Cuadernos de Rusística Española

The Specifics of the Perception of Russian Culture in Contemporary Foreign Literature

Dmitry A. Belyakov — 2023-12-29

The present article delves into the nuances of how Russian culture is portrayed in contemporary foreign literature. The primary goal of this research is to discern the distinctive features of the representation of Russian culture in three novels: Pawel Huelle's "Castorp" (2004), Hans Pleschinski's "Königsallee" (2013), and William Boyd's "Restless" (2006). The core focus of this study is intertwined with the enduring fascination of literary scholars with the concept of imagology and the scrutiny of how the "Other" or the "Foreign" is depicted within national literary contexts. The analysis of these Polish and German novels reveals that the image of Russia is largely influenced by the prominent German writer Thomas Mann, who serves as a bridge to understanding Russian culture. In William Boyd's case, Russian culture is closely associated with the works of A.P. Chekhov, whose influence significantly shapes the poetics of the British author's novels. The conducted analysis demonstrates that the portrayal of Russia in these novels relies on certain literary clichés and stereotypes that are ingrained in Western public consciousness. However, it is noteworthy that among contemporary writers who incorporate Russia into their works, Huelle, Pleschinski, and Boyd tend to adopt a more balanced perspective, refraining from aligning themselves with the more extreme views of its critics.

Trauma as Habituation to a New Catastrophic Reality in the Novel “Brisbane” by Ye. Vodolazkin

Alena V. Gulevich — 2023-12-29

The study is devoted to the motif of trauma in the novel “Brisbane” by E. Vodolazkin. The article provides an analysis of the realization of the trauma motif as a creative crisis in which the protagonist is gradually immersed. The novel represents the hero’s habituation to his new traumatic condition. Two temporal layers – past and present – run simultaneously in the novel. Soon the gap between them becomes hardly recognizable, eventually merging into the unity of the existence experienced in the present and colored by the past. Balancing on the edge of past and present, where the echoes of each period resonate in the hero’s soul, constitutes the polyphony of the novel “Brisbane”. It is realized at two levels: temporal-spatial and narrative-musical setting of the work.

“Allow Writers to Communicate Freely with Soviet Readers”: Mario Vargas Llosa in Defense of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Kristina R. Buynova — 2023-12-29

In the 1960s, Mario Vargas Llosa, not yet disillusioned with socialism, interacted occasionally with the Soviet Writers' Union, following and reacting vividly to developments in Soviet literary life. By the time Alexander Solzhenitsyn addressed the Fourth Writers’ Congress in 1967, calling for the abolition of all censorship, Vargas Llosa had already formed his own view of Soviet control over literature. Therefore, the writer could not remain indifferent to the fate of colleagues struggling against state control in literature. When he learned of Solzhenitsyn’s appeal in 1967, Mario Vargas Llosa wrote in solidarity an essay entitled Censorship in the USSR and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose translation is offered in the article together with an explanatory commentary. In the essay, Vargas Llosa insists that censorship is born out of the authorities' irrational fear of the power of speech, rather than the real danger emanating from the text. The work is ba sed on Mario Vargas Llosa's previously untranslated essays and on archival materials.

Modern Russian prose abroad: perception, translations, research

Olga G. Egorova — 2023-12-29

The article is devoted to assessing the current state of contemporary Russian literature abroad in terms of interest from foreign readers, influence from the Russian emigrants, the volume of translations and topics of interest. The article analyzes the cultural aspects and periods of Russian history of literature that are of particular interest to foreigners, as well as their reflection in modern prose in Russian. The article also focuses on the centers for the promotion of Russian culture abroad, as well as centers/chairs for its research at universities.

La enseñanza-aprendizaje de la lengua rusa en Cuba

Teresita de Jesús Urra Vargas — 2023-12-29

El estudio de la lengua rusa en Cuba ha transitado un largo camino, no libre de dificultades. Pero la Universidad de La Habana, la Facultad de Lenguas Extranjeras han logrado mantener la carrera de Lengua rusa, en la cual, cada año, matriculan más y más jóvenes. En el trabajo se presenta un breve panorama del nacimiento y desarrollo de la enseñanza de la lengua rusa en la República de Cuba. El estudio de documentos oficiales, las consultas a participantes de gran parte del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje del ruso en el país y la experiencia de más de cuarenta años de trabajo en la docencia de la autora, en la mencionada facultad, han permitido reunir los datos necesarios y preparar una breve historia del asunto. El objetivo del artículo ha sido presentar a los lectores una información resumida del inicio, el camino recorrido y la situación actual del estudio de la lengua rusa en Cuba, brindar la posibilidad de conocer el trabajo de los profesores y maestros de lengua rusa en el país.

Innovating Doctoral Programs in Slavic/Russian Studies in Slavic and Non-Slavic Countries in Order to Increase Their Effectiveness

Andrea Grominová — 2023-12-29

The aim of this paper is to provide suggestions for innovating and improving the efficiency of doctoral programs in Slavic/Russian Studies at the Department of Russian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava (Slovakia), at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic), and at the Department of Slavic Philology, Department of Greek and Slavic Philology, Faculty of Arts, University of Granada (Spain). Despite the heterogeneity of norms and regulations for the implementation of doctoral studies in these Slavic and non-Slavic countries, through thorough and detailed analysis, we identified common and distinctive features, as well as the so-called "blind spots" in doctoral studies at all three universities and provided recommendations for their elimination, quality improvement, and enhancement.

La metodología del desarrollo de la actividad intelectual de los futuros especialistas de los filólogos en formato online

Meruyert K. Abaideldanova — 2023-12-29

El artículo aborda el problema del desarrollo de la actividad intelectual de los futuros especialistas en Filología en el proceso de aprendizaje. En el sistema educativo moderno, hay un mayor interés en la competencia digital de los graduados de la Universidad, el uso de métodos y tecnologías tradicionales ha agotado sus posibilidades, especialmente en condiciones de aprendizaje mixto. En este sentido, fue necesario revisar los métodos de enseñanza habituales y encontrar mejores, utilizando todas las capacidades técnicas del entorno digital para activar la actividad intelectual de los estudiantes. En este trabajo, se realizó un análisis conceptual de la esencia mental del concepto de «actividad intelectual» en el formato de un mapa intelectual, sobre su base, se identificaron los dominantes conceptuales que se utilizaron para modelar el sistema metódico de desarrollo de la actividad intelectual en el proceso de capacitación profesional. Se presentan los resultados de la investigación sobre el contenido y los mecanismos de la actividad intelectual interna y externa del sujeto de la enseñanza, cuya comprensión permitirá a los profesores organizar efectivamente el proceso de aprendizaje. La importancia de este trabajo radica en el hecho de que, sobre la base de la generalización de la información conceptual sobre la esencia mental del concepto de «actividad intelectual», se desarrolló y probó un modelo metódico de formación de competencias profesionales de futuros especialistas en filólogos a través de la activación de su actividad intelectual en el proceso de estudio del curso electrónico en la disciplina «Vocabulario y lexicografía en el aspecto de la sincronía y la diacronía». Creado según el modelo metódico, el curso electrónico ha permitido aumentar la motivación educativa de los estudiantes, ha Asegurado el trabajo conjunto productivo del profesor y los estudiantes en plataformas digitales a través de la integración de métodos de enseñanza tradicionales e innovadores.

Ludic Image of Space: Russian and Spanish Riddles about Cities

Olga S. Chesnokova — 2023-12-29

The article discusses Russian and Spanish riddles about cities. According to the authors, being of a later origin, riddles about cities, compared to the riddles of traditional folklore topics of nature and everyday life, are focused on entertaining and didactic functions. Until now, riddles about cities have not yet become the object of special consideration which determines the novelty of the undertaken research. The hypothesis of this article is that riddles about cities create a ludic image of space, meanwhile each riddle text acts as a topographical image and a sign of collective memory. On the material of 100 Russian and 100 Spanish riddles, the structural, rhetorical, discursive means of the ludic representation of Russian and Spanish cities, respectively, are interpreted and compared. The study showed that riddles about cities combine experiences, associations, and real topographical features, all together forming a system of topographic images of the cities on the principles of bio-morphism, direct questions, the use of polysemy, homonymy, popular etymology, sound symbolism, and allusions to proverbs.

Small Parametric Core of Russian and Spanish Vocabulary in the Linguocognitive Aspect

Zamira K. Derbisheva — 2023-12-29

The article presents a linguocognitive comparison of the core lexicon of the Russian and Spanish languages obtained by means of the quantitative analysis on the basis of linguistic parameters. The aim of the research is to reveal the cognitive-semantic basics of the lexical composition of the core in each language, to establish lexical-semantic parallels and differences, as well as to find out historical and cultural motivations for the active use of this lexicon in Russian and Spanish. For the analysis of lexical cores, the linguistic methods of cognitive language research have been used in combination with the comparative method, with the help of which it was possible to consider different ways of reflecting knowledge in the languages. As a result of the description, it has been revealed that the nuclear vocabulary in the languages under comparison builds the basic foundation of the linguistic pictures of the world of the Russian and Spanish languages where the correlation of common cognitive-semantic blocks prevails, which is due to the universal logic of the world perception. Various mental and linguistic approaches to the categorization of the same sphere of knowledge are also identified. Specific discrepancies are found within the blocks and are typical to a number of lexical units, which represent historical and cultural/ethno-cultural information.

The Peculiarity of the Individual Author's Style of Creating Color Sensory Imagery in a Poetic Text: Linguacultural Analysis

Olga A. Danilova — 2023-12-29

Sensory perception of the world is the ontological basis of human existence that helps an individual to be oriented in the world. It also helps one to find the path in the most difficult circumstances of social communication. This makes it relevant to pay attention to sensory mechanisms and their functions in various fields of knowledge, from psychology to linguacultural studies. In modern linguistics, the category of sensory imagery is one of the complex phenomena, based on the author’s individual sociocultural experience. This experience is especially vividly realized in a poetic text, which is the highest form of sensory expression. In a poetic text, one can single out an independent block of color information, deliberately embedded in the content by its creators as an additional visual means. At the same time, this functionality of color is determined primarily by the peculiarities of individual author’s style in the creation of sensory visual color imagery.

Multimedia Corpus of Russian Dialects of Udmurtia: Electronic Subcorpus of Spoken Speech

Regina A. Vernyaeva — 2023-12-29

The article presents a description of the electronic subcorpus of oral speech, which is an integral part of the multimedia Corpus of Russian Dialects of Udmurtia (http://dialect.manuscripts.ru). The subcorpus allows you to study dialect vocabulary not only by the methods of corpus linguistics, but also by the methods of linguistic geography and electronic lexicography. An important component of the subcorpus is the presence in it of audio recordings of oral dialect speech, which makes it possible to identify and analyze the phonetic and grammatical features of various dialects of the republic. Due to the fact that Udmurtia is a multilingual region, the study of audio recordings helps to identify the interaction of languages spoken in the republic. The speech of dialect speakers, presented in the form of audio recordings, as well as the results of marking this speech, are new language material that clarifies information about the lexical and semantic features of the Russian dialects of Udmurtia. The linguistic and geographical database module makes it possible to select all the answers to one of the questions of the program on which the corpus marking is based, the result is the display of this word on the electronic map of Udmurtia. The article presents the results of marking up audio recordings, examples of maps and dictionary entries compiled using the corpus manager.

Euphemization of Old Age in Russian and Spanish Linguocultures

Lyubov A. Safaralieva — 2023-12-29

The article is devoted to the issue of reflection in the language of nominations of people who have reached old age. The study is conducted in line with the contrastive analysis of the names of persons of a certain age on the material of the Russian and Spanish languages. Due to the increase in the share of the elderly population, various kinds of socio-economic reforms, including an increase in the retirement age in Russia, the problem of naming elderly people has turned out to be relevant. The focus of the analysis is both taboo units and euphemisms of the names of elderly people. The reasons leading to tabooing in Spanish of certain names of old people, which in Russian, on the contrary, function freely in all styles of speech, are analyzed. In conclusion, the article draws conclusions that substantiate why the degree of euphemization or replacement of the direct name of an old person is more often manifested in Spanish.

Statuses-Aphorisms in the Communicative Behavior of a Modern Linguistic Personality

Svetlana K. Bashieva — 2023-12-29

In recent decades, there has been a natural increase in interest in the linguistic personality in Russian linguistics, due to the understanding of language as a mechanism for reflecting the processes of transformation of the system of cultural values, which have an unconditional impact on a person's worldview. The article examines the status-aphorisms in the communicative behavior of a modern linguistic personality, the choice of which as a research material is due, on the one hand, to their features (brevity of form, subjectivity, freedom of choice of subject matter, reproducibility, originality, situativeness), on the other hand, to the fact that they, being cognitive and pragmatic texts, are a means of evaluativeness and axiological character, a way of self-expression and self-presentation; the importance of status-aphorisms in connection with the communicative and activity need of a linguistic personality to actualize value, cognitive and behavioral attitudes in speech practice is established.

On the Semantics of the Title of M. Stepnova’s Novel "The Garden"

Nataliia D. Strelnikova — 2023-12-29

The article is devoted to a specific concept based on the material of one of the literary texts of the latest Russian literature. In the novel by M. Stepnova (2019), the concept of “garden” is central and fundamentally important. In the author’s picture of the world of a 21st-century writer, this concept becomes the title of the literary work, conceptually significant in the national picture of the world. In this regard, it was appropriate and logical to analyze the concept, taking into account all the potential inherent in the meaning of the word “garden”, in the broadest sense, especially since “garden” is manifested in many ways in the novel. The concept of “garden” reflects the World of Russian estate life in the 19th and early 20th centuries, captured primarily by L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, and I. A. Bunin. In the literary text of M. Stepnova, the concept of “garden” is presented as a hero, a book, a text, Eden, and is both an image and a symbol. In addition, the concept of “garden” in the context of the novel acquires additional connotations and meanings, giving rise to new associations invisible at first glance. Thus, the semantics of the name appear multilevel because it includes both Western European traditional and nationally determined ideas, which is proved in this study.

Homonymy as a Source of Comic in Informal Internet Communication

Elena I. Mesnyankina — 2023-12-29

The article examines the phenomenon of homonymy in hybrid comic genres of informal internet communication in order to reveal its linguistic and stylistic characteristics. The text analyzes various types of homonyms (homophones, homographs, homoforms, interlingual homonyms), as well as the way of their meaning actualization in funny Internet texts. The author comes to conclusion that in the informal virtual communication homonymy plays an essential role not only in creation of comic effect in language game, but also for demonstration of evaluation, expression and emotions.

Traducir poesía rusa: consideraciones y problemas

Omar Lobos — 2023-12-29

El artículo repasa y contrasta la conformación de la versificación occidental con la de la versificación rusa, para luego examinar los aspectos a observar a la hora de traducir versos rusos. Si en la tradición de Occidente sigue dominando la distinción entre forma y contenido, la poesía rusa no comparte esta lógica binaria y ambas nociones son indisolubles; si en Occidente la poesía se ha vuelto individual, silenciosa y fundamentalmente escrita, el verso ruso no ha perdido su carácter “comunicativo” (como acto in praesentia ante un otro) y, por ello, eminentemente fónico. A partir de esto, se propone una breve historización de ambas tradiciones, se aportan reflexiones teóricas sobre el desarrollo del verso ruso y del verso en Occidente y, finalmente, se relevan ejemplos en lengua española que revelan puntos de contacto con la versificación rusa, a fin de que puedan ser pensados como modelos rítmicos para una traducción más justa del verso ruso.

Myth as an Object of Authorial Game Strategies in a Satirical Work

Valentyna B. Musii — 2023-12-29

The objects of the article are "Montachka's Mirror" by Mikhail Kuraev, "The Gardens of Mr. Michurin" by Andrey Kurkov and "The Puddle" by Viktor Shenderovich. Each of the works is about something related to the history of the Russian state. The purpose of the article is to determine how the authors' appeal to mythopoetic structures contributed to their expression of their own conception. In M. Kuraev's novel, this is an anthropogenic myth, in A. Kurkov's novel – a myth about the demiurge, in V. Shenderovich's story – a cosmogonic myth. All these works are satirical, that is, they present events from the point of view of their inconsistency with the norm. At the same time, "The Gardens of Mr. Michurin" and "The Puddle" also contain comic elements. In this regard, the mythopoetic in them is subjected to destruction. Thus, myth, having an authoritarian character, and comic, playful by nature, meet. The research methodology – the method of mythopoetic reading of the text and the typological method are applied.

Presentación

Cuadernos de Rusística Española — 2023-12-29