Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka
Izvestiya RAN. Seriya literatury i yazyka (The Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Studies in Literature and Language), founded in 1852 by Academician Izmail I. Sreznevsky, is the oldest academic journal in Russia for scholars of philology.
Publication history: from 1852 to present.
Founders
- Russian Academy of Sciences
Publisher
- Russian Academy of Sciences
The journal is published under the supervision of the RAS Department of Historical and Philological Sciences (OIFN RAS).
About the journal
As the official journal of the Division of Historical and Philological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (in Russian, ОИФН РАН), Izvestiya RAN. Seriya literatury i yazyka (The Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Studies in Literature and Language) is committed to carrying on the Russian philological traditions while seeking to publish innovative research.
The journal offers papers on aspects of literary and linguistic studies, including discussions of fundamental philological works, review articles and chronicles, and transactions of the Division of Historical and Philological Studies of the RAS. One of the journal’s main sections is devoted to resurrection of undeservedly disregarded events from the history of philological scholarship in our country.
Among The Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Studies in Literature and Language’s contributors there are Academicians and correspondent members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, researches from academic institutes, many internationally recognized scholars from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, different Russian regions, as well as eminent scholars from other countries.
Editor-in-Chief
- Vadim Polonsky, Corresponding Member of the RAS, Dr. Sci. (Philology), Prof., A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)
Editorial Staff
- Deputy Editor-In-Chief – Leonid Krysin, Dr. Sci. (Philology), Prof., V.V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)
- Executive Editor – Alexander Piperski, Cand. Sci. (Philology), Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)
- Scholarly Editor – Vladimir Korovin, Dr. Sci. (Philology), Assoc. Prof., Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia)
- Editorial Manager – Olga Lukashenko
Subjects
Literature and Language, Linguistics, History of Russian and World Literature, Literary Theory, Folklore Studies, Aspects of History of Art.
Main Headings
- Original Papers
- From the History of Philology
- Reviews
- Chronicles
Frequency
The journal is published bi-monthly (6 issues per year).
Indexing
- RSCI (Russian Science Citation Index) by Clarivate Analytics and eLIBRARY.RU
- ERIH PLUS
- Citation Index by eLIBRARY.RU (Scientific Electronic Library)
- Crossref
The journal is included in the Russian Higher Attestation Commission List of peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Current Issue
Open Access
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Vol 82, No 6 (2023)
Articles
“Husband” Designations: A Classification of Nomination Models (In the Linguo-Semantic Field of Eurasia)
Abstract
The present article offers the first section of a collective study devoted to identifying the basic models of designating the notion of “husband, spouse”. The study is based on textual and lexicographical data, as well as that stored in databases of semantic shifts (CLICS and DatSemShift). The paper analyzes synonymous denominations of “husband” in different language strata and concludes that there is an unusual abundance of “parallel” designations (in contrast with other terms of kinship). The empirical data comes mainly from languages of Europe (both Indo-European and belonging to other language families), as well as from Uralic and Dravidian languages, including also other linguistic material with additional comparative value. A comparative analysis of the corresponding semantic shifts in the aforementioned databases has provided the article with colexification graphs. In the course of research, general models of the nomination of “husband” were identified and described, partly based on the specifics of archaic marriage law, namely the unequal status of “husband” and “wife”, which is also reflected in some of the nomination models.The most common (and presumably the most archaic) of these models, M-1 (husband as my man, my human), is based on the implicit idea of EGO, in this case, the wife as the supposedly initial subject of nomination. Further, another model was identified in which the “husband”, according to the nomination strategy, does not rely on EGO, but rather appears as a socionim (M-2). Within this model, 4 subgroups are distinguished (husband as a married person; husband as an outstanding member of society; husband as an old man; husband as a master, landowner). Another model (M-3) implies paired husband-wife nominations (spouses, husband as a friend, a partner, companion etc.). In the course of research, it is planned to create maps of the areal distribution of these models throughout Eurasia and to identify preferential zones for each of them.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):5-15
5-15
Between Ibsen and Dostoevsky: “Rewriting the Classics” in Z. N. Gippius’ Story “Mirrors”
Abstract
Z.N. Gippius’ story “Mirrors” was repeatedly correlated with the plot of F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel Idiot in lifetime criticism and the latest literature. The paper discovers the second source text, which is H. Ibsen’s play “Hedda Gabler.” Comparing the plot details of Dostoevsky’s novel and Ibsen’s drama, we can reveal “male” and “female” love triangles (Myshkin – Nastasya Filippovna – Aglaya, Nastasya Filippovna – Myshkin – Rogozhin; Levborg – Gedda – Thea; Raisa – Jan – Samokhin, Jan – Raisa – Olga). The reinterpretation of plot collisions in “Mirrors” may be considered from the psychological and religious-philosophical point of view. The paper provides with nearly word-by-word textual overlaps in the story with the mentioned sources. The analysis shows that the fundamental difference between the love triangles in Z. Gippius’ story in comparison with the previous tradition is that Gippius is trying to destroy the situation of inevitable choice for her characters. She reinterpreted and rewrote anew the plots of Dostoevsky and Ibsen, while the main characters changing their roles and the triangles collapsing at the end. No Gippius neither Merezhkovsky have articulated the philosophy of a religiously meaningful “triple union” as a form of realization of the “Third Testament” at the time of writing the story. The story “Mirrors” rewrites of the classics and the latest literature destructing of the traditional plots, though not completing and rethinking: the story has an open ending, the ideas of a triple alliance are unfinished. The article conclusion offers the hypothesis that the title of the story itself is not only Plato’s idea of the human existence world as a multiple reflection of the true ideal world in crooked mirrors, which is repeatedly articulated by its characters. It is also the formulated metapoetic principle of creating the text of the story itself, which is built on multiple reflections of familiar literary images and plot situations.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):16-22
16-22
Poetics of Metamorphosis and “Layering” in a Story “A Small Mistake” by N.S. Leskov: Towards the Problem of the “Classical Writer’s Method”
Abstract
Based on S.S. Averintsev’s study “Poetics of Early Byzantine Literature&8j1; and on the scholarly understanding of the “poetics” phenomenon, the specificity of the image in N. S. Leskov’s story “A Small Mistake&8j1; is revealed. The poetics of metamorphosis (Ovid), iconic poetics of “layer-by-layer painting&8j1; contribute to the embodiment of form-creative intentions of the 19th century writer in the creation of such an image, which brings into synthesis the “fabulous&8j1; (everyday) and the “everyday-descriptive&8j1; (everyday life), verbal and plastic-imaginative features dating back to pagan and Christian cultures, encouraging the reader to interpret actively and understand the contradictions of the image. The article continues the study of N.S. Leskov’s poetics taking into account the aesthetic foundations of his work: the principle of deliberate archaization and modernisation; the primacy of craftsmanship rooted in tradition; the “double image&8j1;; the boundary form. The teleological goals of the analysis lie in the attempt to approach an understanding of the method of the most “misunderstood&8j1; Russian classical writer.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):23-27
23-27
«Dragonfly and Ant» as interpreted by A.P. Chekhov
Abstract
The article justifies the use of the bask code for the interpretation of a number of Chekhovian texts. The story of «Hopper» (directly referring to the bass of Krylov «Dragonfly and Ant») is considered in the conditional first part of the article from the point of view of the poetic «reshaping» and the motif structure. Unlike the Krylov ant, the Chekhov ant not only put the dragonfly under its roof, but also did everything in order to fully provide it. There is another important difference. If in the fabulous version the ant dooms the dragonfly to death, in the Chekhovian version, death befalls the ant itself. As for the thematic configuration of the story, it is determined by two dominant motives - «substitution» and «wasted efforts». The article shows how these motifs are real on the discursive, narrative and compositional levels of the text. In the second part of the article, the characters that somehow correspond to the actant roles of «dragonflies» and «ants» in other texts of the writer are in sight. However, this correspondence has a relative character. In the characters «dragonflies» something from the «ant» can be found, and in the «ants» – from the «dragonfly». In this case, the dominant character still stands out. In the third conditional part of the article the subject of attention is the Chekhov 's interpretation of the basal motif «roof». In the Chekhov distillery, when there is no union between a dragonfly and an ant, not only can the dragonfly and the ant lose its shelter, but also the ant itself.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):28-33
28-33
On the Textual Structure of F. M. Dostoevsky’s Works, Intonation Punctuation of the 19th Century and the Grammatical Norm of the Modern Russian Language (Based on the Material of the 9th Volume of the Complete Works of F. M. Dostoevsky in 35 Volumes. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2020. 1029 p.)
Abstract
The article contains an analysis of a number of textual and historical-literary issues related to the academic publication of the works of F.M. Dostoevsky, the problem of preserving the author’s style of the writer when bringing the text to the norms of modern spelling and punctuation is considered. The importance of the question of the inconsistency of the “intonation&8j1; punctuation of the 19th with the modern grammatical norm, assuming the semantic principle of punctuation marks, is pointed out. The preservation of individual elements of archaic punctuation when reading in modern Russian has a destructive effect on the meaning of the phrase. The article contains a number of examples showing the inapplicability within the modern grammatical norm of elements of the old spelling and punctuation.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):34-48
34-48
Labor theory of the origin of the language: Friedrich Engels, Ludwig Noiré, Nikolai Marr
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of three conceptions of glottogenesis, which are combined into one direction, that is the theory of the labor origin of the language. The purpose of the author is to prove the relevance of this theory for modern science. The concept of Friedrich Engels on the role of labor in the process of anthropogenesis and the tool conception of the origin of the language of Ludwig Noiré were developed around the same time, however, if the first became widely known much later, then the second remained little known. These two versions of the principle of the labor origin of the language had a strong influence on the formation of “New doctrine of language” of Nikolai Marr. An important part of this conception was the complex and controversial concept of the origin of the language. It was based on the hypothesis of the era of manual language and on the hypothesis of the decisive role of tools in the formation of sound language and logical thinking. The main drawback of the conception of Nikolai Marr was its inconsistency due to the fact that the scientist, without any evidence, introduced into his theory the principles of “labor-magic activity” and the four primary elements of language (SAL, BER, JON, ROŠ). According to the author of the article, all three conceptions, taken both separately and together, in their unity have not lost interest and relevance not only for modern linguistics, but also for socio-political science in general.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):49-64
49-64
Transformation of the Growing-Up Novel as Impacted by Zen Buddhism Ideas in Kerouac’s Novels “On the Road” and “Dharma Bums”
Abstract
The article is dedicated to the analysis of two key novels created by the USA writer J. Kerouac, “On the Road” and “The Dharma Bums”. The authors aim at identifying and describing how the specific generic features of the growing-up novel, as preconditioned by the resonation with Zen Buddhist ideas, function in the aforesaid writings, as well as showing that the novel “On the Road” demonstrates the “cross-current” in Kerouac’s world view which had prepared his infatuation with Zen Buddhism before he familiarized himself with it. Analyzing the texts of the aforesaid manuscripts through the prism of Zen Buddhist principles, the researchers outline the following ideas being typical of Kerouac as a representative of the Beat generation: the disengagement from attachments; the spontaneity; the position of a human as an observer who has renounced the individuality; the Path as an independent value; the “Zen poverty”; the duality of madness and wisdom, and the ecstatic perception of the being moment as close to the term of “Satori” in the Zen. These listed elements of the Beat-and-Zen culture are curiously integrated into the genre paradigm of the growing-up novel, specifically, the variation thereof such as the “becoming” novel, which is transformed by acquiring the innovative features: Kerouac’s novels are written from the first-person point of view and lack the assessment of the hero’s behaviour as typical for the classical forms of the growing-up novel narrating in third person; the characters are not obliged by external circumstances to survive the challenges, consciously choosing the homeless life whose events mould them up; there is the re-evaluation of the role of the mentor whose authority is not associated with the age or status thereof; the heroes teach each other interchangeably, while the age or the social position become insignificant.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):65-74
65-74
A.M. Remizov and the Heirs: Remizov’s Reminiscent Layer in E.Vodolazkin’s Novel “The Aviator”
Abstract
The article deals with cases of rethinking and refraction of the autobiographical prose of A.M. Remizov in the work of E. Vodolazkin. The book “Whirled Rus’ ” became a source of ideas and material for the memoirs of the hero of the novel “The Aviator” by E. Vodolazkin. The cognitive knots of the hero’s memories are associated with reconstructions of post-revolutionary events – economic and social catastrophe, devastation and famine. In the novel “The Aviator” the symbolic images of “catastrophe”, “hostile whirlwind”, “apocalypse” are also accentuated and the image of A. Blok is mythologized, which becomes a symbol of the bygone era of the Silver Age. Along the way, the intertextual echoes of the novel with E. Zamyatin’s story “The Cave” are considered, in which traces of the influence of A. Remizov are also found.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):75-81
75-81
About the Features of the Thai Poetic Meter Rai
Abstract
The article examines Thai poetic meter rai. Rai is one of 5 meters of Thai classical poetry. On the one hand, it was one of the most common Thai meters, because it was commonly used in epic poems. On the other hand, it is not only studied enough (like all other Thai meters and Thai metric in general), but very troubling for typological classification. While all 4 other Thai meters (at least in modern editions) are written with a division into graphical lines, which corresponds to the division into the poetic lines (like it must be in poetry in European and the most part of other languages), rai is written without such correspondence. Structural elements of rai (waks) are divided only by space (which is equivalent of comma or dot in Thai alphabet) and a graphical line can contain any number of waks. Stanzas (the number of waks in them also is not fixed) are divided as paragraphs. As a result, in terms of graphical representation rai looks more similar to prose than to poetry. According to this, T. Hudak classifies it not as a poetic meter, but as a rhymed prose. In this study I have analyzed rai statistically by counting the number of syllables in 555 waks of rai from one of the most famous examples of Thai poetry – epic poem ‘Lilit Phra Lo’. The results have shown that the most part of waks consist of 5 (47,8%–53,4%) or 6 (29,4%–32,9%) syllables. Also, the rhyme usually connects the last syllable of the wak with the third or the second syllable of the next one. This means that rai has a quite rigid syllabic and rhyme structure, which is typical for poetic meter and not for prose. According to this it should be classified not as rhymed prose, but as a syllabic poetic meter. It is important to notice that, being very different in terms of structure from all other 4 Thai meters, it is similar to Burmese traditional syllabic meter. Also, Burmese verses traditionally are written without graphical division of the text according to its division into poetic lines (how it is in rai and not in other Thai meters). These facts make it possible to provide a hypothesis that rai may be historically connected with Burmese poetry and this can explain its difference from other Thai meters.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):82-92
82-92
On Textual Attributes of Cohesion and Coherence in “Maxims” by F. de La Rochefoucauld
Abstract
The article discusses theoretical issues concerning the analysis of La Rochefoucauld’s “Maxims&8j1; as a unified textual space, and presents one of the methods of analysis of the book. Obviously, the structure of the work and the isolation of its individual entries does not allow us to talk about “Maxims&8j1; as a cohesive text. Nevertheless, its coherence is contingent upon the reader's willingness for nonlinear analysis. This article shows the method of identifying logical and semantic connections between isolated entries that constitute the text of “Maxims&8j1;. It demonstrates the cases of repeated and regular interactions of semantic fields in formally unrelated maxims, which indicates the presence of an implicit figurative system in the text, the presence of which proves the possibility of interpreting “Maxims&8j1; as a unified text, and not a set of independent statements.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):93-99
93-99
“Parzival” by Wolfram von Eschenbach and “Parzival” by L. V. Ginzburg: The Pragmatics of Incomplete Translation
Abstract
The article analyses the translation strategy of L.V. Ginzburg, who rendered Wolfram von Eschenbach’s chivalric romanceParzival into Russian, and outlines the main directions that make it possible to return this work to its historical and cultural context. From the very beginning, the collection, which included the translation of Parzival, was intended for the mass audience, and therefore many episodes of the original novel were given in abridgment or retelling. Reductions of descriptions, some factual errors, distortions in the interpretation of scenes and characters seem insignificant and do not affect the overall perception of the translation, which is formally and structurally quite close to the original. However, these distortions accumulate, and details important for understanding medieval ideas of an ideal courtly society are lost in the retelling. The translation seems to be the same “adaptation&8j1; of the medieval text as the Middle High German Parzival was in relation to Chretien de Troyes’ Perceval. An updated translation of the chivalric romance, equipped with historical and cultural commentary, would be a significant event in Russian medieval studies.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):100-111
100-111
“The Autobiographical Code” in the “Neapolitan Novels” by Elena Ferrante
Abstract
The article focuses on “the autobiographical code” in the “Neapolitan Novels” (“My Brilliant Friend” (“L’amica geniale”, 2011), “The Story of a New Name” (“Storia del nuovo cognome”, 2012), “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay” (“Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta”, 2013) и “The Story of the Lost Child” (“Storia della bambina perduta”, 2014) by Elena Ferrante, whose identity is still a mystery to researchers. The writer’s myth is realized through a conscious writing strategy of anonymity which results in mystification, with the novels being seen as partly fictional and partly non-fictional (specifically, mimicking autofiction). The author has a dual alter ego: Elena (Lenù) Greco and Raffaella (Lila) Cerullo. Both these characters represent opposite strategies of publicity: a disciplined author who is aimed at self-presentation and an active public position, and a writer who is weary of fame and chooses a mystification strategy. The tetralogy acquires the features of meta-narration which focuses on the writer’s self-reflection. It shows not only in characters’ images, but also in features of the text organization.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):112-116
112-116
Reviews
[Review:] Folklore of the Teleuts. Collected, edited and translated with an introduction and commentaries by Dmitriy A. Funk. General edition by Anna V. Dybo. Moscow: Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2020. 428 pp. [In Russ.]
Abstract
[Review:] Folklore of the Teleuts. Collected, edited and translated with an introduction and commentaries by Dmitriy A. Funk. General edition by Anna V. Dybo. Moscow: Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2020. 428 pp. [InRuss.]
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2023;82(6):117-122
117-122
Chronicles
123-127