Elvira A Sorokina

Eugenia E Matveeva

Russian Journal of Linguistics

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 191 REVIEW OF O.A. LEONTOVICH, E.V. YAKUSHEVA. 2014. PONIMANIYE — NACHALO SOGLASIYA: MEZHKUL’TURNAYA SEMEYNAYA KOMMUNIKACIYA (UNDERSTANDING IS THE BEGINNING OF ACCORD: INTERCULTURAL FAMILY COMMUNICATION). Moscow: Gnosis, 224 pp.  It is due to the current boost in international relations, politics, economy, culture, and sports that the theory of intercultural communication holds a well-deserved place on the cutting edge of today’s social sciences research. Olga Leontovich is one of the eminent scholars who have made a contribution to the Russian version of intercultural commu-nication theory and continue to develop it as both an academic and applied field of know-ledge. The new monograph “Understanding is the Beginning of Accord”: Intercultural Family Communication by Olga Leontovich and Ekaterina Yakusheva focuses on an array of issues concerning multiethnic marriages and is another step forward in intercultural communication research. Structurally, the monograph is composed of an Introduction, three Chapters, a Con-clusion, a Bibliography, three Appendices, and an Alphabetical Index. Vital components of the monograph’s formal structure are the epigraphs prefixing several sections of the monograph and giving the text a special poetic touch. The research is centered on intercultural family communication, which involves a wide scope of subjects ranging from family psychology to semiotics. An attentive read-er of the book will appreciate comprehensive answers to a great variety of questions deal-ing with the peculiarities of verbal and non-verbal communication in an intercultural family. Chapter One offers a fundamental analysis of such notions as ‘family’, ‘interethnic / interracial / multicultural marriage’, as well as the way these notions are viewed in so-ciology, psychology, ethnology, culture studies, communication theory, linguistics, se-miotics, and a variety of other fields. The authors point out that the idea of “family” has undergone certain changes at the turn of the 21st century. Chapter Two deals with the social, territorial, temporal and functional dimensions of intercultural family communication, as well as its other constituent features. Chapter Three describes the intercultural family’s communication space, the pecu-liarities of verbal and non-verbal interactions between its members, touches upon the problem of bilingualism, looks into the causes of communication failure in social dis-course and many other arguable points. In the Conclusion the authors point out that the number of multicultural marriages is steadily growing. They focus on the essentials of successful intercultural family com-munication stressing that, first and foremost, “love is the most reliable basis for building a united and lasting family” (pp. 197—198). The monograph by Olga Leontovich and Ekaterina Yakusheva will attract the read-er’s attention for a variety of important reasons. First, the findings of the research un- Russian Journal of Linguistics, Vestnik RUDN, 2015, N. 4  der review will contribute to the information currently available in communication studies regarding the linguistic personality in general and in the contexts of an inter-cultural family in particular. Second, the facts collected by the authors and the man-ner in which they are presented may appeal to the scholars working in the adjacent research areas. Third, the study relies on an extensive practical material and provides a comprehensive analysis of interpersonal relations between spouses and other family members from an intercultural perspective. We believe that this monograph will be appreciated by the reader of any profes-sion, age, and social background seeking the ways to bridge the gap between different languages and cultures.  Elvira Sorokina and Eugenia Matveeva 

Review of O.A. Leontovich, E.V. Yakusheva. 2014. Ponimaniye -                   Nachalo Soglasiya: Mezhkul’turnaya Semeynaya Kommunikaciya (Understanding Is the Beginning of Accord: Intercultural Family Communication). Moscow: Gnosis, 224 pp

http://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/download/9269/8720

Review of O.A. Leontovich, E.V. Yakusheva. 2014. Ponimaniye - Nachalo Soglasiya: Mezhkul’turnaya Semeynaya Kommunikaciya (Understanding Is the Beginning of Accord: Intercultural Family Communication). Moscow: Gnosis, 224 pp

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