Litera - rubric Comparative-historical studies of literature

Abstract: The Italian «erudite comedy» was an important stage in the development of the Western European theater, a kind of mediator between ancient dramaturgy and the dramaturgy of the New Age, and although its artistic merits are ambiguously assessed, its appearance and flourishing in the era of the formation of the literary Italian language give to the modern researcher a happy opportunity to get acquainted with different registers of the Italian language during this period. Thus, the subject of this article is the development and the peculiarities of the genre of «erudite comedy» in the Central regions, in the North and in the South of Italy in the XVI century. The purpose is to identify the main trends of its formation. The main research methods are the comparative method, the method of linguistic and cultural interpretation and sociolinguistic methods. Earlier comedies often became subject of literary analysis, but were not used as a source useful for sociolinguistic research. The results of the work consist in generalizing existing and obtaining new information about the development of «erudite comedy» in different regions of Italy and can be applied in further sociolinguistic research because to present the linguistic situation of the XVI century in its entirety it is necessary to take into account both its participants and data about them – territorial features, regional characteristics, level of education.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8698.2016.3.20186

Abstract: In this article the authors speak about elements of the Gothic and light literature in Dostoevsky's novels as well as synthesis of those. According to the authors, the Gothic literature had a double influence on Dostoevsky's novels. There were the direct influence of the writers belonging to the aforesaid literary school and indirect influence of the light literature which was also influenced by Gothic novels. The authors of the article define the features proving the influence of the Gothic literature on Dostoevsky's writing such as the themes of the castle, ghost, vampire, demon, devil, Gothic villain, etc. reflected in Fedor Dostoevsky's five books as well as the influence of the features of light literature such as characters and heroes typical for that kind of literature (poor aristrocrat, 'fallen' yet pure-hearted woman, poor family). In their analysis the authors have used the methods of comparative-historical and compartive-typological literary studies. They have found the points where the influence of those two genres met based on the examples of such characters as Svidrigailov and Stavrogin who had both the features of the Gothic villain and 'light novel' aristocrat. Noteworhy that Stavrogin also resembles a vampire both by his appearance and behavior which is one of the forms of demon. The authors also describe the features of the ghost motif which, despite its Gothic origin, is closer to the ghost from the light novel. Another example is the motif of demon reflected in the image of Devil (The Brothers Karamazov) which again has the features of both a Gothic demon and Devil from Frederic Soulie's novel 'Memoirs of the Devil'.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2023.9.43639

Abstract: The subject of research in this article is artistic stylization, which is methodologically considered within the limits of receptive aesthetics and comparative studies. This principle of literary labeling is analyzed on the material of lyrical experiments by Venedikt Yerofeev. The "Anthology of the Poets of REMSTROYTREST", which becomes the illustrative base of the study, has not been subjected to such an assessment in the mass of critical sources. The article provides a comparative analysis of Venedikt Yerofeev's poetic sketches with classical texts of literature of the XIX - XX centuries. The relevance of this work lies in the direct explanation of the formation of a special manner of writing and poetics of the texts of Venedikt Yerofeev. It is productive to use the material for further verification of semantic constants of the works of the specified author. The scientific novelty of the article is determined by the fact that for the first time in it the "Anthology of Poets of REMSTROYTREST" is considered within the boundaries of the alternative of artistic stylization. The literary experiment implemented in the "Anthology ..." is carried out at all major levels of the artistic whole: it is language, genre, form, style, manner, semantic integrity. Embodying the author's idea, Venedikt Yerofeev separates himself from the literal personal "I". It's as if he doesn't want to speak in his own voice, it's better and better to pronounce the evaluation version, according to Yerofeev, with other people's voices, adopting a certain speech mask. This form implements the fractal of double coding, the dynamics of aesthetic play, manipulation of the reader's consciousness. Artistic stylization also implements the attitude of imitation and partial recognition of the pretexts. Semantic limits are not distorted in the course of such variation, within the framework of postmodern poetics they reach the status of rhizome.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2020.2.29529

Abstract: This article is dedicated to compilation of travelogues “Ταξιδεύοντας. Ρουσία” (Journey to Russia) by N. Kazantzakis and “Τι είδα εις την Ρωσσίαν των Σοβιέτ” *What I discovered in Soviet Russia) by K. Varnalis. Similarity of theme of the texts (both authors describe their impression of visiting Russia as the reporters of the large Greek newspapers) allows tracing the impact of subjective factors upon the author’s perception of Soviet Russia and its representation in both texts. The research is based on the parallel review of the theme of both writings and the applied means of creation of the image of Russia. The conducted analysis demonstrates that Nikos Kazantzakis sees Russia and social experiments of the Soviet government in the mystical sense, perceiving the political coup and shift of power in the country as a testimony to the struggle of latent forces that move the human history. Kostas Varnalis in his notes appears as a communist-pragmatic, viewing Russia as an example of establishing just and perfect human society, success of which proves the failure of the bourgeois world order. The travelogues under consideration are insufficiently studied and have not been translated into the Russian language. Their parallel analysis is carried out for the first time, which defines the scientific novelty of this research.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2019.2.29971

Abstract: The subject of the research is the comparison of some leading features of Daniel Kharms' picture of the world to the images and ideas of Taoism, in particular, the idea of the 'perfect present' (item that can be the object of aesthetical pleasure) as being independent and practically senseless; the idea of plasticity or 'fluidity' of reason; the idea of aesthetical perception of the world as the denial of the borders between one's Self and the surrounding world. The author of the article also touches upon such issues as the evolution of Kharms' concepts whose late period of creativity gave a tragic emotional tone to the aforesaid ideas and images. The main target of critical analysis is the fictional prose, poems and articles written by Kharms as well as the ancient Chinese treatise Zhuang Zhou. The main research methods used by the author are the hermeneutical and comparative analysis. The article is of interdisciplinary nature: the author analyzes and compares literary and philosophical texts as well as texts of uncertain genre (ancient Chinese treatises). The author summarizes, clarifies and completes opinions of philologists and philosophy historians regarding the 'Taoism' in Kharms' aesthetics and offers his own comparisons. This particular research demonstrates not only similarity of some very important ideas of Kharms and Taoism but also crucial differences in the emotional coloring of these ideas in ancient Western philosophy and artwork of the Europeans of the XXth century.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2020.9.33799

Abstract: The subject of this research is the principles of presentation to the reader of the full corpus of poetic texts of troubadours in a specialized publication in form of metrical-strophic reference book. Analysis is conducted on the approaches towards compiling such type of compendium demonstrated By I. Frank and V. B. Tomashevsky in 1950s. The author determines the strong and weak aspects of their prosodic publications. Taking into account the specificity of Old Provencal poetry, the author defines the additional ways of its presentation in the reference book comparable to I. Frank’s “Metrical Repertoire of Troubadour Poetry” that retains scientific fundamentality of the latter and addresses its flaws. The novelty of this research manifests in creation of a range of methods for compiling compendiums of strophic forms of Provencal poetry and conducted classification according to the principle of the volume of strophes, which in this article is presented in appendix page. The author concludes on the need of utilization of various methods of composing reference material, which would maintain apparent connection of strophic forms of different sizes substantiated by plausible genre proximity; possible correlation between the late medieval forms of literature in Romanic languages and forms of troubadour poetry, for establishing genetic affinity with the latter and the subsequent creation of historical poetics of the European strophe.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8698.2017.1.21105

Abstract: The object of the research is one of the hypotheses about derivation of European rhyming stanzas, in particular, the one saying that Provencal trobadouresques got that type of stanzas as a heritage from the Dark Ages and Early Medieval poetry. in his research Semenov analyzes the milestones of that hypothesis development in the history of literature as well as variants of that hypothesis in reserches by the leding experts in Western European Medieval studies of the 19th - 20th centuries. The author defines differences between different methods of proving that hypothesis, in particular, the non-literature method and literature argumentation method. As the connecting elements of the Latin poetry that existed prior to end-stanzas, the author anayzes leonine rhymes and end homaioteleuton. In his reserch Semenov has used the comparative historical approach to describing rhyming stanzas as a text phenomenon as well as has covered the most important events in that period of literary history that related to old Provencial poetry. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that for the first time in the academic literature the history of existence of so-called 'Latin thesis' is represented as the process that had its internal development logic. The author also analyzes pros and contras of the Latin derivation of European rhyming stanzas. In conclusion, the author states that the aforesaid hypothesis never became popular because there are too few examples proving it, besides, there is a fundamental difference between Latin rhymes and trobadouresque poetry.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2022.10.38997

Abstract: The subject of the study is the possibility of applying M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony to the analysis of dramatic works. Bakhtin’s concept of "polyphony" is associated with the identification of a new novel genre – the polyphonic novel and a new type of artistic thinking, which is different from the monological type. Bakhtin justified the new phenomenon on the example of the work of F.M. Dostoevsky, and does it have a wider distribution? According to many Chinese researchers, Bakhtin's theory of polyphony can be applied not only to Dostoevsky, but also to the dramaturgy of W. Shakespeare, A.P. Chekhov, the Chinese playwright Gao Xingjian, etc. They try to analyze the polyphonic features of various dramatic works, relying on Bakhtin's theory of polyphony. However, some researchers do not accurately interpret Bakhtin's concept. They discover elements of polyphony in some dramatic work and thus consider it quite polyphonic. In this article, the author examines Bakhtin's statements about the monologue of drama and reveals the inaccuracy of Chinese researchers’ interpretations of Bakhtin’s concept of polyphony. Based on the conducted research, we came to the conclusion that M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony does not go beyond the limits of the novel genre, and it cannot be applied to the analysis of dramatic works. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this article examines various interpretations of Bakhtin’s concepts and terms and reveals the incorrect use of the Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony in modern Chinese literary studies. The author's special contribution to the research of the topic is to determine the scope of the application of M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony and to identify the state of reception of Bakhtin's theory of polyphony in China.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2021.10.36569

Abstract: This article describes the similarities and differences between the Russian adverb “very” and the Chinese adverb 很. The object of this research is the adverb very and 很 in the Russian and Chinese languages. The subject is the comparative study of the Russian adverb “very” and Chinese adverb 很 from the perspective of their meaning and semantic compatibility. The goal of this article lies in the comparative analysis of the adverbs of extent “very” and 很, determination of their semantic and compatible characteristics. For achieving the set goal, the author employs the descriptive method, comparative analysis, and confirmation by example. The scientific novelty of lies in comparative study of the adverbs of extent “very” and 很 in the Russian and Chinese languages based on numerous examples. The author compare the adverbs of extent “very” and 很 in the Russian and Chinese languages from the perspective of semantics and compatibility in order to reveal similarities and differences between them. The conducted research of theoretical provisions and linguistic material allows concluding that despite the conjunction of semantics of the adverbs “very” and 很, they cannot be considered equivalent; the use of these adverbs requires taking into account the similarities and differences in the area of semantics and compatibility.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2024.3.70224

Abstract: The present article is dedicated to the concepts of time and space as a fragment of the Russian and Chinese linguistic worldviews. Notions of time are fundamental to any culture and people's worldview, hence in this study, we attempt to "unify" the aspects of Chinese and Russian time and space that we have identified through research. Our research object, as a fragment of the Russian linguistic worldview, is connected with notions of time and space. The subject of our investigation is the linguistic means in which Russian speakers' notions of time are expressed, considered against the backdrop of the Chinese language in lexical, semantic, and grammatical aspects.The aim of the study is to identify and describe the main features of the representation of time in Chinese and Russian languages, as well as to highlight the main differences in the representation of time and space in the Chinese and Russian linguistic worldviews. Structural-semantic, linguacultural, and comparative analysis methods are employed to analyze the conceptual models of time in these two languages. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the attempt to use a spatial model to describe the concept of time in order to identify possible temporal dimensions in language, as well as in attempting to interpret and generalize the notions of time from the perspective of the cognitive perception of Chinese language speakers. The theoretical significance of this article lies in the endeavor to specify the cognitive perception of language speakers through the analysis of historical and cultural origins of time models, as well as in generalizing some regularities of time expression in modern languages. Studying the fundamental concept of time and space models contributes to the further development of cognitive models, translation, teaching Russian and Chinese as foreign languages etc.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2023.7.43618

Abstract: The object of this article is the poetic correspondence of Valery Bryusov and Andrei Bely in the 1900s. The analysis allowed us to draw a number of conclusions about the communicative strategies of Russian modernism. Firstly, in the structure of the correspondence, the dominant genre setting for dialogue with the addressee is identified, which allows identifying these poems as messages. This, on the one hand, makes it possible to fit the messages of Bryusov and Bely into the all-symbolist poetological and communicative context of the early twentieth century, when this genre was a kind of mainstream. On the other hand, the analysis of genre dominants allows us to identify their genre renewal associated with the formation of an original metastructural cycle resembling a "novel in letters", the heroes of which are Bryusov and Bely, simultaneously combining the roles of author and addressee. Secondly, in the titles of the poems under consideration ("Balder Loki", "Balder II", "Ancient Enemy", "Magician"), mythological codes are revealed, genetic links are established with Christian apocrypha and Scandinavian legends, in which the author's "I" and "you" of the addressee are associated with images of light and dark forces rooted in religious and pagan traditions. Thirdly, with the help of the biographical method, the parallels of the lyrical plots of the poems with the life and creative relationships of the poets are established. As a result, the poetic correspondence of the masters of symbolism is interpreted as a philosophical duel implicitly realizing dramatic situations of personal and "workshop" relationships, with a clear separation of aesthetic and ethical roles, these roles structure the plot of an epistolary "novel", the vicissitudes of which are reduced to binary oppositions of "light" and "darkness", heavenly and earthly, divine and demonic principles. However, at the same time, this exchange of messages appears as a dialogue about the poet's role in symbolist discourse, a dialogue reflecting different vectors of creative aspirations of symbolists and, consequently, the ambivalent tendencies of the current towards both consolidation and separation.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2019.4.30514

Abstract: The article is devoted to discovering accordances between ideas of Confucius and Nikolay Gogol about art. Sun makes a hypothesis about universal values of Chinese and Russians that may contribute to cross-cultural dialogue between these two nations. At the same time, the researcher demonstrates different aesthetics of these two writers caused by peculiarities of Chinese and Russian cultures. It is important to understand their principal difference and keep it in mind during cross-cultural dialogue and exchange of ideas. Based on the comparative analysis of texts written by these two writers, Sun discovers opinions the writers had in common regarding the role of art in personal and society's development. Studying their expressions about art, the researcher concludes that firstly, Confucius and Gogol emphasized the great role of art in moral education. According to them, art must also contribute to personal development and growth. Secondly, aesthetics of Confucius and Gogl have some political nature, too. They both believed that conveying an ethical dominant, art may play an important role in the reinforcement of political power and further development of society. Thirdly, Gogol gave a religious meaning to the word 'writer'. His idea of art was closely related to Orthodox belief and personality of God while such meaning is not typical for Confucius or Chinese culture.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2022.5.37925

Abstract: The subject of the study is the circumstances of time with the prepositions 'before', 'with', 'after', 'in', 'on', 'for' in Russian, as well as their equivalents in Chinese in terms of their meaning and functioning. The purpose of this work is to conduct a comparative analysis of the minor members of the sentence in the circumstances of time with a preposition in Russian and Chinese languages in order to identify similarities and differences between them in semantics and functioning. To achieve this goal, the use of the following methods was required: descriptive method, continuous sampling method, comparative method, example confirmation method. The scientific novelty of the study consists in a comparative description of the specifics of the use and translation of the circumstances of time with a preposition in Russian and Chinese on the basis of numerous examples taken from the National Corpus of the Russian language and the Corpus of Modern Chinese language. The conducted research of theoretical positions and linguistic material allows us to conclude that the correct expression and translation of circumstantial meanings with prepositions in the Russian language and the corresponding lexical units of the Chinese language (despite some similarity in their semantics) is possible only with the context and knowledge of the rules of word combinations.