2015 Vol. 6 №2-3

This article considers general conditions for anagrammatic transformations from the perspective of phonological processes and rules of syntax, which helps to identify fundamental cognitive factors leading to the possibility of anagrams. These are the transcendence of temporal linear organisation of discursive formation and their comprehensive understanding at deep levels of human mentality.

This article addresses the history of anagrams in the European culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The author stresses the variety of application of anagrams within cultural practices of difference social groups. Promising areas of research on anagrams in the context of European culture are identified.

This article addresses the structure of the ‘mission’ religious conceptual field in the discourse of the German theologian J. H. Wichern. The structure of the corresponding core concept incorporates basic characteristics – representatives of group meanings and varying characteristics, i. e. the author’s interpretation of group meanings.

This article examines the interaction between ancient and Christian world-view traditions in K. N. Leontyev’s novel Odysseus Polychroniades. Leontyev expresses Christian ideas using images of Greek heroes. The ancient tradition is represented in the pan-aesthetic attitude of the literary work. In the text, the two traditions are compared using the ‘icon – picture’ opposition. The article stresses the connection between Christian and ancient tradition, which proves to be more important than differences between them. It is concluded that two cultural ideals affecting the formation of the novel’s poetics have major influence on each other.

This article analyses Bruno Schulz’s autobiographical novel Cinnamon Shops in the aspect of mythological thinking. It is stressed that the concept of ‘childhood’ is the foundation of his mythopoeia largely shaped by the author’s memories of his father and other members of the household.

This article considers the correlation between N. Kononov’s short story and the literary pretexts. It is stressed that the intertextual poetics of the short story is shaped by the patterns of the author’s poetical world. The citation and allusion field of the short story is analysed as a component of the literary whole fulfilling original meaning-generating functions. The article analyses the complex of intertextual connections between N. Kononov’s short story and the works of A. Pushkin and O. Mandelstam.

The fact that Teutonic knights fought in the Battle of the Ice in sivnflyking formation trying to destroy Alexander Nevsky’s troops and sustained a defeat is commonly acknowledged in Russian history. This article is an attempt to establish whether the use of this formation is a historical fact or another historical myth.

This article identifies the origins of some ideological stereotypes relating to the perception of Serbs in Russia in the late 18th/19th century and their political and economic practices. It is shown that, on the one hand, the image of Serbs was largely distorted by ideas prevalent in the Russian society at the time and, on the other hand, Russians were illinformed about the perception of Russia in Serbia.

This article is dedicated to the works of a professor from the University of Königsberg, Liudvikas Rėza (1776—1840), a prominent figure in the history of Lithuanian culture acclaimed for his work in collecting, studying, and publishing Lithuanian folklore. Rėza was the first to publish Donelaitis’s poem The Seasons in Lithuanian with a German translation, which happened in Königsberg in 1818. Despite his renown, Rėza remains a true mystery for researchers, being a serious scholar, a poet, and a theologian. This mystery is identified as an ideological opposition of one of the most macabre mysteries in Christianity — the ‘mystery of lawlessness’, as it was formulated by Paul the Apostle.

This article considers the cultural background to the perception of F. Nietzsche’s philosophy in Russia and the philosopher’s influence on the consciousness of Russian emigration. The author stresses the value of periodicals as a source for historical and philosophical studies and addresses the heuristic aspects of publications in periodicals. A general methodological framework for using such sources is proposed. The author describes the features of Nietzsche’s image stressed by Russian émigré audience.

Karsavin’s book Giordano Bruno is considered in the context of its author’s biography. The article explores the hypothesis about the deep ideational and spiritual connection between Karsavin and Giordano Bruno forged by undoing the fetters of rationality through a mystical epiphany. It is shown that, in the book, Karsavin foresaw his own academic fate.