non-uniformity of stress norms at the beginning of the 20th century, dialect stress, poetic text rhythmomelodics, etc. The correspondence of author’s stresses to the stress norms of the Ukrainian literary language of different periods is analyzed. To this end the following lexicographical sources have been used: “Little Russian-German Dictionary” by Ye. Zhelekhivskyi, “Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language” by B. Hrynchenko, “Russian-Ukrainian Dictionary” editied by А. Krymskyi, “Orthographic Dictionary” by H. Holoskevych, “Dictionary of Stresses” by М. Pohribnyi, 11-volume “Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language”, “Dictionary of Stresses” by S. Holovashchuk, online-dictionary of the Language and Information Fund of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Among the stressed nouns of the derivation model analyzed only few correspond to the stress norms of the Ukrainian literary language at the beginning of the 20th century. Mainly the stresses fixed in poetries did not meet the literary language norms, and that is why their presence in the text was justified. Sometimes the stress performing sense- or form-distinguishing function prompted the reader which form or word is used. The stressed word with double stress also facilitated better understanding of the text.

“Monument” versus “dilapidation”: the discursive marking of local history as a factor of the “production of space” in Siberian cities (in the example of Irkutsk)

The article analyzes the practices of the discursive marking of “places of memory” and their role in the construction of urban spaces of Siberian regional capitals. The author describes the areas of high-rise residential development formed in the 19th-20th centuries, defined in Russian urban narratives as the “private sector”. The latter is considered as a “nodal point” in the urban semiotic system. It is shown that some communities consider the “private sector” to be an empty space devoid of established content but which can be filled by implementing their project here. Others, on the contrary, appreciate the local history and the specifics of the place, basing alternative projects on these ideas. As a result, conflicts arise, the specifics of which become an emphasis on the theme of the past: the parties put forward different interpretations of the past and try to make them conventional. The aim of the study is to determine the role of formalized representations of local history in these processes. The article is based on 20 semi-formalized interviews with architects, public figures, local residents, officials, and entrepreneurs conducted in the period from 2017 to 2021. Using the results of these interviews, a hypothesis is formulated according to which the groups involved in conflicts tend to interpret the past as a value or a harmful anachronism, and then achieve the formalization of a version that is favorable to them. The representation of local history reflected in the normative language (the status of a “dilapidated / dilapidated building” or the status of a “cultural monument”) is used as a justification for the project to “develop” the place. The greatest success is achieved not so much by the actor who has managed to formalize the interpretation of local history that is beneficial to them, but by the one who has retained the ability to ignore the restrictions associated with the corresponding status. It creates a compromise between the formalized and informal languages of describing “memory places”, which ultimately determines their content.

Ethical-Pandemic Discourse: Searching a Normative Language

Discussions of the seemingly never-ending COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic are mainly emotional. Although “truth of the heart” contained in them is existentially accurate and convincing, it is not sufficient for public and productive discourse focused on countering the pandemic. The pandemic situation is an emergency requiring extraordinary measures. As experience shows, in emergency, the authorities’ actions are often lead to unjustified restriction and even direct violation of civil liberties and rights. The discussion of the problems associated with the pandemic needs an adequate normative language. Meanwhile, the fight against the epidemics of viral diseases of recent decades prompted UNESCO and WHO in awareness of the danger of pandemics, to initiate developing normative documents that formulated principles defining the ethical priorities of the authorities&amp;apos; policy in the field of health and public safety. The article specifies the main documents accepted by these organizations, as well as some others related to the issues under discussion and presents the most important ethical principles of activities aimed at preserving people&amp;apos;s health. It shows how normative ethics “works” in practice — what is its structure and what ensures the imperative effectiveness of primary moral values, how they are translated into operational attitudes of political and professional activity. Besides guidelines for decision makers and political coordinators, ethical documents are important for they provide the society with criteria for assessment of public authorities and other social agents in their efforts to counter the pandemic. They propose a normative language, using which the society, including media workers, can claim the authorities, referring to universal and approved by the international expert community ethical principles.