Symbolism of loyalty to the power of Teutonic order among the Old Prussians in the 13—14th centuries
Formation of the State of Teutonic Order in Prussia in the XIIIth—XIVth centuries based beside military oppression on the relations with local population supported by the incorporation of them in the system of condition landholding. These relations implied, from the one hand, the representation by the Order its own status as a collective ruler, and from the other hand, symbolic expression of the loyalty of Old Prussians in various spheres of social communication: language, onomastic, objects of material...
Christmas and Easter archetypes in A. Varlamov’s story “The Little Star”: to the plot and character typology problem
.... The Easter archetype is also embodied through the author’s referring to the hagiographic tradition, such as hagiographic topics, motifs of trial and temptation, a smart heart, in the correlation between the main female character and the image of Christ, which is manifested by the meek bearing of reproach. The Christmas archetype is presented through a multi-level star symbol, which becomes a prototype of Paradise and eternal life. The symbolism of the image of the star becomes more complicated,...
Innovative meaning-generating structures in the early formation of a literary tradition: the case of Kosta Khetagurov
The article examines the conditions and mechanisms leading at an early stage of the formation of a literary tradition to the dependence of the innovative meaning of the word and its context. The translation of the title of Kosta Khetagurov‘s program verse “Nystwan”, which opens his poetic collection “Iron fændyr” (“Ossetian Lyre”), shows the fundamental differences between the semantics of this word in the ethnographic era and its modern interpretation. Further on, following Buslaev‘s fundamental...
Prison topos as an anti-home in V.G. Korolenko’s short story Yashka
The relevance of the problem addressed lies in the importance of studying the category of home, which actualizes essential spiritual and moral meanings, and its variant, the anti-home. Analyzing the spatial organization of V. G. Korolenko’s story Yashka reveals that the vertical and horizontal arrangement of prison cells forms the traditional oppositions of “top — bottom” and “right — left” characteristic of Slavic mythology. A corresponding character system is constructed: the protagonist, Yakov...
