2024 Issue №2

This article aims to describe the linguistic features of explicating the cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Methodologically, the study draws on cognitive salience theory, dealing with elements such as trajectory and landmark when analysing the verbalisation of the model in question. This way, it becomes possible to describe the processes of focusing and defocusing and thus identify the most prominent features of characters in the novel constituting the immediate circle of the narcissist. The research enabled the description of a three-level cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ derived from Wilde’s text. Two blocks are distinguished in the model at the basic level: ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards the world’ and ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist and itself as perceived by the narcissist’. At the subordinate level, the block ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards the world’ is divided into ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards themselves’ and ‘the narcissist’s attitude towards their associates’, and ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist and itself as perceived by the narcissist’ falls into ‘the world’s attitude towards the narcissist’ and ‘the world’s attitude towards itself’. The article also details the primary means of expression and stylistic devices representing the cognitive model of ‘NARCISSISM’ in the text.

This article provides the first examination of the advertising efforts by the OBERIU avant-­garde collective, integrated into the leftist art paradigm of the first quarter of the 20th century. The study explores the pragmatic and semantic facets of OBERIU advertising, including its verbal and visual components as seen in placards, posters, and slogans. Advertising is presented as a speech act aimed at changing the viewer’s perception, using literary devices such as letter play, original slogans, and others. This article sets out to identify differences and similarities between OBERIU advertising and conventional ‘state-­supported’ advertising in Russia in the 1920s. It is shown that OBERIU advertising borrowed the form of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s versicular constructivist advertisements and pre-revolutionary cubo-futurist posters.

The ‘eastern branch’ of Russian émigré literature has received less scholarly attention than the works of authors who headed for the West in the aftermath of the 1917 revolution, making the position of the former within 20th-century Russian poetry a relevant research question. Valery Pereleshin is one of the prominent figures in the Chinese segment of Russian émigré literature. This article examines the metaphorical image of the bee, which has a crucial role in the poetics of Pereleshin’s book of poems On the Way (1937). The study focuses on three poems where this image is central. Analysing the image of the bee in the context of literary tradition and mythological connotations suggests that the bee is metaphorically related to the persona. This image embodies Pereleshin’s vision of the poet’s role and the nature of poetic work: the spiritual endeavours of a wordsmith should be accompanied by hard work, self-sacrifice and, ultimately, submission to the Higher Will.

This article aims to interpret the images of the red horse and the white poodle featured in Victor Sosnora’s poem The Latvian Ballad. These characters, mentioned in the final verses of each odd-numbered stanza, provide the leitmotif of the poem. Their appearance in the fictional world of The Latvian Ballad constitutes the primary event of the text. The title, indicating the genre and setting a national or local context, also significantly influences the meanings attributed to the red horse and the white poodle. The analysis pays particular attention to the spatiotemporal organisation of the text, highlighting the persona’s interpretation of the appearance of the red horse and the white poodle as miraculous within the context of the depicted rural idyll. A description is provided of the persona’s perspective and some aspects of the lyrical plot, which is chiefly shaped by the images of the two animals. A conclusion is drawn regarding the status of the persona as an artist and creator, which allows the entire The Latvian Ballad to be considered as a poetic text dedicated to the art and mission of the artist capable of perceiving hidden facets of the world and conveying to others the emotions evoked by what they have seen.

This article provides a brief overview of the current situation in Russian fanfiction, using texts from the popular Ficbook website. Although the research draws primarily on established concepts of the communicative component of fanfiction, it also offers a novel perspective on the relationship between readers and writers. This study presents the results of an internet-based survey and compares them with data from previous research efforts. It focuses on currently popular works, with particular attention given to fanfics based on Russian and Soviet literature. Of particular interest are those interactions between the author and the reader where there is a tendency for these roles to merge. The study explores readership preferences based on age and selected text stimuli. It also provides an overview of authors’ preferences and the most popular source materials, analysing ficwriters’ selection of prose, genres (such as fantasy and science fiction) and prevalent themes (including love, historical and social themes). The study also posits a unique relationship between the author and the reader within the Russian fanfiction community, shaped by the digital landscape and operating on market principles.