Russia and russians in Joseph Conrad’s literary world

The article was submitted on 12.03.2017.The image of Russia in Joseph Conrad’s literary works has been discussed in both Russian and Western literary studies. The correlation between the image of Russia and the writer’s aesthetic position, the relations between the Russian and Western worlds, the Russian national character and the place of Russia in human civilisation are reflected in Conrad’s famous novels The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes: however, The Warrior’s Soul and The Heart of Darkness have not been studied so closely from this point of view. Using the methods of imagology and receptive aesthetics, the author argues that the image of Russia in Conrad’s literary world is a complicated phenomenon, with features of social and political aggression and tendencies to self-destruction caused by an oppressive political system. The retaliatory open social aggression, its organised forms, its impulsiveness, and cruelty make such traits of the Russian national character as passion, cynicism, love for abstract ideas, and lack of principles come to the fore. Other features typical of Conrad’s Russian characters are intrinsically connected with the boundless territories of Russia. They are indefinite in everything: empathy, sensibility, and irresponsibility. The quality of “openness” in the Russian space and character gives Conrad’s Russia an open, unknown, non-oppressive future. Conrad depicts Russia as part of contemporary European, or universal, civilisation, which is, at its core, aggressive and dark. Life penetrates Conrad’s Russia, as well as his European world, through individuals who, under any circumstances, choose humanity, compassion, and self-sacrifice.Вопрос о специфике образа России в художественном творчестве Джозефа Конрада неоднократно обсуждался как в отечественном, так и в западном литературоведении. При этом открытыми остаются вопросы связи образа России с эстетической позицией писателя, взаимоотношений русского и западного мира, русского национального характера, места России в человеческой цивилизации. В статье с использованием методологии компаративистики и имагологии, а также идей рецептивной эстетики они рассматриваются на материале как известных романов The Secret Agent («Секретный агент») и Under Western Eyes («На взгляд Запада»), так и менее изученных с этой точки зрения произведений – The Warrior’s Soul («Душа воина») и The Heart of Darkness («Сердце тьмы»). Показано, что основу конрадовского художественного образа России составляют черты социально-политической агрессии и тенденции к разрушению, вызванной деспотической политической системой. Ответная открытая социальная агрессия, ее организованные формы, импульсивность и жестокость предстают связанными с глубинными чертами национального русского характера: страстностью, цинизмом, любовью к абстрактным идеям, отсутствием четких принципов. Безграничные пространства России определяют другой ряд черт русских героев Конрада: неопределенность во всем, эмоциональную отзывчивость, восприимчивость, безответственность. За этим рядом просматривается открытость – особое качество русского пространства и русского характера. Именно она дает конрадовской России неведомое, но новое, не связанное с агрессией будущее. В то же время Россия в художественном мире Конрада предстает частью современной европейской или общечеловеческой цивилизации, в сердце которой бьются тьма и агрессия. Свет жизни проникает в конрадовскую Россию, как и в европейский мир, через отдельных людей, которые при любых обстоятельствах выбирают человечность, сочувствие и самопожертвование

Lingvocultural Types in the British Language Picture of the World

One of the mainstreams in linguistics at the end of the XXth - beginning of the XXIst century is a linguocultural modeling of linguistic consciousness and communicative behaviour, i.e. the creation of a certain linguocultural archetype. By itself, the term "linguocultural archetype" is an interdisciplinary concept of cultural linguistics, linguistic conceptology and linguistic personology. The authors of the paper consider a linguocultural archetype, on the one hand, as a set of indicators, which make it possible to find a recognizable image of some individual, and on the other hand, reveal the features typical for a social or ethnic group, which is a binding basis for the archetype. The linguocultural archetypes presented in the paper are considered as typified individuals from a certain ethno-social group; they are recognisable by their characteristic features of verbal and non-verbal behaviour and value orientation in the society. The paper deals with conceptual, figurative, value and associative features of British linguocultural archetypes such as "English policeman", and "knocker up".The important indicators of linguocultural archetypes in cognitive consciousness of people are recurrence, associativity and textuality. The recognisability of the linguocultural archetypes "English policeman" and "knocker up" is stipulated by the mentioning of these professions in films, works of writers and artists, as well as in mass media materials

Sergey Kashtanov. Historiographer of the Russian and European Middle Ages

The article was submitted on 21.08.2014.The article is devoted to the scholarly work of an outstanding Russian historian, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Mihailovich Kashtanov. Without exaggeration, he can be considered an actual classic of Soviet and Russian academic historical thought. The list of his professional interests alone is impressive as it is ranges from source study and archaeography to historiography and the history of state institutions; from diplomatics to historical demographics and geography. Sergey Kashtanov is a mediaevalist, whose research is focused on mediaeval Russia which he studies referring to the historical context of European countries between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. As a result, Kashtanov’s contribution to comparative mediaeval history is significant. Additionally, Kashtanov’s works on diplomatics are recognized worldwide as in them the scholar puts forward original methods of mediaeval acts analysis. Professionally, Sergey Kashtanov may be characterized both as a theoretician and practitioner, a researcher of feudal property; a scholar that proposed a number of new methods of analysis in paleography, filigree studies, and codicology; and, finally, as an observant and witty historiographer. Being a follower of A. A. Zimin and S. O. Schmidt, S. M. Kashtanov is a rare representative of Russia’s high academic tradition of humanities thought dating back to the prerevolutionary era. This unique atmosphere which is, sadly, becoming nonexistent, is permanently present in the life and work of the main character of the article.Статья посвящена научному творчеству выдающегося русского историка, члена-корреспондента РАН Сергея Михайловича Каштанова. Он без преувеличения может быть назван действующим классиком советской и российской научной исторической школы. Один перечень его профессиональных интересов впечатляет: от источниковедения и археографии до историографии и истории государственных учреждений; от дипломатики до исторической демографии и географии. Сергей Михайлович — медиевист, его изыскания посвящены средневековой Руси, которую он исследует, обращаясь к историческому контексту европейских стран Средневековья — раннего Нового времени. В связи с этим велики заслуги Каштанова в области компаративной медиевистики. Заслуженным признанием мирового исторического сообщества пользуются труды Каштанова-дипломатиста, автора оригинальной методики дипломатического анализа средневековых актов. В профессиональной деятельности Сергея Михайловича удивительным образом сочетаются теоретик и практик; исследователь феодального землевладения, иммунитетов, финансовой политики средневековой Руси и создатель концепции феодальной собственности; ученый, предложивший ряд новых методик в области палеографии, филиграноведения, кодикологии, и остроумный наблюдательный историограф. Ученик А. А. Зимина и С. О. Шмидта, С. М. Каштанов является одним из немногих носителей высокой академической традиции русской гуманитаристики, восходящей к дореволюционной эпохе. Эта уникальная и, к сожалению, уходящая среда явственно проступает через жизнь и творчество главного героя статьи

Theoretical and methodological foundations of provision of well-balanced development of forest sector of economy under the conditions of climatic changes and increase of anthropogenic stress

Current climatic changes are a threat to effective development of forestry under the modern economic conditions, which is aggravated by increase of anthropogenic stress in the sphere of forest use. Formation of strategies of well-balanced development of forestry supposes not only analysis of popular methodological approaches but formation of organizational mechanism for managing this sphere, the realization of which is aimed at preventive elimination of emerging threats. Provision of well-balanced development of economic system is viewed from the positions of the theory of management. The authors substantiate the use of complex approach which takes into account tendencies of functioning of forest sector, as a constant process of using forest resources, their preservation and renewal. Complexity will provide the study of the managed sub-system of forest complex (forestry) as totality, consisting of separate interconnected spheres of activities which possess their own functions and goals, with ordered and interconnected activities. Preventive approach will ensure timely revelation of key problems and threats to provision of well-balanced development of forest complex. Reflection will allow choosing the most effective instrumentarium for prevention (levelling) of emerging threats on the basis of existing experience. Balance of development is viewed as a feature peculiar for all structural components of economic system. It is advisable to distinguish the following factors which influence well-balanced development of region: group of natural and ecological, socio-political, economic, and social factors. Key components of provision of well-balanced development of economic system (forestry) could be presented from the positions of study, firstly, of managing and managed sub-systems; secondly, from the position of sub-system of forecasting, monitoring, identification, and evening-out of threats to well-balanced development.peer-reviewe

Problems and prospects of development of ecological tourism in Ireland

The paper presents the research on the development of ecological tourism in Ireland. The basic directions and problems of development of ecotourism. Income from ecotourism in the country was analyzed in the article, as well as the model for the attraction of tourists to Irelan

Moscow, Moscovia, Muscovite: The Moscow Canon of English Literature

This paper focuses on the formation and modifications of the “Moscow canon” in English literature. The author refers to some 16th-century travelogues and English literary texts from different epochs. The work aims to provide a systematic description of how motifs and images that constitute the “Moscow canon” of English literature was formed and modified. The author reveals the main connotations present in the notes of English travellers which they took while travelling around Russia in the sixteenth century. The name “Moscovia” was used as a synonym for “Russia” and had peculiar connotations in travelogues connected with the historical context of its appearance in English culture. The connotations used by English travellers in their notes for the words “Moscow”, “Moscovia”, and “Muscovite” had a considerable influence on the image of Russia in English literature both in the seventeenth century and until the present day. It is argued that the “Moscow canon” (as a literary phenomenon, apart from inter-genre travel books) started in Elizabethan literature with a fragmentary use of images borrowed from travels around Moscovia as striking phenomena of a different, non-English part of the world. It is demonstrated how in the English literature of the Enlightenment, the motifs connected with the image of Moscovia are perfected in their form and function and, at the same time, re-evaluated. Starting with the early nineteenth century, the “Moscow canon” was more and more often used in plots focusing on the opposition between British and Russian characters, or a British character plunging into the Russian world. The corresponding images and motifs acquire a deeper and more complicated interpretation in literary works: through them, English writers and poets search for the keys to understanding both Russia and the fundamental problems of modernity. In different historical periods and in the framework of different aesthetic systems, authors chose different “Moscow” motifs and interpreted them in diverse ways. Each time, entering a new created world, these motifs were adapted to certain functions and ideas.Рассматриваются пути формирования и способы модификации «московского канона» в английской литературе. Материалом исследования является корпус текстов путешествий второй половины XVI в. и художественных произведений разных эпох. Цель исследования – системное описание формирования и модификаций комплекса мотивов и образов, вошедших в «московский канон» английской литературы. Устанавливается основной комплекс коннотаций, возникающих в записках английских путешественников о России во второй половине XVI в. Название «Московия» в этих текстах впервые в рамках английской книжной культуры использовалось в качестве синонима названия «Россия» и имело в записках особые коннотации, связанные с историческим контекстом его вхождения в английскую культуру. Ряд коннотаций, закрепленный в записках английских путешественников за име- нами «Москва», «Московия», «московит», оказывал существенное влияние на образы России, возникающие в английской литературе как XVII в., так и последующих эпох, вплоть до наших дней. «Московский канон» собственно в литературе (а не в межжанровом пограничье путешествий) начинает складываться в литературе Елизаветинской эпохи из фрагментарных обыгрываний образов, заимствованных из записок английских путешественников о Московии, как поразительных явлений иной, неанглийской части мироздания. В эпоху Просвещения комплекс мотивов, связанных с образом Московии, получает окончательное оформление и переосмысление. С начала XIX в. «московский канон» все чаще проявляется в сюжетах, связанных либо со столкновением британских и русских героев, либо с погружением британского героя в русский мир. Соответствующие образы и мотивы начинают разрабатываться в идейно-философском плане: писатели и поэты находят в них ключи к изображению не только русского мира, но и глубоких проблем современности. В разные исторические эпохи, в разных эстетических направлениях и у разных авторов на первый план выходят один-два мотива, связанных с «московским каноном». Органично входя в художественный мир произведения, они интерпретируются, приспосабливаясь к определенным функциям.Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РФФИ в рамках научного проекта № 20–012–00310

The exon junction complex senses energetic stress and regulates contractility and cell architecture in cardiac myocytes

The exon junction complex (EJC) is the main mechanism by which cells select specific mRNAs for translation into protein. We hypothesized that the EJC is involved in the regulation of gene expression during the stress response in cardiac myocytes, with implications for the failing heart. In cultured rat neonatal myocytes, we examined the cellular distribution of two EJC components eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A isoform 3 (eIF4A3) and mago nashi homologue (Mago) in response to metabolic stress. There was significant relocalization of eIF4A3 and Mago from the nucleus to cytoplasm following 18 h of hypoxia. Treating myocytes with 50 mM NaN3 for 4 h to mimic the metabolic stress induced by hypoxia also resulted in significant relocalization of eIF4A3 and Mago to the cytoplasm. To examine whether the effects of metabolic stress on the EJC proteins were dependent on the metabolic sensor AMP kinase (AMPK), we treated myocytes with 1 μM dorsomorphin (DM) in combination with NaN3. DM augmented the translocation of Mago and eIF4A3 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Knockdown of eIF4A3 resulted in cessation of cell contractility 96 h post-treatment and a significant reduction in the number of intact sarcomeres. Cell area was significantly reduced by both hypoxia and eIF4A3 knockdown, whilst eIF4A3 knockdown also significantly reduced nuclear size. The reduction in nuclear size is unlikely to be related to apoptosis as it was reversed in combination with hypoxia. These data suggest for the first time that eIF4A3 and potentially other EJC members play an important role in the myocyte stress response, cell contractility and morphology

The infrastructure of public catering in the context of tourist city space development

To assess the impact of environmental factors on the activities of catering enterprises of the Belgorod region and the quality of customer service, the authors proposed a method using STEP-analysis and SWOT-analysis. The analysis of environmental factors was carried out on the basis of the expert evaluation results conducted in two stage