No description available.

Spel från andra kulturer har länge varit ett intressant ämne att utforska. Denna kvalitativa textanalys undersöker spelen Pathologic och Darkwood med fokus på hur de presenterar skräckgenren på olika okonventionella sätt. Spelen analyseras utifrån hur grafiken, narrativet, designen och det kulturella ursprunget samarbetar för att skapa nytänkande spelupplevelser. Den här textanalysen ämnar att fylla en lucka i den slaviska spelforskningen och väcka intresse för en mer obskyr spelmarknad och öppna upp för bredare diskussioner kring den påverkan kultur och geografisk plats kan ha på spel som medium.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate norm in contemporary Russian verbal stress. In a first step the concept of norm is explored. It is shown that the criteria generally used in Russian for defining norm (correspondence to the language system, usage and authority/tradition/necessity) are not applied strictly. It is also concluded that any study of norms must take into account the distinction between the explicit norm, i.e. the codification, and the implicit norm, i.e. the usage and attitude of educated native speakers. In a second step the explicit norm is investigated. The analysis is based on the stress notation in two orthoepic dictionaries. This comparison shows that there is not, as is often suggested, one unanimous, "objectively existing", explicit stress norm. In a third step, the implicit norm is examined. This is done through a survey of reported and actual usage, carried out on 106 Russian speakers in Moscow. Subsequently, implicit norms are related to explicit norms. There is compliance between these in many cases, but the discrepancies are numerous. Furthermore, there is no direct or predictable relationship between the implicit stress norms and the labels these stresses are assigned in handbooks. A comparison with additional sources demonstrates that among the, in all, nine sources no two are perfectly alike in their notation. Sources that reflect the implicit norm better than others are identified. Finally, dictionary data and the survey results are compared with results from previous surveys (1956-1994). This shows that certain stress variants have apparently functioned as the implicit norm for several decades, but this has not yet been taken into account in codification. The general conclusions are that there is in theory an unclear definition of norm; there is in practice disagreement in codification; there is no official codex, although some sources might be considered more reliable; there is in many cases a discrepancy between explicit and implicit norms, which is most likely a result of arbitrariness or subjectivism and of conservatism. It is possible that these conclusions are valid for areas of language normativisation other than verbal stress.

The present study considers the diachronic changes that took place in Soviet political discourse as reflected in six selections of Pravda editorials from the 1920s through the 1950s, as well as slogans and headlines in that newspaper from 1917 through 1933. The principal goal of analyses conducted on various levels is to identify and investigate a number of tendencies demonstrating the gradual transformation of the language of revolution into totalitarian language. A quantitative analysis of the vocabulary of slogans and headlines in Chapter 2 focuses on chronological changes in words and addresses the contexts in which they were used. The same material is used in a review of the polarization of vocabulary in positive and negative contexts. Chapters 3-6 are devoted to a qualitative analysis of editorial texts on three levels: lexical rhetorical means (Chapter 3), semantically charged elements of argumentation (Chapter 4), and the overall composition of the text (Chapter 5). Chapter 6 concludes the study with an illustration of the devices considered in Chapters 3-5 based on two editorials, one each from the revolutionary and totalitarian periods. The analysis identifies a number of stable elements present throughout the period under study, such as the self – other opposition and references to the classics of Marxism-Leninism. At the same time, noted on all levels are changes illustrating the process by which the language of revolution was gradually transformed into totalitarian language. These include the disappearance from rhetoric of emotionality, imagery, and elements of logic, as well as stylistic leveling and an increase in the frequent repetition of the same conclusions and clichés.

The aim of the dissertation is to analyze the political conceptions of the monthly "Kultura" in the period since its creation until 1980. The magazine, which started coming out in 1947 in Italy, was created by expatriate Poles, who after the Yalta Agreements chose to stay in the West. The editorial board soon moved to France where on the outskirts of Paris in the small town of Maisons-Laffitte the monthly journal has been edited ever since. Thanks to the original profile of the magazine and its political philosophy it has managed to group around itself numerous outstanding Polish writers and commentators, both those active in the emigré communities and those living in Poland. Also Western authors as well as writers and commentators from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe published their texts on the magazine's pages. In spite of "Kultura's" illustrious successes and unique accomplishments, earlier research on its history has not moved beyond its initial stage. In publications devoted to the phenomenon of "Kultura" we may encounter contradictory ideological qualifications and opinions on the magazine's political profile. This is a consequence of the fact that there is painful lack of source materials and dissertations analyzing the accomplishments of "Kultura" from a long term perspective. This dissertation aims to fill out this gap by analyzing a period of over thirty years in the history of the periodical. An attempt is made to divide this history into periods on the basis of ideological and political criteria. A further aim is to define the style of political thinking dominant in the materials published in the periodical and to characterize it against the background of earlier political debates in prewar Poland. The adopted diachronic perspective and the wide spectrum of analyzed phenomena provide the basis for an assessment of which conceptions and ideological elements and values were constantly present in the political platform of the editors and which made only a temporary appearance in connection with the political sympathies of the periodical or the changing circumstances on the world scene. It should be added that this is the first dissertation on the subject to cover truly comprehensive research material and to analyze the political trends in "Kultura" from a long-term perspective. The main thesis of the dissertation may be formulated as follows: "Kultura" succeeded in forging such conceptions and theories and in chosing such political options whose adequacy has found confirmation in the postwar developments both in Poland and on the international scene. This was possible, inter alia, because the magazine managed to rise above the limitations of traditional Polish ideological and political trends and worked out on its pages a new style of political thinking. "Kultura" is thus understood for the purposes of this dissertation as a periodical, a political centre and a school of political thought.

This study applies major principles of cognitive linguistics to the task of developing a novel model of the bilingual dictionary called the dictionary for productive comprehension (DPC). Based on conceptual analysis and coherent network representation of entry words, multi-word expressions, and constructions, the DPC provides access to the conventional linguistic knowledge of native speakers. In seeing linguistic units as contentful symbolic forms, the DPC is designed with a view of language as a lexicogrammatical continuum. By constructing the bilingual dictionary at the intersections of the two languages’ concepts under clearly specified conditions of their neutralization, it is given theoretical status. However, the main purport of this study is in the realm of applied lexicography. Among its tasks are: operationalizing conceptual analysis by establishing heuristically viable discovery procedures; working out guidelines for converting conceptual networks into the microstructure of dictionary entries, and for organizing its macrostructure as a natural-language thesaurus of lexicalized and lexicogrammatical concepts; laying a foundation for selecting and locating MWEs, proverbial expressions and constructions in a principled way, and suggesting approaches to organizing the constructicon, the part of the dictionary that contains schematic constructions. The DPC model offers effective remedies for the two major faults of the conventional bilingual dictionary, i.e. unrecognizability of the SL entry as a coherent whole by the TL user, and, consequently, inability to suggest precise cognitive orientations for the user's own production of an equivalent TL text. It proves that the bilingual dictionary can be something other than an inventory of disparate senses, a boundless set of translation equivalents, or an eclectic mixture of the two. By maintaining conceptual integrity of linguistic units, DPC affords the user a means of grasping the essence of a foreign word, MWE, or construction as if they were units of one’s native speech, as well as a generative potential with regard to translating into the TL. At the same time, by making conventional linguistic knowledge of the native speaker explicit, DPC serves the purpose of a learner’s dictionary.

This work is an attempt to answer one simple question: What is Hamlet? Based on the material of Hamlet translations into Russian, the dissertation scrutinizes the problems of literary canon formation, translation and textuality proceeding in two parallel directions: the historical analysis of canon formation in translation and the conceptualization of Hamlet’s textuality. The methodological framework is defined in the context of Jurij Lotman’s semiotics of culture, which is invaluable for an understanding of the mechanisms of literary evolution, the theory of translation and literary canon formation. The study examines the history of Hamlet in Russia from 1748 until the present with special attention to analysis of the canonical translations, theater productions of the Shakespearean classic and the phenomenon of Hamletism. The case study of the 1964 film by Grigorij Kozincev focuses on the problem of the cinematographic canon of Hamlet. Further, the work scrutinizes various types of representation of Hamlet in such semiotic systems as the theater, the cinema, and the pictorial arts, and also examines how Hamlet functions as a specific type of sign. The final section returns to the question of canon formation and textuality. The results of the research show that 1) the literary canon appears to be closely associated with the concepts of genre and myth, 2) in order to become canonical it is imperative for a literary text to function on the level of microcanon and to be represented in modes other than the written.

This thesis is a study of the Russian religious philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev (1874-1948). The aim of the thesis is to re-examine the alleged gnostic subtext in Berdiaev’s thought by exploring a number of interrelated motifs in his world outlook, teaching on man and theory of knowledge. The method employed is a close reading of Berdiaev's philosophical and autobiographical writings. In order to establish which motifs should be examined, how they are to be understood and the manner in which they are interconnected, a scrutiny is made of Hans Jonas’s phenomenological elucidation of ancient Gnosticism. A synthetic conception labelled Jonasian Gnosticism is proposed as the interpretive framework, in order to provide a unitary and consistent heuristic tool with which to investigate the topic, and to distinguish the specific proposed representation of Gnosticism from other existing ones. A chapter is devoted to an analysis of the concept of gnosis as employed by Berdiaev. Another key notion taken from the Jonasian framework is that of demundanization, which denotes among other things a rejectionary attitude towards the world grounded in a negative experience of evil and suffering. Varieties of dualism as well as Berdiaev’s doctrine of the human spirit’s otherworldly origin and non-belonging in the world, constitute other issues that are examined. In addition, both Berdiaev’s assessment of historical Gnosticism and his view of a gnostic return in modern times are examined. The study demonstrates the complexity of Berdiaev’s attitude towards the classic Gnostics, and his attempt to denounce Gnosticism while at the same time making a case for a Christian gnosis. The results suggest both affinities and divergences in the relationship between Berdiaev’s thought and Jonasian Gnosticism. Even though the doctrinal standpoints diverge on crucial points, it is argued that a suggestive affinity nevertheless exists in the shared existential attitude towards self and world.

The Ukrainian society has gone through vast changes since independence in 1991 and in this thesis some of these social changes are discussed through the prism of language policy. The main topic of the study is language policy (conceptualised as language practices, language beliefs, and language management) in the eastern Ukrainian city Kharkiv. This topic is examined within a framework focusing on motivation, allowing for a study of how people in Kharkiv describe, explain and rationalise language policy in the context of change in society. Ukrainian is the only state language in Ukraine, but Russian is widely used in Ukrainian society, and in Kharkiv Russian is the predominantly used language. One specific topic of the study is how young Ukrainians perceive the role granted the Ukrainian language in on-going processes of nation-building, related to the formation of a national identity. This is contrasted with discussions on individual linguistic rights and what is considered reasonable to demand from the Ukrainian population in terms of language practices. Further, the study examines the concept of language conflict, notably what kinds of conflict can be identified in and extracted from discussions on the role of language in society. This examination shows that it is not necessarily a case of potential conflict between groups or individuals, but also that individuals may struggle with internal conflict. This study demonstrates how language conflict is not about language, but rather about social positions, interests and value systems. This also illustrates the fact that the three components of language policy are not necessarily interrelated and consistent. Especially language practices and language beliefs are often at odds. Fieldwork was carried out in Kharkiv 2003-2005 and the study relies on a combination of methods (in-depth individual interviews, group interviews and a large-scale questionnaire).

This study examines different aspects of language variation in contemporary Czech television discourse. The modern Czech language is characterised by a specific linguistic situation in which speakers must choose between two varieties – Standard Czech (SC) and Common Czech (CC). This choice depends on a number of linguistic, cultural, social and other factors. Television discourse, which is a mixture of prepared and unprepared speech, provides a good opportunity to study the distribution of these varieties and their function. The aim of the dissertation is to research these issues in talk shows and discussion programmes. The following aspects are analysed in the dissertation: – The frequency of occurrence of a number of phonological and morphological elements of the two varieties. This analysis is conducted in a quantitative study of a corpus of 24,000 words (fifteen television shows). The elements are categorised and analysed statistically. The frequency of these elements is shown on two levels: in the total corpus material and in groups of programmes. The results are compared with previous studies of spoken Czech. – A comparative study of the Communist and post-Communist television discourse, in which television programmes from before and after 1989 are analysed and compared. The study reveals a number of linguistic differences between the two programmes and their relation to such factors as operational roles, the function of media and the frequency of dialogue markers. – A qualitative analysis of the fifteen programmes which comprise the corpus. The aim of this study is to show the function of the two Czech varieties in different types of television discourse. The variables affecting the participants’ choice of variety are analysed. The investigation shows that dialogue form, genre and operational roles are directly related to the choice of SC and CC in the programmes. These results are also connected with language norms and other social factors.