The awakening of ethnic consciousness and features of the artistic structure of Julie Otsuka's when the emperor was divine

The paper deals with ethnic consciousness manifestations as well with characteristic features of "self" and "non-self" in Julie Otsuka's novel When the Emperor Was Divine (2012). The ethnic consciousness of a person living in a multinational environment is a relevant issue. The author determines the term "ethnic consciousness" as a scope of beliefs, ideas and concepts which manifest themselves in the language of the ethnic group, in its customs and traditions as well as in the legends, myths. The aim of the paper is to see how the artistic structure of the novel reflects the process of ethnic identification and adjusting of the subjective reality of a person. Julie Otsuka belongs to the third generation of Japanese immigrants who got used to identifying themselves as belonging to the American nation. In the novel, Julie Otsuka tells the story of her mother thus trying to realize that she belongs to the Japanese ethnic community. However, this fact implies that she has to oppose herself to the other ethnic groups. The title helps to analyze the novel putting forward the archetypical characters which give rise to the archetypical mentality of the nation. The paper shows that the plot of the novel When the Emperor Was Divine is based on the cosmogonical myths about the doomsday which is followed by the rebirth of the world from chaos. The mythological motives: farewell to life, descent to hell, resurrection, are developed in the structure of the novel. The author reveals the cyclic nature of the events. The idea of the cycle (life - death - rebirth) is reflected in the chapter titles. The paper shows that the mythological code of the novel is closely connected with its psychological plot. The narrative strategy of the novel reveals the processes going on in the characters' minds. The author proves that in the text there is a "narrative I" as well as some kinds of a "narrated I". Each chapter has a narrator's point of view which combines the attitude of "another": the point of view of the woman, then her daughter's, her son's and, finally, her husband's, who returns from an internment prison. The author demonstrates that the mentality of each character, their individual values combine both Japanese and American features in their interaction. This narrative form is used to show all the changes that are developing in the "narrated I". The paper focuses on two major psychological plot lines of the novel. One of them, connected with the story of mother and her children, emphasizes the moment of the rebirth of the characters. The rebirth resulted from the awakening of the ethnic identification. The other one, connected with the story of father, puts forward the tragedy of depersonalization due to the loss of identity. The psychological lines are paralleled by two corresponding myths. The first describes the creation of the "self" world while the other one presents the acceptance of the "non-self" mentality

Essence and economical substance of innovative cluster in territorially localized business system

The article describes different methodological; approaches to determine economical substance of innovative cluster on the level of regional economy of Russia from the point of view of foreign and Russian economists. The key elements of the notion of National innovative system on the basis of approaches of International organization of cooperation and development are determined

University as a social phenomenon

© Serials Publications. The paper analyzes the mission of the university as a social phenomenon which implies, first of all, that having rich cultural and academic traditions as well as advanced facilities and resources, the university is destined to become a major educational, cultural, and business center of the Region, its driving force. There are various mechanisms for the university to perform its multipurpose role. One of them is based on its educational and cultural functions and can be presented by a variety of options beyond its academic curriculum. The paper presents the experience of Kazan Federal University in implementing a life-long learning (LLL) program, its basic stages and achievements. The authors arrive at the conclusion that the LLL program can help to promote social inclusion and personal fulfillment, as well as to increase people's employability and social adaptability The central point of the program is the idea that people at any age and at any stage of their life should have a chance to take intense training courses in various fields of knowledge. Kazan Federal University offers a multifaceted LLL program that has several levels and profiles (Children's University, Minor University, optional short- and long-term courses for undergraduates in different fields of knowledge, University of the Third Age). The LLL program contributes a lot to further creative development of the people of the Volga Region

Performance evaluation of implementation of regional special-purpose programs

© 2015, Asian Social Science. All rights reserved. The article analyses the algorithm of development and implementation of regional special-purpose programs on the example of the special-purpose program “Rural Youth of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2011-2015”; the assessment of the program using performance indicators that include the level of execution of the planned funding is conducted; the level of achievement of the performance indicator; the effectiveness of budget spending; the effective implementation of the long-term program in the reporting under report

Black Hole Relics in String Gravity: Last Stages of Hawking Evaporation

One of the most intriguing problem of modern physics is the question of the endpoint of black hole evaporation. Based on Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet four dimensional string gravity model we show that black holes do not disappear and that the end of the evaporation process leaves some relic. The possibility of experimental detection of the remnant black holes is investigated. If they really exist, such objects could be a considerable part of the non baryonic dark matter in our Universe.Comment: 15 pages, accepted to Class. Quant. Gra

Impact of landed property transformation on reproductive process in the agrarian process of regions

The article presents the results on land ownership transformation and its impact on the reproductive process in the agricultural sector of the Volga Region Federal District in conditions of the existing model. The analysis of the consequences of the land reform, of which 115,4 million hectares of agricultural lands were transferred into common share ownership in the form of land shares without defining the boundaries on the ground, was carried out. Availability of land shares which are not transformed into the land, fouls up and causes chaos and uncertainty in land relations, leading to the criminalization of the land market, speculative land transactions, hinders the development of the land turnover. The position of the Volga Region Federal District and its individual regions in regard to the national indexes that characterize agricultural production, factors of reproduction, is established. The conclusion concerning the low level of production profitability is made, and it hampers the extended reproduction and, consequently, the high demand for land for agricultural purposes in the future.peer-reviewe

Worker-Centered Design: Expanding HCI Methods for Supporting Labor

HCI has long considered sites of workplace collaboration. From airline cockpits to distributed groupware systems, scholars emphasize the importance of supporting a multitude of tasks and creating technologies that integrate into collaborative work settings. More recent scholarship highlights a growing need to consider the concerns of workers within and beyond established workplace settings or roles of employment, from steelworkers whose jobs have been eliminated with post-industrial shifts in the economy to contractors performing the content moderation that shapes our social media experiences. This one-day workshop seeks to bring together a growing community of HCI scholars concerned with the labor upon which the future of work we envision relies. We will discuss existing methods for studying work that we find both productive and problematic, with the aim of understanding how we might better bridge current gaps in research, policy, and practice. Such conversations will focus on the challenges associated with taking a worker-oriented approach and outline concrete methods and strategies for conducting research on labor in changing industrial, political, and environmental contexts

Gauging the dark matter fraction in a L∗L_* S0 galaxy at z=0.47 through gravitational lensing from deep HST/ACS imaging

We analyze a new gravitational lens, OAC-GL J1223-1239, serendipitously found in a deep I-band image of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The lens is a L_*, edge-on S0 galaxy at z=0.4656. The gravitational arc has a radius of 0.42 arcsec. We have determined the total mass and the dark matter (DM) fraction within the Einstein radius as a function of the lensed source redshift, which is presently unknown. For z ~ 1.3, which is in the middle of the redshift range plausible for the source according to some external constraints, we find the central velocity dispersion to be ~180 km/s. With this value, close to that obtained by means of the Faber-Jackson relation at the lens redshift, we compute a 30% DM fraction within the Einstein radius (given the uncertainty in the source redshift, the allowed range for the DM fraction is 25-35 % in our lensing model). When compared with the galaxies in the local Universe, the lensing galaxy, OAC-GL J1223-1239 seems to fall in the transition regime between massive DM dominated galaxies and lower-mass, DM deficient systems.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Ap