Articles

The paper continues discussing the subject opened in a previous issue concerning the need to develop new approaches to the problems of intercultural communication under modern conditions. This time it is illustrated by the important issue based on the experience of Chinese students who study in Russian universities and Russian lecturers who teach Chinese students. The number of Chinese students is steadily growing and Russian educational organizations are not quite ready to deal with such a great number of pupils. And students, in their turn, are unprepared for integrating into an alien culture. Old theories of intercultural communication, formulated in the middle of the 20th century under specific historic conditions and for certain purposes, today are outdated. The necessity of working out new principles, methods and theories in the field of intercultural communication is being considered, as well as the great need for presenting practical information in various forms – the internet, manuals, introductory courses for adaption foreign students in Russian educational system and everyday life. Courses for Russian teachers working with students from China, telling about Chinese educational traditions, behavioral customs and mentality are also very important. Some other ways of solving the problems of integrating Chinese students into the Russian world are suggested.

The article focuses on some issues of audiovisual translation, executed in voiceover mode within the scope of audiovisual media. Audiovisual translation is regarded as an interlingual transfer of the verbal component of layered multimodal texts that is characterized by a range of constraints that allow little latitude in the translator’s choice of pertinent translation strategies, procedures and techniques. The most significant to be mentioned are the time constraints, the requirements for synchronizing the sounding of the translated voice-over with the shots and frames of the video sequence, as well as the psychophysiological parameters of the perception of the translated content by ear. In this regard, it seems obvious that the traditional concepts of translation equivalence, which were posited on the basis of written, mainly literary, translations analysis, do not always turn out to be relevant as far as revoicing in media workflow is concerned, and therefore require to be revisited in the light of the communicative-functional approach. However, Comparative Stylistics and linguistics-oriented Translation Studies, contributed largely to building up an extensive taxonomy of translation operations, which have significant descriptive potential. For this reason, the present article uses the typological arsenal of translation techniques depicted by the seminal works which developed within the framework of transformation-centered approach (transposition, equivalence, modulation and adaptation). Nevertheless, the study focuses on the translation techniques the usage of which is motivated not by structural language asymmetry, but rather by discrepancies in the cultural and cognitive repertoire of the source and target languages speakers, as well as by specific conditions of multichannel perception of audiovisual media texts.

The present paper deals with the representation of the names of the ancient gods in New Testament translations. In the text of the original which was Greek the names of gods were naturally Greek. But as in Antiquity the characters of the Greek mythology were identified with the Roman ones, the text of the Vulgate renders them in Latinized form. Because in Europe before the Reformation the Latin translation was the main and the most authoritative version of the Holy Writ, it had been used as the source text for the rendering of the Bible, even by the authors, who were opposed to Catholic Church (e.g. Wycliffe). After the Reformation, the Catholic translators continued the use of the Vulgate as the original even until the middle of the 20th century. In contrast to them, the Protestants translated the Bible almost exclusively from Hebrew and Greek texts, but often retained the Latin names of the Greek gods until approximately the same period. The Russian tradition of translating the Bible is characterized by some peculiarities. On the one hand, there was a general orientation towards the Greek and Church Slavonic texts; on the other, the influence of the Latin forms also occurred in the early New Testament version edited by the Russian Bible Society in the first quarter of the 19th century.

When we use bilingual dictionaries, what makes us believe that the translations they offer are valid? Comparing the English nouns smile, grin, smirk, sneer with their translations in bilingual English-Russian and English-French dictionaries, I consider as criteria of translational adequacy the following: ostensive (referential) equivalence, etymology, morphology, phonology, (monolingual) definitional equivalence, (bilingual) reversion (reversibility). The special characteristics of reversion suggest that It might be worth distinguishing translation equivalents (=reversible items typically heteroglossal synonyms) as a hyponymic subset of translations (=heteroglossal definitions). Not considered here (for lack of immediately accessible evidence) is contextual or cotextual equivalence, though it would be significant if items in different languages had similar collocations and colligations.

The paper highlights (from a position of conceptual integration techniques) the ways the verbal anti/memes function in the modern political communication. Special attention is paid to the role and ways in which the definite memplex is used in the special politically controversial situation of Brexit, particularly for persuasive purposes.

This article is dedicated to the jubilee of the outstanding scientist, talented person and experienced leader, Professor Galina Georgievna Molchanova. Scientific interests of G.G. Molchanova cover a wide range of areas and topics in the field of cognitive linguistics, polycodal models of intercultural communication, clustering approach in verbal and non-verbal communication studies, memetics and other breakthrough interdisciplinary areas. The focus of special attention is on the issues of the cognitive and polycodal aspects of communication a) in speech; b) in text/discourse, mythology as a means of mind transformation in political discourse, cognitive memology, intertextuality as a semiotic code, semiotic approaches to the study of text and discourse. Author’s courses “Semiotics in intercultural communication”, “Modern techniques and approaches to the study of text/discourse”, “Cognitive studies in language and intercultural communication, intercultural adaptation of text and translation” are a platform for the development of students and the formation of young researchers. Achievements in pedagogical, scientific and administrative work spheres of G.G. Molchanova present a portrait of a brilliant scientist and an outstanding personality, her energy and inexhaustible scientific potential give prompt development and support to all those who work day after day with Galina Georgievna.

The article deals with one of the most important issues of current methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, and, on a larger scale, of teaching foreign languages, which is the problem of adapting a literary text. The study is relevant today because there is a need to introduce a scientific and theoretical approach to this problem, since the underdeveloped theoretical and practical system of tools complicate the adaptation of the original text, and, consequently, the reading and understanding of the adapted version of the text. The article describes the author’s long-standing experience and presents the results of the comparative analysis of authentic literary texts and their adapted versions taken from Russian textbooks for foreigners. The question is raised concerning the correlation between the concepts of a secondary text and an adapted text. The academic novelty of the research con- sists in formulating the concepts of linguistic and non-linguistic principles of adaptation. The non-linguistic principles (citation, deletion, reordering) relate to the structural changes in the work of fiction, while linguistic principles (replacement, reduction, addition, inversion) belong to the sphere of language. A definition is given to the concept of an adapted literary text. A classification is proposed for the types of adapted literary texts (fragment text, editing text, variation text).

Content and language integrated learning of a foreign language for professional communication is a new approach for Russian higher education. Its distinctive feature lies in the dual purpose of teaching non-language-majoring students: a) a foreign language for professional communication and b) a basic specialty. Achieving the goal of the simultaneous formation of professional foreign-language communicative competence and a number of general professional and professional competencies will be largely determined by the subject-specific content of the integrated course and educational materials developed on the basis of this particular approach. In this paper, the authors points out the relevance of developing educational materials based on content and language integrated learning and contucts six stages of developing teaching materials on subject-specific modules of an integrated course: 1) determination of the content of subject-specific modules of the advanced course; 2) determination of subtopics of each subject-thematic module for study during the integrated course; 3) selection of professionally oriented texts for training; 4) highlighting active vocabulary in selected texts of professional orientation; 5) development of tasks for the development of types of speech activity; 6) development of tasks of professional orientation. The article details the content of each of the stages.

This article addresses the issue of the Event, which is of great importance for XX century’s philosophical thought (A. Badiou, V. Bibihin, M. Heidegger), but has its roots in Ancient “Poetics”, where Aristotle sees it as the basis of ancient Greek art and ancient Greek drama in particular. We examine the Sophocles’s tragedy “Oedipus Rex” to illustrate the duality of the Event as it unveils itself during the performance, combining theatricality, introspection and observation with action and pathos. The Event in full measure reveals itself through the main character, Oedipus, creating the tragic universe of the apollonian harmony and dionysian knowledge. It should be noted that previously mentioned characteristics of the phenomenon do not only reveal themselves on the stage, but have their roots in a real life experience, so we can refer to them as to the very beginning of the theatre. The Event has the ability to organize and emphasize special moments of the awareness and consciousness in the world of chaos and instability, and so becomes an “impulse”, the beginning of the theatricality itself. Thus, this peculiarities of the concept let us compare and analyze two distant epochs such as Ancient Greece and Modernism: find more similarities than differences in the operas of Sophocles, Artaud and Beckett despite the gulf of time which separates them, which is also a significant contribution of the Event.

The article analyzes the influence of mass culture on theatre experiments of Italian futurists. Mass culture is considered to be an opposition of elite or high culture because its production has a standard character, it is aimed at entertainment and it is commercial, while high culture is aimed at creating new esthetical experience and serves as a source for mass culture where it is reproduced in a reduced way. However, the study of Italian Futurist theatre of 1910–1920s reveals that it was mass culture that served as a source for the transformation of high culture and the creation of new language of theatre. In particular, Italian futurists turn to such forms of shows as variety theatre and music hall and borrow a number of their practices. In their theatre experiments they aim at changing the idea of theatre and separate it from literature as a different art genre. In order to do so they deny the dominating character of text in favour of other means of expression. Although Futurism as one of avant-garde movements, without doubt, belongs to high culture, it redefines the notion of public and turns to mass audiences trying to get them out of the state of passive perception by attacking their senses instead of their intellect. The avant-garde aims at transforming the world by means of art, and to solve this task it sometimes adopts the formal elements belonging to mass culture.

The article describes Japanese nourishment system as a subject of culturology. It investigates processes that are taking place in Japanese cultural tradition connected with innovation in Japanese food, penetration into the Japanese system of traditional nutrition of Western dishes and their impact on the food culture. Foreign words that are part of the Japanese language are recorded in a special alphabet called katakana. The same rule applies to the names of dishes. At the same time, there is an evident paradox: the dish can be very popular, becoming an integral part of the national cultural tradition, but at the same time its name will be written in the alphabet for foreign words, to emphasize its foreign origin. However, another process can be observed. Sometimes Japanese dishes themselves and their names combine both Japanese and Western traditions. However, many of the dishes that are served today in Japanese restaurants and in Japanese families have been borrowed from different cultures at different times. And the names of these dishes and the methods of their preparation underwent a certain adaptation, and today it is really difficult to imagine that until recently these seemingly truly Japanese dishes were not in the culinary culture of Japan. Yet the Japanese very carefully introduced changes to the methods of their preparation, and therefore, in many cases, the recipes remained close to the original. What was the only requirement for a recipe change? Seasonings, which are a kind of hallmark of Japanese cooking. What are the most important seasoning ingredients in the Japanese food system? Miso paste production and its role in nutrition and on the Japanese table.

The program of the lecture course is based on the interdisciplinary approach to research of traditional music that is regarded in connection with mythology, folklore, axiology and world view, ethnic historical memory, rituals, transformation practices, ethnic pedagogy, processes of ethnic-cultural identification of peoples through music in the modern world. This approach is based on years of experience reading a course of lectures on traditional music of the peoples of the world at the Department of Cultural Studies of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Moscow State University. Thematically the course is divided into three units. The first unit covers the theoretical foundations of the course and methodology of comparative music culture study. The set of lectures of the second unit is dedicated to traditional music of peoples of Russia, India, China, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Scotland, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, USA, Canada, American and African indigenous musical cultures and others. In lectures of the third unit the role of ethnic music in the modern world and the developing potential of musical ethnic instruments in actual cultural, pedagogical and art-therapy practices are considered. Throughout the text, traditional music of peoples of the world is delineated in a unifying culture study perspective, from autochthonous traditions to modern ethnic culture.

This article will analyze the concept of “French identity” in the theory of French researchers. Then we will consider the reflection of its main “pillars” in modern advertising. The concepts of different researchers differ from each other. The article deals with the theories of F. Braudel, R. Debray and P. Veil. Among the most important factors of French identity are: the French language and culture, a positive assessment of the French revolution, the principle of equality, respect for history and the past, a preference for words rather than images, and a cautious attitude to absolute happiness. They say that advertising is “a cultural weapon of economic domination and an economic weapon of cultural domination”. The ad appeals to all French people, so it would be interesting to see how it reflects the appeal to French identity. This is the purpose of this article. Modern advertising creates a new mythology. It not only reflects what is deep in the subconscious of the nation, but also creates its own new culture, drawing material not always from the native soil. The influence of not just globalization, but specifically American culture in this area is not in doubt: this is the culture of smiles, and the preference for a visual series of informative, and some iconic elements of mass culture (music, movies). However, you can feel the spirit of France in other things that are not always obvious: themes, symbols, sound design. The conclusion is also drawn in the article about new trends in modern advertising that bring to the forefront such human values as altruism and concern for the world around us.

The article is devoted to the study of the creative principles of the Russian opera director Boris Alexandrovich Pokrovsky, which he developed in the Chamber Musical Theater. The main content of the article is an analysis of the directorial concept of B.A. Pokrovsky. This issue has not been thoroughly investigated and requires further research. The relevance of the article is due to the processes occurring in the modern musical theater as a cultural phenomenon and is related to the functioning, social representation, stylistic and dramatic features of the genre. The fundamental changes taking place in the methodology of the stage interpretation of the classical and modern opera composition are a reflection of the powerful transformations of the value foundations of culture. In this regard, the scientific study of the unique creative method of Boris Pokrovsky as a cultural phenomenon can serve as a basis for identifying specific mechanisms for translating axiological characteristics of culture into artistic principles and synthesizing traditional and innovative interpretations of the director. Boris Pokrovsky was an outstanding stage director. He is best known as the stage director of the Bolshoi Theatre between 1943 and 1982 and as the founder of the Chamber Music Theater in Moscow. He put on stage many rare and even unknown operas. The phenomenon of the theatre is still a mystery to the theatre critics and art historians, whereas the methods of the director lend themselves to analysis and are disclosed in the article.

The paper belongs to a series of articles with a focus on mental models, as construed and actualized in discourse and embodied in texts. Identity is treated as a type of the above-mentioned mental models. Supporting the constructivist stance on identity (in R. Brubaker and F. Cooper’s terms), the author postulates that identity is fragmented, multiple and fluid, being molded and interpreted in discourse, and a function of various historical and sociocultural factors. Using “Quichotte”, a 2019 novel by S. Rushdie, who represents postcolonial literature, the author argues that constructivist stance on identity is a rightful and fruitful approach to exploring identity construction through the prism of fictional texts, the latter seen as results of discursive activity. The purpose of the study is to analyze the writer’s essentially multilevel reflection on multicultural identity in the novel within the novel, taking into account the perspectives of different characters, and describe the means of multicultural identity construction. The conclusion is made that the constructivist approach to understanding identity does not hinder a researcher’s examination of the ways human self-understandings crystallize in texts.