No 1, 2024
Publishing Date: 2024-04-25
HISTORY
Fedchenko O.D. The Persian Gulf coast as the territory of Eden and Paradise Garden
The article studies the location of the Biblical Eden on the basis of ancient sources. Along with the biblical texts the author uses the achievements of modern researchers from related fields. It has been established that in prehistoric times the Persian Gulf received the rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Karun, Wadi-al-Batin, which became the prototype of the rivers mentioned in the Biblical Book of Genesis – Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, Prat. The author determined localization of Eden and Paradise Garden in the Persian Gulf basin on the basis of the studied materials. Exactly this region corresponds to the Eden location in prehistoric times and explains the biblical Flood. The proposed article, together with other studies on this issue, allows us to take a fresh look at the development of ancient civilizations.
Hommyyev T.B. History of dams on the banks of the Murgap River in Turkmenistan
The water of the Murgap River, which flows in the territory of the Mary Velayat in Turkmenistan, has been used in a wider and more complete way for many centuries than others. Dams and reservoirs have been built along this river. The abundant water of the river fully provided the people living in its valley, agriculture and animal husbandry, and contributed to the development of human civilization in its history. A dam is a hydro technical facility built to intercept the flow of river water, raise its level and use it properly. Over the course of history, dozens of dams were built along the Murgab River. The purpose of all of them was to carry out irrigation works and establish water supply for the people. Originally, dams were built from plant materials – various long-stemmed dry grasses, wood, soil, stone, stone and earthenware, but today they are built from a combination of concrete and reinforced concrete. Studying the history and construction practices of those dams is interesting and important today.
Christensen C.S. Botswana: An African success story or not?
Sound macroeconomic policies and prudent use of diamond revenues have made Botswana one of the fastest growing economics in the world over the last 30 years. What depends the GDP per capita, Botswana is ranked in the middle-income status with 17,000 US-dollar per capita (like Brazil, Iran and Thailand). Despite the President Mokgweetsi Masis since 2018 and his government’s efforts, however, the economy remains highly dependent on diamond exports and tourism, and, furthermore, the country continues to suffer from one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world. Facts are, however, that Botswana has an enviable record of political stability and economic achievement. Economic growth has slowed recently to about 5%, but still remains satisfactory. In this article the question, is Botswana an African success story or not, will be attempted to be answered and furthermore, the future threats threatening the African country will be explained. For instance, about climate threats, environmental problems around mass tourism and how the importance of agriculture lost its importance in the last 25 years.
The article details the experience of many years of Ratomka School students’ efforts to study and popularise the historical and cultural heritage of their small homeland. The authors describe in detail the main stages of this work from the 1940s to the present day on the basis of a wide corpus of sources analysis. The article highlights modern methods and practices (creation of videos, QR coding, using of social networks, organisation of excursions, and historical and ecological trails). The article also notes the expansion of research work thematic spectrum (studying the history of equestrian sport, organising excursions and creating excursion routes).
PEDAGOGY and TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Nosacheva M.I. Ancient literature in the Latin textbooks for medical students
The article deals with the question of ancient literature representation in the Latin textbooks for medical students. It analyses the authorship, the topics and some linguistic features of the Latin sayings. Latin sayings are represented according to the periods of the ancient literature. The author detects some tendencies influencing the representation of the ancient literature in the textbooks.
In the present article we suggest several ideas for the use of question-and-answer brainstorming and of its form known as “starbursting” in the advanced English language university classroom. Supported by an overview of psychological research, the article highlights the advantages of question storming over the traditional form. The method is seen as a tool for personalisation that allows making study materials preparation less time-consuming.
Bragova A.M. Team games for teaching new English vocabulary at a language university
The paper analyses the issue of application team games when teaching new English vocabulary in a language university. An important issue when teaching words is the process of learning them, whether this process will be boring or entertaining depends on the teacher. The author concludes that it is necessary to alternate traditional exercises with interactive ones when working on vocabulary. For example, it is possible to use team games, the purpose of which may be solving crossword puzzles, working with cards, guessing words while playing charades / the game “Crocodile”, using the cubing technique, conducting quests, etc. Team games make working on vocabulary fun and also help increase team spirit and improve the ambience in a student group.
THEOLOGY
The article considers the main patterns of burial according to the Orthodox rite in the North of Russia. It was revealed that the implementation of funeral rites was under the steady influence of church legislation as well as a number of legal acts regulating the activities of the police and the health system. The local natural and climatic conditions, which for a long time prevented the transportation of the bodies of the deceased to cemeteries at parish churches, were a significant factor. Local traditions and well-established norms of behaviour, which often contradict legal rules and the church burial rite, had a certain impact on the burial order.
Khroul V. “Question-answer” patterns in Russian media discourse on religion
Analysing the history of journalistic genres, author discovers “question-answer” patterns and suggests them to be an immanent fundamental communicative pattern for transmitting the knowledge and mass information in media. Observing recent genres dynamics in Russian media, the author describes main trends in the media discourse – irrationalization and primitivization. Applying his theoretical frame to the empirical analysis of Russian media texts on religion, the author finds “question-answer” patterns in interviews, expert commentaries and analytical articles. He indicates journalists’ desire to clarify issues of audience’s interest about religious life through questions and answers.
PHILOLOGY
Ashrapov B.P. Word-building potential of Tajik adverbial prefix no- and its English equivalents
The article dwells on the issues beset with the study of morphological peculiarities and word-building potential of Tajik adverbial prefixno-and its English equivalents.In the comparative languages, prefixes occupy an important role in the formation of new derivative words. Summing up the results of the analysis, the author concludes that adducing word-building potential of the prefix in question forming Tajik adverbs is of many similarities and differences in certain cases. It is worth mentioning that English equivalents of Tajik derivative adverbs formed by this prefix are not identical and the same-formed ones and some of them are used and translated as simple, derivative and composite ones.
Vedeneeva E.V. Fictonyms and mythonyms as a basis for the formation of an urban ergonymicon
The article examines the lexical and semantic features of fictonyms and mythonyms in the linguistic space of Saratov, in particular, the influence of literary and mythological characters on the ergonymic portrait of the city. The purpose of this article was to identify the pragmatic potential of ergonyms that arose on the basis of literary and mythological proper names as well as to consider how this lexical layer affects the creation of a linguistic personality of citizens. The processes of transonymization in the nomination of urban objects largely reflect the peculiarities of the functioning of the Russian language in the onomasticon and indicate the linguistic and cultural potential of this layer of vocabulary in the linguistic space of the city. The author concludes that ergonymy expressing the cultural basis of nominees in the field of literary proper names performs a pragmatic function to emphasize the prestige and specificity of the institution.
Feodor Dostoevsky’s work has always been relevant to Chinese literature. Interest in it increased in the first decades of the 21th century. Since 1981 China established a literary award named after Mao Dun. Currently the most serious China writers become nominees of this award. The article explores their statements and discourses on artistic creations which usually mention Feodor Dostoevsky. The interviewees admit that few contemporary writers in China have escaped Dostoevsky’s influence. Based on the materials translated from Chinese the author reveals the presence of new reference points, forms and techniques in contemporary Chinese literature. The obtained results only outline the prospects of “Dostoevsky and Modern Chinese literature” topic study; further delving into it implies extensive analysis and painstaking work on the interpretation of specific texts that have been influenced by the works of the Russian classic.
Gaponenko K.R., Mekhtiev V.G. Black and its synonyms in the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky “Teenager”
The article analyses Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “Teenager”. The main aim of the study is to characterize the symbolism of dark colour in the work. It was possible to identify key functions that contribute to the disclosure of character images and the ideological content of the novel as a whole. The author considers the role of colours in the context of semantics and symbolism which allows to understand the depth and versatility of the characters as well as the thematic development of the novel.
The article describes the study of the perception of the Russian-Chinese borderland by the participants of the Russian expedition of 1874-1875 under the leadership of Y.A. Sosnovsky. The 19th century was a period of active study of Asia and the formation of ideas about these territories at the level of mass consciousness. From the point of view of intercultural communication on the borderland, the linguistic tradition that developed in Kyakhta, which at that time was the centre of the Russian-Chinese tea trade, is of particular interest. In those places, a mixed Russian-Chinese dialect arose, which turned out to be extremely stable thanks to the consistent policy of the Chinese authorities. They required knowledge of the Russian language from their merchants and created a special language school to teach the minimum basics necessary for trading. Y.A. Sosnovsky expedition opened a new shorter trade route and created the prerequisites for the formation of a holistic image of the Russian-Chinese borderland.
Bogatyrev A.V. Agatha Christie’s crime writings: some questions
Considering the literary works by Agatha Christie the author of the paper pays special attention to the writer’s insufficiently researched novels – “Elephants can remember” and “Curtain”, the former of which earned not entirely fair assessment from critics. There is evidence of possible connection between some Christie’s novels and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. The article studies the symbolism of Hercule Poirot image, and ideas about certain faces of his character and place in the “universe” of Agatha Christie are deepened. Her detective riddles are a kind of cipher, they are built on the techniques of substitution and repetition. New examples are noted, demonstrating Christie’s attitude to Shakespeare and Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes cycle). The historical element in the books by Agatha Christie is present not only explicitly in the form of historical events, etc., but also in a hidden form, penetrating into the deeper layers of her work.
The article considers Russian woman’s linguistic and cultural image transformation on the example of several Russian literature fictions of the 20th and 21st centuries. The author analyses the heroes through the used lexicon, the assessment from the point of view of other characters and behaviour as well as through secondary signs such as colour painting, charactonyms etc. The study concludes that the transformation of Russian woman image is in the form of a harmonious fusion of traditional and acquired traits. In addition, the author concludes that the stereotypical image of Russian woman and her description in literature are gradually being revised.
PHILOSOPHY
Gerashchenko I.G. Efficiency of traditional economy: past and present
The article substantiates the thesis about the effectiveness of the traditional economy not only in the past but also in the present. Examples of the development of traditional economies in India, China and Russia are given. The author highlights the following advantages of the traditional economy: regularity of the labour process, lack of profit maximization, low level of competition, natural exchange, trusting relationships, lack of stress, etc. It is suggested that the traditional economy will retain its relevance in the information society, which is associated with new solutions to the problem of free time.
Ryzhov Y.V. Religion 5.0 and the problem of religious identity
The article considers the process of religion transformation in modern society. The author defines the concept of “Religion 5.0”, highlights its characteristic features, considers the problem of religious identity which is determined by the free choice of a person for Religion 5.0. It is shown that the digitalization of religion and its movement into the online space has an ambiguous impact on believers and religious communities. It is proposed to use both traditional methods of analysis and a “digital profile of a believer” based on open data from online sources to objectively assess religious identity.
Krylova M.N. Social threats caused by artificial intelligence and society’s response to them
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a reality of our lives and is used in all fields of human activity. An important problem associated with AI and actively being developed in science and culture today is the problem of potential threats that in the understanding of people come from it. The main social dangers, or threats to society according to members of society, generated by AI, are the threats of unemployment, cybercrime, cyberterrorism, cyberwar, the enslavement of people by machines and their physical destruction of humanity. Since the reasons for the emergence fear of computers in the public consciousness are objective (knowledge of the harm already caused to people by technology related experience) and subjective (psychological characteristics of a person), these fears can only be called only partially true.