Russian Trace Research Articles

«Русский след» в мировой культуре

Russian traces in world culture will remain alive, despite all the prohibitions, just as in every era, traces of different cultures in Russian culture. For on the human planet there will always be special connections that reflect the very need for spirituality. Culture, which remains a creative ac, strives to call people to mutual understanding and to learn to improve or better understand their own existence through the examples of foreign cultures that sow humanism, as Russian culture does. The essay takes many examples from artistic manifestations in America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

THE SOVIET STATE AND LAW IN THE 20–30S OF THE TWEN-TIETH CENTURY: A VIEW FROM ABROAD (J.M. KEYNES)

This article provides an author’s survey of the set of views on the Soviet state and law reflected in the scientific heritage of the outstanding British economist and politician John M. Keynes in the context of his interaction with Soviet politicians and scientists of the early twentieth century. The purpose of the study is to identify a kind of «Russian trace» in the life and scientific work of John M. Keynes. Research methods: general scientific (historical, dialectical, etc.), as well as specific scientific (comparative legal, formal logical, etc.). Results: the study makes it possible to generalize John M. Keynes's ambiguous assessments of Soviet statehood in the first decade of Soviet power, in which along with the epithet «laboratory of a new life» the tendency of «Soviet power to violence» was emphasized. The article also gives an analysis of the attitude of his contemporaries – Soviet statesmen and scientists to the scientific research of John M. Keynes.

Between Poetics and Production. A Russian Trace in Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (Soyuzmultfilm / Christmas Films / S4C / BBC Wales)

Given that it was commissioned by channel S4C, with the scripts written by L. Garfield, dialogues recorded by British actors, and production coordinated by D. Edwards, the series Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992-94) could easily be viewed as a purely British television adaptation of British classics. However, this is a joint project, in which Russian studios Soyuzmultfilm and Christmas Films were responsible for animating the shows. This article therefore explores a “Russian trace” in Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, which reveals itself in both the poetics of each episode (directed by N. Orlova, N. Serebryakov, S. Sokolov, A. Zyablikova, etc.) and the specificity of the production process. It focuses on the interplay of animated images and their counterparts in Soviet film adaptations of Shakespeare. Indeed, M. Muat’s episode adapting Twelfth Night, N. Serebryakov’s adaptation of Othello, and Orlova’s interpretation of Hamlet rework a whole range of motifs inspired by Soviet adaptations (directed by I. Frid, S. Yutkevitch, G. Kosintsev, respectively). The dominant motifs of each episode also represent an imaginative approach taken by Russian animation artists who rewrote British classics through their visual poetics. The directors’ previous work in animation influences not only stylistic but also production choices (animation techniques, teams of production designers, animators, composers). Part of the article therefore focuses on the aspects of production transformed due to the British influence and yet still deeply rooted in the traditional style of work at Soyuzmultfilm (e. g. long production cycles). To explore this production specificity and its influence on poetics (the poetic matter), I interviewed several professionals involved in the project (N. Orlova, N. Dabizha, I. Markozyan, A. Zyablikova).

Hydronymy of the Lower Tavda River

The paper is the first approach to study the etymology of the lower reaches of the river Tavda (northeast of the Nizhnetavdinsky and Yarkovsky districts of the Tyumen region) which bears the imprint of an early encounter of the Russian language with the languages of “foreigners”– the Turks and the southern Ugric peoples on the West Siberian territory. The etymological interpretation of the lower Tavda river hydronymic material is very difficult due to its long and complex development in the context of the Ob-Ugric-Turkic-Russian contacts. The names of local rivers and lakes reflect the history of Russian settlement of the region after Yermak’s “Tavda campaign,” but apart from this North Russian trace, they also showcase a number of substrate and adstrate phenomena that are signs of the contact with the indigenous population. Studying the history of the Russian development of the lower reaches of the Tavda allows one to restore the general linguo-ethnic picture of the hydronymy of the region, in which the Russian, Turkic, and Ob-Ugric layers are distinguished. The paper explores the etymologies of the Turkic hydronyms Iska, Kinder, hybrid Russian-Turkic Maksukul, Ob-Ugric Tavda, Anger, Busalka, Mirtur, Muksuntur. The influence of Russian-Turkic language contacts is reflected in the coexistence of phonetic variants which opens up opportunities for new etymological interpretations (e.g. hydronym Kultybaik). An attempt is made to identify “quasi-substrate” (according to Alexander Matveyev) Ob-Ugric hydronyms, both borrowed in the process of Russian exploration of Siberia (Labuta, Pachenka) and brought from the more western Ural territories (Ashmarka). The use of diverse resources: historical, cartographic (starting with Semyon Remezov’s Chorographic Sketchbook of Siberia), as well as field materials made it possible to propose a number of new etymologies and verify etymological solutions.

Russian Trace in the Family History and Work of Alexander Grothendieck

In this note, based on archival documents, we supplement and clarify information about the father of Alexander Grothendieck, most of which is in the biography of Grothendieck, written by W. Scharlau. We managed to establish the real name, given at birth to Alexander Petrovich Shapiro and establish with certainty that he had at least three brothers. In addition, we found out the fate of A. P. Shapiro’s eldest son, David Alexandrovich, and established contact with his daughter. In the mid 90s, D.A. Shapiro dictated to her several pages of memoirs about his parents, where he told the real name of his father, grandmother, the history of acquaintance of parents and other information that he knew from the words of his mother.

“Russian trace” in morocco. el Maghreb: the far west of the Arab east in the context of Eurasian geopolitics

“Russian trace” in morocco. el Maghreb: the far west of the Arab east in the context of Eurasian geopolitics

Russian trace in Brazilian ballet. On the formation of classical ballet in Brazil

Russian trace in Brazilian ballet. On the formation of classical ballet in Brazil

Обращение русской эмиграции в Чехии к творчеству Ф. М. Достоевского: А. Л. Бем и психоаналитический метод интерпретации художественного произведения

The article is devoted to the conversion around works of F. M. Dostoevsky which took place among Czech intellectuals, among whom there were a lot of immigrants from Russia. In this context, the example of Alfred Ludwigovich Bem is indicative. The article reveals main reasons for the interest in Dostoevsky in Czechoslovakia. An important role in the study of Dostoevsky was played by the so-called ‘Russian action of aid’ and ‘Russian trace’ left by the exiles in Prague. In this regard, A. L. Bem is interesting not only as a researcher who devoted many works to Dostoevsky’s work but also as one of the founders of Dostoevsky’s first international society. Bem was also one of the first researchers who applied psychoanalysis to the interpretation of Dostoevsky’s literary works. He was also one of those who also analyzed the specifics of using psychoanalytic methods in literary criticism. The article reveals the methodological basis of Bem’s interpretation: attention is drawn not only to the connection between the theme “Dostoevsky and his Reader” and psychoanalysis (Bem’s ‘method of small observations’), but also to the origins of Bem’s interpretation of psychoanalysis associated with the formal school in literary criticism; the disadvantages of psychoanalysis as a way of interpreting a work of art are emphasized.

«КАРЕЛОВ И ВЕПСОВ ТУТ НИКОГДА НЕ БЫЛО»: ОСНОВНЫЕ ИТОГИ ПОЛЕВОГО ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ В П. ЛАДВА, ПРИОНЕЖСКОГО РАЙОНА РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАРЕЛИЯ

Russians and Baltic Finns have been neighbours in the Republic of Karelia for centuries. Furthermore, now totally Russian-speaking Zaonezhye and Prionezhye areas used to have a Karelian and Veps population. The vicinity and constant contacts reveal themselves clearly in the vocabulary, place names and culture of sub-ethnic groups of Russians, Veps, and Karelians. The Russian traces in Balto-Finnic languages and culture are the most obvious, and locals are not in dispute over the influence. An opposite situation is observed among contemporary Russian residents of Karelia, who have not only lost all connection to Karelians and Veps, but even refute the possibility of any contacts in the past.

PECULIARITIES OF THE MICROFIELD “HOSTILE TROOPS” IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE ASSOCIATIVE-SEMANTIC FIELD “ENEMY” (based on the discourse of the Russian-Ukrainian information war)

Introduction. The era of the information wars requires in-depth study of its discourse. A wide range of recipient’s emotions that can be evoked by certain lexemes makes language an essential tool in the fight for people’s consciousness while conducting information campaigns that accompany armed conflicts.Purpose. The paper aims at analyzing the structure of the associative-semantic field “hostile troops” in the discourse of the Russian-Ukrainian information war.Methods. The research is grounded on the following applied methods: the method of associative linguistic observation (emotional-expressive and figurative-sensual components of the semantics of the studied lexemes are revealed by means of it), associative-semantic modelling(associative-semantic fields, microfields and groups are systematized and classified).Results. As a result of the analysis, the structure of the associative-semantic microfield of the “hostile troops” has been modelled, within which eight groups (ASG) have been allocated. The main groups are: 1) terminolexemes with a component indicating Russia’s involvement in the Donbas conflict (Russian troops, armed forces of the Russian Federation); 2) names with “Putin”, “putinskyi” components that are synonymous with the concept of “Russia” (Putin’s terrorists); 3) metonymic names that associatively indicate the presence of troops of another state(foreigners, invaders); 4) terms without reference to the Russian trace, which are characteristicof the initial stage of the conflict, when the fact of Russian aggression has not yet been recognized by Ukrainian legislation (militants, separatists), etc.Conclusion. Thus, the terminology used by the Ukrainian society is an important means for understanding the information referring to the war discourse, as it specifies and transforms in the language not only the armed aggression, but also the sense of hostile aggression. The studyof terminolexemes is topical because it enables to form the linguistic identifiers of the war period and follow the psycholinguistic reactions of the society to the front line news.

Ezra Pound and Katyn: A Russian Trace in "The Cantos"

Ezra Pound and Katyn: A Russian Trace in "The Cantos"

South Russian traces in the origins of the tillage in the Perm Region (archaeological evidence)

The paper deals with some issues of the origins of the tillage in the Perm Region at the turn of the 12th century. During that time, a new type of implement got widespread. They were ards fitted with broad-bladed iron shares. The finds of the shares were analyzed and compared with the analogous ones from the territory of Kievan Rus. The analysis showed that the South Russian articles found in the Upper Kama region appeared together with Bulgarian articles and sometimes with the ard shares. South Russian things of 1011 centuries were also found on the territory of Volga Bulgaria. Being a large mediaeval state, Volga Bulgaria both had a strong influence on the Finno-Ugric population of the Kama region and had dealings with Kievan Rus (northern and southern parts) using the Volga trade route. Therefore, the origins of the tillage and the appearance of the broad-bladed iron shares in the Perm Region may be connected with the spreading of the South Russian agricultural traditions through the agency and under the influence of Volga Bulgaria.

Russian Academic Science of the 19th-century about Bulgarian Historiography of the Revival Period

In 1762 the Bulgarian monk Paisiy Hilendarski (Paisius of Hilendar) completed his manuscript book Slavic-Bulgarian History. The book, which he began to write in Zograph Monastery, was completed him in the Hilendar Monastery on the holy Mount of Athos. During the Bulgarian Revival Period, between 1765 and 1882, the Slavonic-Bulgarian History was hand-copied over 70 times. From the 1940s onwards Russian scholars became interested in the manuscript copies of Paisiy's book. The interest of foreign scholars persisted until the restoration of the Bulgarian state in 1878. The article reconstructs the so-called Russian Trace in the Bulgarian Historiography of the 18th and 19th centuries. We follow the relations between Vasil Aprilov (Bulgarian emigrant in Odessa) and some Russian professors (Yuri Venelin, Victor Grigorovich, Nikolay Murszakevich, Ossip Berdjanski etc.) who studied the handwritten transcripts of Slavic-Bulgarian History, because they had the ambition to publish them in Russia in the 1940s and 1950s.

«Российский след» в ранних исследованиях нуклеиновых кислот

«Российский след» в ранних исследованиях нуклеиновых кислот

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МІКРОПОЛЯ “ВОРОЖІ ВІЙСЬКА” У СТРУКТУРІ АСОЦІАТИВНО-СЕМАНТИЧНОГО ПОЛЯ “ВОРОГ” (на матеріалі дискурсу російсько-української інформаційної війни)

Introduction. The era of information wars requires a great deal of mastery of the word. A wide range of recipient’s emotions that can be evoked by certain lexemes makes language an essential tool in the fight for people’s consciousness while conducting information campaigns that accompany armed conflicts. Purpose – the study of the structure of the associative-semantic field “hostile troops” based on the discourse of the Russian-Ukrainian information war. Methods. Methods of associative linguistic observation (emotional-expressive and figurative-sensual components of the semantics of the studied lexemes), associative-semantic modeling (associative-semantic fields and microfields formation) are being used. Results. As a result of the analysis, the structure of the associative-semantic microfield of the “hostile troops” has been modeled, within which eight groups (ASG) have been allocated. The main groups are: 1) terminolexemes with a component indicating Russia’s involvement in the Donbas conflict (Russian troops, armed forces of the Russian Federation); 2) names with “Putin”, “putinskyi” components that are synonymous with the concept of “Russia” (Putin’s terrorists); 3) metonymic names that associatively indicate the presence of troops of another state (foreigners, invaders); 4) terms without reference to the Russian trace, which are characteristic of the initial stage of the conflict, when the fact of Russian aggression has not yet been recognized by Ukrainian legislation (militants, separatists), etc. Conclusion. Thus, the terminology used by the Ukrainian society is an important mean of waging an information war, and more specifically, repelling not only the armed aggression, but also the information hostile aggression. The study of such names is especially relevant because it enables to form the linguistic identifiers of the war period and to follow the psycholinguistic reactions of the society to the frontline news.

"Russian Aggression" American-Style and "Russian trace" Ukrainian-Style

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the “Russian aggression” representation in the American mass-media and the “Russian trace” in the Ukrainian mass-media. The data of the subcorpus News on the Web (NOW Corpus) from the British National Corpus and the Ukrainian Internet mass-media serve as the material for the analysis. Corpus studies represent the combination of Information and Communication Technologies and the reflection of the linguistic situation. Another opportunity of using a language corpus is its application as a means of studying and interpreting the axiogenic situations. The mass-media, being represented in the national language corpora and in the Internet, transmit axiological prescriptions and priorities of the political communication actors, reflect the conceptual “friend-foe” opposition of the relevant type of discourse, cause the discourse destruction, the definition of which is given in the paper. The analysis of the linguistic and pragmatic characteristics of the “Russian aggression” and the “Russian trace” at a new round of information and psychological warfare proves the fact that the influence of the phenomena under study is quite strong and generates a backlash on the part of the Russian mass-media and online outlets. This reaction can be characterized as rebuttal and, on the contrary, as support with negative evaluation semantics. The conclusion is made that information and psychological warfare being unleashed in the mass-media is characterized by the transmission of the destructive narratives, psychological and speech influence on the target audience, disruption of the states’ relations. The situation is considered to be dangerous when journalism of facts is substituted by journalism of opinions and information and psychological warfare turns into information aggression.

Bifurcations, Discontinuities and the ‘Russian Trace’ in the Construction of the Ukrainian Nation

The review analyses one of the most recent works by Serhii Plokhii, a renowned Ukrainian historian. In The Cossack Myth, Plokhii provides a complex analysis of the political and intellectual mechanisms involved in the construction of the Ukrainian nation, which served as a major impetus for the destruction of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the Soviet Union in 1991. Plokhii speculates that the source of the ideas that stimulated these processes was an anonymous essay from the beginning of the 19th century entitled The History of the Rus. According to the author, this work appeared exclusively as a result of how the repressive policies of the Russian government impeded the rights of the Ukrainian Cossacks and the local gentry. The ideas underlying this literary composition seemingly fuelled sentiments of opposition among Ukrainian intellectuals in the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods, and became the basis for the modern ideology of the Ukrainian nation. However, in his search for opposition among Ukrainian elites, the author seems to overlook many bifurcations, discontinuities, and the ‘Russian trace’ that all took part in the process of Ukrainian nation-building.

Russian Traces from World War I in Slovenia

Most citizens from Tsarist Russia who were present in Slovenia during World War I were Russian prisoners of war. Their estimated number was between 20,000 and 30,000, but a more precise figure may be yielded by research in the archives, which are to become more accessible in the future. Russian prisoners of war were sent to the hinterland of the Isonzo front, and there was a strict demarcation line between those responsible for the construction of strategically important (military) objects and communication systems near the frontline (roads, water supply network, railways, cable cars, airports, warehouses, etc.) and those engaged in community service (farmers, workers, craftsmen) throughout Carniola, the Littoral, Carinthia and Styria. In addition to the (as yet) scarce archival sources, enriched with precious private collections, their lives are most eloquently attested by memorials, gravestones, constructions (roads, railways, a chapel, etc.), place names containing the adjective ‘Russian’, dispersed newspaper articles, photographs, testimonies, and individual objects.