DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.19987

Abstract: The style and the issues related to the concept of origin and development as well as the shaping of major stylistic trends constitute the key notions in the art criticism and art history. Nadezhda Savelievna Woitinskaya (1886–1965) often addressed thiattheme in her research works. This article aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the main propositions presented in Woitinskaya's manuscripts. Some of her texts are based on the theory of style and a number of theses by its authors and followers. Woitinskaya focuses on the principles of style formation in the arts. The ways to arrange the space in the arts are regarded as the most important characteristic of style. Woitinskaya also introduces a new term — “aesthetic space” — for that special category. The author of this article studies key elements of Woitinskaya’s conception of style and analyzes them on the basis of her interpretation of European art theory, which was described in her papers “Wölfflin”, “Semper and Riegl”, and “Franz Wickhoff”. Studies of these manuscripts are rather important as they may result in the discoveries of new aspects of many-sided biography of Woitinskaya; furthermore, her ideas allow to demonstrate the range of issues and problems which Russian Art theory of the 1920s tried to solve.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.17610

Abstract: The article deals with the notion of musical persona as it is employed in the discussion of musical expressiveness in the analitic philosophy of music. The main part of the paper is devoted to the account of musical expressiveness put forward by Jerrold Levinson, in which the notion of musical persona acquires central role. It includes a detailed analysis of different versions of Levinson’s definition of musical expressiveness which is subsequently compared to one suggested by Saam Trivedi and evaluated in terms of Levinson’s own criteria for a tenable theory of musical expressiveness. The main research method used by the author of the article is the analysis and explication of the key concepts and argumentative strategy that lies at the heart of Jerrold Levinson's theory. The author of the article has also used the historical parallel and comparative methods. The author views the notion of musical persona based on the material that is being mentioned in Russian philosophical literature for the first time. The article presents a detailed analysis of Jerrold Levinson's concept of emotional expressiveness and as a result of this analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the explicative potential of the strategy that is based on the notion of persona has certain limits. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.19256

Abstract: The article discusses the actual problem of virtual reality effect on the perception of space, both personal and public. The symbiosis of man and technology of personal mobile devices is not developing the experience of body implementation in space, but rather flicker-lack of presence. This impact is reflected in contemporary art products, particularly in public art. City or megapolis is now perceived as the continuation of virtuality and the space of city or megapolis is considered to be a hypertext because it starts to acquire virtual objects. These objects contrast against the general architectonics of streets deliberately creating the effect of completed reality. The research methodology is based on the general cultural studies approach and involves Post-Modernist philosophy related to contemporary culture. The author analyzes the phenomenon of public art as a virtual intervention or surgery which is embedded in the body of the traditional city composition, initially without perceiving it as something holistic and unified, and that refers to Gilles Deleuze's concept of the "body without organs". Thus, public art is an example of planned transgression in the system of consumer society which blurs the boundaries of elite and mass art, making art to be a form of public communication and politics, and at the same time a commercial product and entertainment.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.18508

Abstract: The subject of the research is the Japanese etiquette as an essential part of Cultural Japanese society. The etiquette interwines with all spheres of social life of a contemporary Japanese man or woman. As a part of cultural tradition, it is an essential element of martial arts. Analysis of marital arts etiquette that is still taught at Japanese martial arts schools allows to understand the essense and role thereof in the development of Japanese marital culture. By briefly reviewing the process of the evolution of marital culture, we may understand the main reasons of developing and implementing a complex system of etiquette in Japanese society. The research is based on using historical and logical research methods that allow to describe the process of cultural and historical development. In the course of studying the etiquette at Japanese martial arts school the author has also used the empirical research method. At the end of the article the author concludes that Japanese etiquette is a specific cultural mechanism that limits violence in military society. Development of that mechanism allowed to reduce or even eliminate situations when dignity of a warrior could have been harmed which, in its turn, made a certain impact on the stability of social relations and further development of culture.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.18240

Abstract: The object of this research article is The Second Ballade by Frederic Chopin devoted to Robert Schumann. The subject of the research is the three mysteries of The Ballade: the mystery of program nature, the mystery of musical form and the mystery of dedication. The purpose of the present article is to analyze opinions of other researchers on these mysteries based on the study of Russian musical researches. The Balade has been studied from very different points of view in the history of Russian music. Noteworthy that the questions about the program nature and musical form are quite common while the question about dedication is usually ignored. It is merely mentioned that The Balade was devoted to Robert Schumann and that it all. Nevertheless, this is also a very important question. According to the authors of the present article, the dedication of The Balade is the key to understanding its musical contents. In their research the authors have applied the comparative and hermeneutical approaches. They also offer their own interpretation of these three Chopin's mysteries. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the authors introduce an original hypothesis that The Second Ballade of the Polish composer can be interpreted as a musical forecast about Robert Schumann's life and death. According to this approach, The Ballade's dedication is viewed as a program of the composition. Alternation of contrast musical images is viewed as a psychological portrait of the German composer reflecting the change of his moods. The moving musical form is thus a compositional modulation of one three-part form into the other with the victory of the second image over the first image and viewed as a forecast because it predicts the result of Robert Schumann's struggle against his sickness. The results of the research of Frederic Chopin's The Second Ballade reveal new opportunities for researches of this composition as well as offer new approaches to interpreting ballades.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.18154

Abstract: Despite the common opinion, sequels and carry on films are not a new element of Russian cinematograph and existed earlier than the periods of ottepel or zastoy. Based on the example of the movie The Red Imps (1923) and its sequels directed by the film director Ivan Perestiani in the 1920's, the author of the present article analyzes the reasons why those films appeared as well as conditions of their release, their elements and response of the audience and critics. For the first time in the academic literature the author of the article analyzes all famous sequels of The Red Imps and their receptions based on the films themselves as well as press releases and advertising booklets. The main conclusion of the research is the statement that fulfilling an order of the Party to produce adveture films devoted to the Civil War that had ended just previously, Perestiani at the same time based his films on French and American TV series that were popular in Russian film lending service at that time. Sequels of The Red Imps were the response to both political and aesthetical requirements of that time. According to the author of the article, aesthetical requirements included producing sequels based on certain repeated elements and techniques such as well-known characters, orientation at simplier culture (wood prints), parodical nature, meta-textual references and the 'movie - in - a - movie' technique, and exotic elements purposefully creating the eclectic nature of the genre. That was what allowed the sequels to The Red Imps to satisfy interests of several segments of the cinematographic audience of the 1920s. Such analysis allows not only to extend our vision of the cinematograph of the 1920's (in particular, to see films of those times as a conglomerate of often contradictory 'class-related' and 'film release' requirements) but also to understand the reasons of success of Soviet sequels.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.18459

Abstract: The article is devoted to the St. Mark's Basilica in Venice as an important memorial of Venice art and culture. The problem of the architectural prototype of San Marko is analyzed in historical context. In particular the author considers specific features of exterior and interior decoration of St. Mark's Basilica which appeared as a result of the mass export of spolias (spolia means 'plunder' in Latin) from Constantinople which was captured during the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). Usage of this spolias for decoration of facades and interior of the St. Mark's cathedral is considered as well. The specific nature of the integrity of San Marco is revealed through going beyond the architectural and structural characteristics of the monument and appealing to ideological and representative (triumphant) as well as decorative and picturesque side of its style and images. Exteriors and interiors of St. Mark's Basilica is a symbiosis of both natural and historical layers. Noteworthy that Basilica's exteriors are more of picturesque than architetural nature created not only as part of applied arts but also typical landscape of Venice. The research has allowed to define significant features of Venice artistic thinking that were formed at the early stage of Byzantine art but appeared only in St. Mark's Basilica. Later those features were perceived and developed as artistic principles of the painting and architectural school of Venice during Renaissance. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.18489

Abstract: The subject of the research is the poetics of the play The Cabal of Hypocrites staged in 2013 by Vladimir Magar at Sevastopol Academic Russian Drama Theatre named after Lunacharsky. Vladimir Magar was the leading Sevastopol stage and art director in 2000 - 2014. Being his most famous performance, the aforesaid play is being analyzed from the point of view of director methodology, i.e. techniques and methods used by Magar, in particular, transformation of literary drama elements into a stage plot using the montage of narrative themes and motives as well as developing the narration based on musical composition laws. The author of the article also analyzes the role of the stage design, plastic arts, music and other elements of drama performance. The article is based on the comparative historical method, personal experience of the author when seeing the play and analysis of articles and responses to the play. Vladimir Magar's creative work is studied for the first time in the academic literature. Analysis of his director style can be useful to define certain patterns typical for the regional theatre life and to restore pages of the Russian theatre history that have been ignored by Russian researchers so far. Analysis of the poetics of the aforesaid play is very important for understanding such principles of the director's activity as multi-layer literary and dramaturgical basis of his performances, their montage composition, playing method of an actor and the system of keynotes.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.17516

Abstract: The subject of the article is surrealism as one of the brightest art movement of the twentieth century. In his research Petrov considers the development and basic aesthetic patterns of surrealism especially the connection between actualized images and substantive aspects of Freud's theory, the theory of sleep and theory of the lack of reality itself. As an example, the researcher analyzes Dali's paintings, A. Breton's, L. Aragon's and K. Firing's poems, movies by L. Bunuel, theatrical performances by E. Satie and J. Cocteau. The researcher attempts to cover the substantive world of surrealism as an integral phenomenon as well as to discover philosophical grounds of surrealism based on historical and social functions of those times. The integral approach to the phenomenon of surrealism as an important stylistic trend of the 20th century in general (without 'limiting' it to 1920  1930s providing that surrealism has been extended up to our days) proves an important role and unique nature of surrealism in a wide range of stylistic trends and movements. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.19310

Abstract: Volgograd performance as well as the contemporary artistic process in general still remains the subject of additional research, analysis and conceptualization. As a result, it hasn't been duly presented in large expositional projects and researches devoted t regional artistic processes of the last decades. This article describes the process of the rise of Volgograd performance based on the example of the “Orkestrion" All-Union famous art-group of the late 1980s. The fate of the “Orkestrion" is considered in close connection with the history of legendary festivals “Unidentified Movement" held in Volgograd in 1987-1991. This article is a product of a two-year research that was carried out based on the following: 1) interviews with contemporaries and participants of the aforesaid events; 2) unpublished manuscripts, written and oral evidences, and 3) local periodical publications. Analysis of these sources allows to reproduce the factological side of the research object and understand the response to the described events in terms of their historical period. Throughout the short term of its existence, Orkestrion performances were an integral syncretic action that synthesized elements of new academic music, new jazz, plastic arts, stage and fancy-dress pieces, poetry, kinesthetic sculpture, photography and video art. Despite the fact that the group participated mostly in new jass and neo academic music festivals, it should be admitted that Orkestrion was a totally unique phenomenon of those times and stood rather isolated on the music stage. Its spectacularity and the absence of any jazz stylistic particularities were the features that made it so unique. This is why Orkestrion became one of the first Volgograd avant-garde groups that managed to go beyond the borders of the city and attained international recognition.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.19417

Abstract: The subject of the present research article is a problem of interpreting the philosophical content of classical music. The object of the research involves philosophical aspects of Aldred Schnittke's compositions. In his analysis of the composer's works Faritov relies on the theoretical study of Kant, Hegel, Wahl, Shestov, Bakhtin, Jaspers and Deleuze. Compositions of Alfred Schnittke explicated such fundamental philosophical categories as transgression, transcendence and the transcendent. In his study Faritov has used the methodological principles and guidelines of such areas as the structural analysis of music and musical semiotics. The main result of the research is the conclusion about the predominance of the phenomenon of transgression in musical works by Alfred Schnittke. The contribution of the author to the topic is the classification of music transgression methods in the works of the composer. The research has also allowed to identify and describe ways of representing transcendence and the transcendent in music.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.4.22321

Abstract: The subject of the study is Zaur Tutov's book "Melodies of My Destiny" published in the author's edition in Moscow in 2016. It has 7 sections (Childhood, Adolescence, Youth, Becoming, Hopes for Restructuring, Troubled Nineties, Work in the Government of the CBD, Friends in Life and Afterword). The book is supplemented with dozens of photos, reprints of interviews and speeches of the famous singer, reviews of people who know him, Internet links to sites where you can listen to music in his performance. The reviewer has used the method of analytical dissection of the author's text through the prism of his creative and public-state work. She gives an assessment of his attitude towards friends and colleagues, characterizes the civic position of the artist, his attitude to titles and awards, the role of the singer in the development of Soviet and Russian pop music. One of the first responses to the book of Zaur Tutov can make others be interested in the book and at the same time make the reader think about the history of the Russian stage which is not limited to a small number of names constantly "flashing" on the blue screens. Zaur Tutov's book is a confession of his soul, an indicator of the fate of an ordinary rural boy who rose to the musical Olympus because of his talent and diligence. At the same time, the book reveals the nature of the Adygeyan man, proud, fair, for whom ethnic values are in the forefront, but patriotic moods are also strong. He is Adyg and citizen of Russia, and he is proud of this as an artist and as a person.