IKBFU's Vestnik. Series: Philology, Pedagogy, Psychology

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Linguistics

Time synaesthesia in W. Shakespeare’s texts: the semantics and pragmatics of colour

Abstract

The article analyzes the features of synesthetic conceptualization of time through the prism of the category of color, based on the works of W. Shakespeare. It is demonstrated that color, not being an independent entity but a quality, acquires in the space of the literary text additional metonymically conditioned meanings through its correlation with the phenomena of existence, in some cases rising to the level of value-­laden symbolic co-meanings. The semantics and pragmatics of each color that shades time in Shakespeare’s texts are determined by metonymic correlation with the phenomena of the external and internal world. Thus, black color, identified with the darkness of night, becomes a methonymic-­metaphorical name for the unknown, danger, and suffering. Grey color, associated with the transition from darkness to light, correlates with the images of morning, youth, and hope, becoming an element of vivid authorial metaphors of personification. Red color allows for polar interpretations, being both a sign of trials and a symbol of life, strength, and energy. Yellow color serves as a sign of fading, old age, and, in a psychological aspect, sadness. Green color is metonymically associated with the ideas of novelty, youth, and at the same time inexperience and vulnerability. Artistically reinterpreted, the metonymic parallels are generalized into metaphorical images reflecting the author’s perception of the complex diversity of existence. A conclusion is drawn that the conjugation of temporal and color semantic elements individualizes both time and color, providing each moment of Shakespeare’s text with unique singularity.

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The sociolinguistic peculiarities of the informative code of linguocognitive connectors in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 Christmas speech to her subjects

Abstract

The concepts of “informative code” and “linguocognitive connectors” are examined in the context of their functioning within the discursive format of sociocultural knowledge. The research material is a card index of linguocognitive connectors identified in the architectonics of Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 Christmas speech, by means of linguistic analysis, interpretative analysis, and sociocultural modeling. It is concluded that the dominant linguistic nominators of linguocognitive connectors are point-like chronemes and linguoculturemes, the combination of which ensures the accessibility of the Queen’s message to various groups of subjects.

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Idiolect of a piece of litterature in the mirror of translation (based on the novel of E. Vodolazkin “Laurus”)

Abstract

The idiolect, idiostyle of a literary work, and the subjective aspect of a speech activity product are considered as objects of translation into a foreign language. The study raises the question of a strategy for analyzing the linguistic means of a literary text that would allow for the most complete reconstruction of the fictional world in the imagination of the foreign-language reader. The aim of the research is to study the influence of the interpretation of the idiostylistic aspect of a literary work on the translator’s work. The methodology of the study is based on the postulates of F. Rastier’s interpretive semantics as a descriptive model of text interpretation. The study identifies and interprets the features of the idiolect and idiostyle as artistic tools of the author, as well as analyzes their reflection in the mirror of the French-language translation.

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English language in the context of diglossia in the modern world

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of the concept of diglossia from the moment of its introduction by C. Ferguson to denote a stable language situation to the comprehension of the phenomenon of polyglossia, which is characteristic of many countries in the modern world. It is noted that code-switching between the H-variety and the L-variety may occur in any social do­main, the most significant of which are family, religion, education, and work. The basis for the analysis of diglossia is the theory developed by C. Ferguson and further elaborated in the works of his followers, such as J. Fishman, J. Holmes, D. Deterding, K. Myers-­Scotton, A. Pakir, and others. The relationships between diglossia and bilingualism are demonstrated, manifesting in such language situations as the presence of both diglossia and bilingualism, bilingualism
without diglossia, diglossia without bilingualism, and the absence of both diglossia and bilingualism. As an example of diglossia in the modern world, the article considers the language situation of the use of English in Singapore, where the speech continuum of the Singaporean va­riety of English includes the basilect (as the lowest variety), the mesolect, and the H-variety — a non-­British acrolect significantly different from Standard English, which creates certain lin­guistic and sociocultural problems in Singaporean society. The study of diglossia is relevant in the training of specialists for work in those countries where a diglossic (polyglossic) situation influences the establishment of intercultural dialogue and economic business contacts.

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Literary studies

The plot of Melusine in Russian literature of the XVII— XIX centuries (translations and interpretations)

Abstract

The article highlights the reception in Russian literature of one of the most popular
Western European plots — the story of Melusine. The aim of the study is to examine the attempts to appropriate this plot in Russia from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The story of Melusine formed the basis of two French-language novels at the turn of the 14th—15th centuries, and a 15th-century German translation contributed to the wide dissemination of the novel in non-Francophone Europe, primarily in the form of chapbooks. In Russia, the novel appeared in the 17th century in a translation from Polish. One of the two known translations served as the basis for a play staged in the theatre of Natalia Alexeyevna, the sister of Peter the Great. However, the book never became part of popular literature in Russia, despite the intensive influx of translated chivalric novels into Russian belles lettres in the 17th—18th centuries. The 19th century witnessed a single attempt to engage with the plot, undertaken by V. P. Avenarius in the children’s tale The Beautiful Melusine. The tale is an adaptation for children’s reading of Goethe’s novella The New Melusine, which only loosely corresponds to the medieval novel and is rather an authorial parodic “variation on the theme.” Despite the story of Melusine being known in Russia since the 17th century, the specifics of the interpretation of the image and the context in which it appeared indicate that the plot did not take root in Russian culture. It acquired an original authorial realization only in the mid-20th century through the work of A. M. Remizov.

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Alexandra Petrovna Khvostova (Kheraskova): the creative path of a writer and the experience of genre classification of heritage

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to analyze the origins of women’s literary craftsmanship in Russia through the example of one of the first Russian female writers. The article examines the creative path of Alexandra Petrovna Khvostova (née Kheraskova), a distinctive Russian writer of the 18th century whose work, nevertheless, has not yet become the subject of independent scholarly research. At the same time, any account of the origins of Russian women’s prose cannot be considered complete without reference to her name. Within the framework of the article, an attempt is made to classify Khvostova’s literary heritage by genre, which opens up prospects for further, more detailed study of her artistic world.

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Genre-composition metaphor of rhizome in the novel “Primeval and other Times” by Olga Tokarchuk

Abstract

The work of Olga Tokarczuk is examined in the context of the nomadological theory of postmodernism as reflected in the writings of philosophers G. Deleuze and F. Guattari. The study investigates the concept of the “rhizome,” which in Tokarczuk’s work functions as a method of plot construction for her literary texts in general and the novel Primeval and
Other Times in particular. The metaphor of the rhizome is expressed in the novel not only through the image of a giant fungal network, a mycelium, but also through a distinctive worldview based on the interconnectedness of all living things and all entities (human beings, living and non-living nature). Thus, Tokarczuk’s work offers a perspective on the world that is far removed from anthropocentrism. The article also analyzes the theme of existential crisis, reflected in the landowner Popielski’s search for the meaning of existence. The game he plays, Ignis Fatuus, metaphorically illustrates what Gilles Deleuze refers to as the rhizome. A gene­ral conclusion is drawn about the constructive role of the rhizome as a means of realizing Olga Tokarczuk’s artistic vision.

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Pedagogy and psychology