Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-05, Section: A, page: 2837. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

This thesis is a cross-disciplinary study of one of the culture-specific words important for a given society ("concepts") – concept chest' (honor) - that has a considerable weight in the Russian cultural tradition. The study aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries in order to examine the cultural construction of honor in the Russian Worldview. "Concept" is not just a lexical item but a distinctive "file" containing semantic and aesthetic information. "Concepts" reflect and pass on people's values, ideals, attitudes as well as a way of thinking about the world. They provide important clues to the understanding of culture. Elucidation of a concept chest' marked by a moral significance is thus able to provide a better understanding of a particular period of Russian cultural history – the first four decades of the nineteenth century. / The study analyzes the integrated structure of concept chest' which includes different components (Chapter 2). The analysis uses a variety of methods, including etymological and componential approaches, followed by an examination of relevant conceptual metaphors and the correlation between such concepts in the Russian Worldview as honor – conscience (chest' – sovest'), honor – dignity (chest' – dostoinstvo), honor – shame (chest' – pozor), conscience – shame (sovest' – styd). The gender component of concept chest' is also examined. / Since concept chest' is one of the key words of Russian Romanticism and has a culture-specific meaning that reflects society's past experience, Chapter 3 not only discusses the evolution of the concept connected to the cultural changes, but also traces the reconstruction of the concept chest' in the literary context of the period focusing on the works of K.Ryleev, A.Bestuzhev-Marlinskii, and M.Lermontov. Concept chest' was shaped in a gentleman's code of honor and bound to a dueling ritual (duel of honor) and gambling (debt of honor). Although it was the golden age of noble personal honor, the explication of the given notion in Lermontov's works shows the beginning of the concept's transformation that led to the subsequent devaluation of the meaning of chest' in society. / Cette thèse constitue une étude interdisciplinaire des mots spécifiques à une culture, qui sont importants pour une société donnée (des "concepts") – et plus précisément le concept tchest' (honneur), ayant un poids considérable dans la tradition culturelle russe. L'étude a comme but de transcender les frontières disciplinaires afin d'examiner la construction culturelle de l'honneur dans la perception russe du monde. Les « concepts » ne sont pas seulement des termes de vocabulaire, mais également des « dossiers » contenant de l'information sémantique et esthétique. Les « concepts » reflètent et transmettent des valeurs humaines, des idées, des attitudes, ainsi qu'une manière déterminée de percevoir le monde. Ils fournissent des pistes importantes permettant de comprendre une culture. L'élucidation du concept tchest' d'une perspective morale permet de mieux comprendre une période particulière de l'histoire culturelle russe, soit les premières quatre décennies du XIX siècle. / Cette étude analyse la structure intégrée du concept tchest' prenant en considération différents composants (chapitre 2). L'analyse utilisée s'appuie sur une variété de méthodes, incluant les approches étymologique et componentielle, suivies d'un examen de métaphores conceptuelles importantes et d'une corrélation des concepts dans la conception du monde russe tels que : honneur – conscience (tchest' – sovest'), honneur – dignité (tchest' –dostoinstvo), honneur – honte (tchest' – pozor), conscience – pudeur (sovest' – styd). Le composant du genre du concept tchest' est également abordé. / Étant donné que le concept tchest' est un des mots-clefs dans le romantisme russe et possède une signification culturelle qui reflète l'expérience sociale découlant du passé, le chapitre 3 discute non seulement de l'évolution du concept reliée aux changements culturels, mais aussi redéfinit le concept tchest' dans le contexte littéraire de cette période, se centrant sur les œuvres de K. Ryleev, A. Bestuzhev-Marlinskii et M. Lermontov. Le concept tchest' fut bâti dans le code d'honneur des gentilshommes et était relié à un rituel de duels (duels d'honneur) et de jeux (dettes d'honneurs). En dépit du fait que c'était l'époque dorée de l'honneur personnel des nobles, l'explication de ce concept dans l'œuvre de Lermontov montre le début de la transformation du concept qui a véhiculé la dévaluation subséquente de la signification de tchest' dans la société.

Fedor Dostoevskii and Petr Verkhovenskii, the author and one of the main protagonists of the novel Demons, exhibit the same communication style and pursue similar propagandistic purposes in their public communication. Both figures function in the framework of public relations, employing mass communication for the sake of publicizing their political messages to broad audiences. In the process of their public communication, the author and the hero of the novel merge literature and journalism, fictional and factual discourse, subvert a critical analysis of their respective messages and encourage an unconditional, if unwarranted, acceptance of their communication. Relying on the theoretical findings of John Austin, Jurgen Habermas, as well as using the theoretical models of mass communication, the present study shows the underlying bond between Dostoevskii and Petr Verkhovenskii in terms of their communication style despite the ideological gulf that separates the two seemingly irreconcilable sides.

This thesis is an analysis of works derived from Russian literature and cinematography as grouped by the morphemes 'kavkaz' and 'plen' in their titles. During the last 200 years at least ten such works have appeared, the most famous being Pushkin's Prisoner of the Caucasus. These have become a fascinating phenomenon of Russian culture and the goal of my study is to analyze the intertextual links among these works. The study as a whole is based on the approaches developed by Lotman, Barthes, Zholkovsky, Likhachev and others. Thus it takes into account the specific social, historical and cultural background, underlying the phenomenon. Motif structures and its significant elements, such as 'plen', 'smert', 'zhizn', 'zerkalo', etc. are also taken into account. This is new to scholarly literature and has not previously been attempted. / La thèse présente une analyse de contenu d'oeuvres issues de la littérature et du cinéma russes regroupées par l'apparition des morphèmes «kavkaz» et «plen» dans leurs titres. Depuis deux siècles, au moins dix œuvres similaires sont apparues dont la plus connue Prisonnier du Caucase d'Alexandre Pouchkine. Celles-ci sont devenues un fascinant phénomène de la culture russe et l'objectif de mon étude est d'analyser l'intertextualité des liens parmi ces œuvres. L'étude est basée dans son ensemble sur les approches développées par Lotman, Barthes, Zholkovsky, Likhachev, et autres. L'étude prend aussi en considération de façon spécifique l'arrière-plan social, historique et culturel, soulignant le phénomène. La structure des thèmes et ses éléments fondamentaux tels «plen», «smert», «zhizn», «zerkalo», etc. ont aussi été pris en considération. Cela est donc nouveau dans une publication académique et n'a jamais été tenté auparavant. Cette étude développe donc des clés d'interprétation pour ces textes. Elle réinterprète les thèmes sur lesquels les textes sont fondés et souligne les thèmes qui n'ont jamais été utilisés précédemment dans la littérature.

The majority of interpretations of literary animals focus on the animals' metaphoric or symbolic significance, overlooking the actual animal, which often completely disappears behind its metaphoric or mythological representation. Such traditional interpretations of animals expose the dominant anthropocentric focus of the humanities in general, and literary studies in particular. Yet, even as textual representations a lot of literary animals still exhibit some basic species-specific characteristics. By analyzing selected Russian fairytales through the animal studies perspective I will show that in a lot of Russian fairytales animals exercise their agency, retain their animal specificity and are involved in complex companionate relationships with humans. Such portrayal of animals in Russian fairytales warrants identifying traditional Russian worldview as ecosystemic – in which humans are positioned on an equal plane with other living beings. Given the insufficient number of interpretive works on Russian fairytales, and the lack of work on fairytale animals, the present application of animal studies to Russian folktales can be one of the first steps to filling this niche. / Les analyses des animaux dans la littérature se concentrent pour la plupart sur la signification de l'animal métaphorique ou symbolique et negligent par là même l'animal réel qui disparaît souvent derrière sa représentation métaphorique ou mythologique. Ces interprétations traditionnelles révèlent l'anthropocentrisme qui domine dans les sciences humaines en général, et les études littéraires en particulier. Pourtant, les animaux dans la littérature retiennent encore des caractéristiques spécifiques à leur espèce. En analysant certains contes de fées russes du point de vue des études animales, je vais montrer que les animaux gardent leur capacité d'être agent, qu'ils conservent leur spécificité animale et qu'ils sont impliqués dans des relations complexes comme compagnons des humains. Cette représentation des animaux dans les contes de fées russes montre que la vision traditionnelle du monde russe est écosystémique – c'est-à-dire que les humains sont sur un même plan d'égalité que les autres êtres vivants. Compte tenu du nombre insuffisant d'analyses sur les contes de fées russes, et du manque d'analyses sur les animaux dans les contes de fées en général, la présente étude représente une étape importante pour combler cette lacune.

<p> This dissertation is an investigation of a theoretical problem&mdash;the determination of truth and being in a work of literary fiction&mdash;in the context of a momentous event in the history of mathematics&mdash;the discovery of a consistent non-Euclidean geometry. Beginning with the first interpretations of the philosophical significance of non-Euclidean geometry to enter the Russian cultural sphere in the 1870s, I analyze how the works by three Russian authors&mdash;Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Nabokov, and Daniil Kharms&mdash;integrate the principles of mathematical truth into their construction of a fictional ontology and methods of fictional truth evaluation. Each author, I argue, combines their own aesthetic program with the changes in the philosophy of mathematics underwent in their respective eras and historical contexts. The diversity of these contexts provides the variables, against which this theoretical problem is analyzed. </p><p> The first chapter deals with Dostoevsky's interpretation of non-Euclidean geometry and its philosophical significance expressed in Ivan Karamazov's rebellion against God in <i>Brothers Karamazov.</i> I argue that Dostoevsky deploys the Euclidean/non-Euclidean binary to juxtapose two methods of fictional truth evaluation&mdash;a traditional model, obsolete in light of the principles of non-Euclidean geometry, and another model, which Dostoevsky embraces in <i>Brothers Karamazov</i>, based on the paradoxical and yet true axioms of the new geometry. I phrase the distinction in the terms of possibility and necessity: the new model of fictional truth evaluation is for propositions which are true in all possible worlds except the actual. In Chapter Two, I draw upon previous analysis of Nabokov's <i>The Gift </i> and the mention of Lobachevsky's geometry in the internal biography of Chernyshevsky, to argue that the narrative structure of <i>The Gift </i> returns to the Euclidean/non-Euclidean binary as introduced by Dostoevsky, but re-interprets the otherworldly according to Nabokov's own aesthetic praxis and the interpretation of non-Euclidean geometry by late-nineteen and early twentieth century geometers and physicists. Nabokov applies concepts of non-Euclidean geometry and space to the actual world. This analysis provides a framework for interpreting the space and time of <i>The Gift</i> according to structures suggested within the novel itself. The third chapter investigates Kharms's interpretation of the significance and meaning of geometry in light of the impact that non-Euclidean geometry had on mathematical propositions as a means of describing possible states of affairs. I place Kharms's fictional objects, such as the red-headed man of "Blue Notebook no. 10," and implications to truth evaluation in "Sonnet" and "Symphony no. 2," in the context of anti-Kantian theories of truth and logic, which arose in the period around the turn of twentieth century.</p>

This thesis examines concepts of history and culture in six texts published between 1986 and 2006, as they relate to the loss of Russia’s future, according to Mikhail Epstein, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The works, paired by decade in three chapters, are Vladimir Voinovich’s Moscow 2042 (1987) and Andrei Bitov’s “Pushkin’s Photograph” (1989); Andrei Lazarchuk and Mikhail Uspenskii’s Look into the Eyes of Monsters (1998) and Tat’iana Tolstaia’s Slynx (2000); and Sergei Luk’ianenko’s “Girl with the Chinese Lighters” (2002) and Aleksei Kalugin’s “Time Backwards!” (2005). Though the authors are typically associated with different genres, all works make use of the cognitive estrangement characteristic of science fiction to forge a parable of current conditions, and thereby gain new insight into questions of history and culture. Given the nature and mood of the fall of Communism, apocalypse (or utopia, another end to history) is the dominant myth informing these visions, a further heuristic tool of science fiction. Through the conventions of the genre, notably the novum (Darko Suvin’s term for a new element shaping the imagined world) and its counterpart in Epstein’s kenotype (an expression of new social phenomena), the works typify their respective periods of perestroika, the post-Soviet 1990s and the early twenty-first century, as well as imagine social alternatives that move toward Epstein’s concept of a proto- era, a future for Russia after the future. What emerges from a unified study of these texts is the value their authors find in the tools of science fiction for renewing imagination and coming to terms with the unknown. To recognize the enduring potential of the future, its incompleteness and unknowability, is to challenge the very idea of the end of time – be it apocalyptic, utopian or postmodern. / Cette thèse examine les concepts de l’histoire et de la culture en six textes publiés entre 1986 et 2006, en relation avec la perte du futur Russe, selon Mikhail Epstein, suite à l’écroulement de l’Union Soviétique. En trois chapitres, les écrits sont classés par décennies comme suit : Moscow 2042 de Vladimir Voinnovich (1987) et Pushkin’s Photograph d’Andrei Bitov (1989); Look into the Eyes of Monsters d’Andrei Lazarchuck et Mikhail Uspenskii (1998)et Slynx par Tat’iana Tolstaia (2000); Girl with the Chinese Lighters par Sergei Luk’ianenko (2002) et Time Backwards! d’Aleksei Kalugin (2005). Malgré le fait que les auteurs sont habituellement associés à différents genres, l’ensemble de ces textes se servent de la caractéristique d’aliénation cognitive que la science fiction apporte afin de forger une parabole des conditions courantes, et ainsi acquérir un nouvel aperçu dans l’histoire et la culture. Étant donné la nature et l’athmosphère de la tombée du Communisme, l’apocalypse (ou l’utopie, autre fin à l’histoire) est le mythe dominant qui informe ces visions, un outil d’apprentissage supplémentaire de la science fiction. A travers la convention du genre, notamment le novum (terme utilisé par Darko Suvin pour décrire un nouvel élément formant le monde imaginaire) et son contrepartie kenotype d’Epstein (une expression d’un nouveau phénomène social), les écrits exemplifient leurs périodes respectives de perestroïka, les années ’90 post-Soviet et le début du vingt-et-unième siècle, ainsi qu’imaginer des alternatives sociales qui se rapprochent du concept de proto-era d’Epstein, un futur pour la Russie après le futur. Ce qui émerge d’une étude unifié de ces textes est la valeur que les auteurs trouvent aux outils de la science fiction pour renouveler l’imagination et venir à terme avec l’inconnu. De reconnaître le potentiel résistant du futur, l’incomplet et l’incon

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4345. Adviser: Harriet Murav. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-232) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Since its inception in 1918, Soviet children’s literature was acclaimed as innovative and exciting, often in contrast to other official Soviet literary production. Indeed, avant-garde artists worked in this genre for the entire Soviet period, although they had fallen out of official favor by the 1930s. This dissertation explores the relationship between the childlike aesthetic as expressed in Soviet children’s literature, the early Russian avant-garde and later post-war unofficial poetry. Even as ‘childlike’ devices were exploited in different ways in different contexts, in the post-war period the characteristic features of this aesthetic had come to be a marker for unofficial art. The introduction presents the notion of the childlike aesthetic, tracing its recent history from Russian modernism and the avant-garde. Chapter One, “Detki v kletke: The Underground Goes into Children’s Literature,” traces the early development of Soviet children’s literature and introduces the work of the OBERIU poets, the “first underground” to be driven by circumstance to write for children. Chapter Two, “‘Playing with Words’: Experimental Unofficial Poetry and Children’s Literature in the Post-war Period,” fast-forwards to the late 1950s-70s, describing the emergence of a more substantial unofficial literary scene alongside still-rigid boundaries within official literature, including children’s. The final two chapters present detailed comparative studies of the work of two post-war unofficial poets from each of the Soviet ‘capitals,’ Moscow and Leningrad: Igor Kholin and Vsevolod Nekrasov, and Leonid Aronzon and Oleg Grigoriev. All of these poets worked in children’s literature and experimented with the childlike aesthetic in their unofficial work. With its roots in folklore, nonsense poetry and nursery rhymes, the childlike aesthetic challenges established notions of logic, propriety and order. Through childlike form and content, unofficial poetry could distinguish itself starkly from its official counterpart. Furthermore, unofficial writers who worked in children’s literature could demonstratively ignore the strict generic boundaries of official literature by blurring them through their own, openly childlike poetry. This dissertation attests to the expressive power, resilience and ongoing relevance of the childlike aesthetic in art, while showing the curious intermingling of literary experiment and children’s literature in Soviet literary history. / Slavic Languages and Literatures

No description available.