Vol 83, No 5 (2024)

The article deals with the genesis of ideas of normativity and historicism in an explanatory dictionary, which is typical of the Russian academic lexicography. The analysis is carried out with respect to the Russian and the foreign traditions of dictionary-making. The authors uncover cases of cultural influence of foreign lexicographic methodologies on the Russian explanatory dictionaries. Moreover, the national specific factors are described that have also determined the development of lexicography in Russia. The conclusion is made that the Russian original lexicographic theory based on the interpretation of both national and foreign experience has been formed by 1940s, which helped to implement a number of major lexicographic projects in the second half of the 20^th century.

Based on the material of G.Sh. Yakhinaʼs landmark novel “My Children” (2018), the article considers modifications of the “estatetopos” in the Russian literature of the 20^th – early 21^st century, among which are the connotations traditional for Russian classics (the estate as a paradise on earth and the territory of love and family; the estate as a heterotopia; the estate as a universal), qualities that arose in the literature of the Soviet period (the estate as a refuge; the former ownerʼs estate as a public domain; the estate as Kitezh; the estate as a locus of theurgic creativity), as well as the first identified variations (the estate as Noahʼs Ark; the estate as a Eurasian phenomenon; the estate as “Going into the Forest”). Special attention is paid to the Russian estate of the 20^th century as a Eurasian phenomenon, the appearance of which in the novel is due to the role of the river Volga, which connects the destinies of several peoples: Russians, Germans, Tatars, “Kirghiz”, etc.; this opens up opportunities for understanding the estate as an element of an independent “Eurasian civilization”. Scientific novelty is also in considering such aspects of the universality of the “estatertopos” as the international character of the Grimm farm, the global universality of the estate phenomenon in the 20^th century and an appeal to folklore (German fairy tales with their archetypal depth, equally inherent to the peoples of the East and West). In connection with the latter aspect, semantic and semiotic layers have been identified, dating back to the biography and work of I.V. Goethe, V.Ya. Propp. An important part of the study is the estate as a locus of creativity in a theurgic way relevant to the 20th century, which allows a deeper understanding of the nature of socialist realism in the USSR. Finally, based on the material of Russian and German literature of the 19^th–21^st centuries, the development of the innovative theme of the estate and the forest has begun. Thesaurus, contextual, mythopoetic and biographical methods were used. The conclusions of the article are obtained taking into account the already existing research results on the issues covered.

The article examines the issue of new principles for presenting text variants and academic commentary in digital editions of Russian classics. As an example, an early story by I.A. Bunin “At the Dacha” was chosen, for this story is an attempt to comprehend Tolstoyism as an ideological, cultural and social phenomenon, it is rich in generalizing and symbolic details and requires extensive commentary. The first part of the article is devoted to the possibilities of digital representation of text variants. Several proposals were made: to provide the ability to view text variants both together and separately; show the text variants both directly in the text and next to the main text; divide the variants into significant (changing the meaning of the work) and minor ones and show them both separately and all together. In the second part of the article, a model of digital commentary to the story “At the Dacha” is built, organized in stages (a system of windows opening one after another) according to cloud-semantic criteria. The commentary, compared to the traditional book format, expands significantly: it incorporates visual and audio information, as well as a broad cultural context (which is especially important in cultural stories such as “At the Dacha”). This type of commentary takes into account the different research questions that a research reader may have, as well as the different backgrounds of the potential readers. In addition, the digital commentary is open to changes: if new facts appear, the commentary articles can be supplemented. The commentary model presented in the article does not claim to be complete or binding; the author invites all interested researchers to dialogue.

The article is devoted to the study of literary contexts of M.N. Muravyovʼs tragedy “Dido”. It has not been published, the manuscript of this text is kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian National Library (St. Petersburg). The work shows that Muravyov polemicized with a number of European authors, among whom the central place was occupied by J.J. Lefranc de Pompignan, who wrote his “Dido” in 1734, and Ja.B. Knyazhnin, who, creating the play of the same name presumably in 1769, relied on Lefranc. If the French writer criticized Virgil, did not understand his “naturalness” and tried to propose new principles for building characters in the drama, then Muravyov, on the contrary, idolized the author of the “Aeneid” and wanted to return to the ancient original. At the same time, the young poet could rely on the writings of Racine and the critical articles of Voltaire, who for several decades ridiculed Lefranc and his works. One of Voltaireʼs key texts in this context was “Le Russe à Paris” (1760), in which he opposed M.V. Lefranc to Lomonosov, who was one of the main literary models for Muravyov. Thus, the article hypothesizes that Muravyov, creating his “Dido”, found himself in the middle of literary disputes: rejecting the line “Lefranc – Knyazhnin – Sumarokov”, he chose the line “Virgil – Racine – Voltaire – Lomonosov”, claiming to be an intermediary between European and Russian cultures.

The work determines the features of the nomination of persons in articles about Moscow by N.M. Karamzin, published in the magazine “Vestnik Evropy” [“Messenger of Europe”] in 1802–1803. It is established that the choice of lexemes is influenced by the topic of the articles, the temporal attribution of the object of description and its characteristics associated with the implementation of the concept “one’s own” vs. “stranger”. The articles regularly use agentive nouns of various semantic types, while the use of some of them from a functional point of view differs from the modern one. For texts by N.M. Karamzin is characterized by the regular use of agreed upon definitions, detailing the expressed meanings and in some cases used as substantives, as well as collective nouns naming class social groups. It is established that the main differences from modern word usage concern the use of archaisms, historicisms, as well as the use of lexemes in meanings that are not characteristic of them from the point of view of a modern native speaker. The principles of distribution of lowercase and capital letters used by N.M. Karamzin when naming persons are determined: capital letters are used when words belong to certain lexical-semantic groups (lexemes indicating nationality, citizenship, religion, etc.), as well as when expressing specific lexical meanings.

The article explores the typology of the bestiary presented in the stories from Eugenio Montaleʼs autobiographical book “The Butterfly of Dinard”, which the poet himself perceived as a whole work and called a “quasi-novel”. Montaleʼs prose and poetry are united by themes, ideological content, and imagery, so his poems serve as valuable commentary on the book “The Butterfly of Dinard”. Of particular interest is the poetʼs epistolary heritage, which helps to reveal the autobiographical basis hidden behind the fiction. In the story “Get a Taste”, the eel appears to the protagonist as a link to the world of nature, reviving memories of childhood. In the poetʼs work, the eel is associated with moments of epiphany, serving as a symbol of resilience. The story “Clizia in Foggia” contains a surrealist insert episode, the main characters of which are insects. The metamorphosis described in the story refers to the circumstances of the poetʼs personal life and is imbued with self-irony. In the story “The Bat”, the animal serves as a messenger from the other world. The characters in the story “Relics” view their past through the prism of relationships with animals, whom they perceive as a miracle of nature, givers of hope, and prophets pointing the way. In the story “Falling Ash”, the snail acts as a magical helper, prompting the right decision. In “The Butterfly of Dinard”, animals become guides to the world of memories and, moreover, intermediaries between the knowable and the transcendent.

The reception of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in China can be traced back to a hundred years ago. The most significant issue in this process was the discussion about the leading theme in this epic, initiated by the Chinese Russianists. This article mainly focuses on an important controversy about the patriotic idea in the “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” that arose in China in the 1980s. Firstly, the author overviews the main works and their basic views in this discussion, including the “initiator” of this debate, Liu Wenxiao, who denied the presence of patriotic ideas in this epic, and his opponents Wei Huangnu, Bao Liangjun and Lu Jiayu, who firmly support the patriotic character of it. In addition, the Chinese researchers’ cogitation on the main idea of this epic and the debates themselves in the 21^st century are also presented as comparative material. Subsequently, this article attempts to examine the aesthetic subjectivity reflected in this process from the perspective of receptive theory. The historical conditions that influenced the specific interest of Chinese readers in the “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” are considered, and thus the personal experience that contributed to the formation of Liu Wenxiao’s views is recognized.