Vol 26, No 1 (2020)

For the first time in regional historiography, the author carried out a comprehensive historiographic analysis of information on ethnography, linguistics, religious studies, regional history, sociopolitical and sociocultural life of the Finno-Ugric and Turkic peoples of the Middle Volga contained in the works of the outstanding German, historian, geograph and ethnograph G.F. Miller. Value of the submitted material is comprised in the research of the collected by the scientist of copies of unique historical documents, manuscripts of his unpublished works, numerous notes and other valuable materials. The relevance of the subject is predetermined by the development of a perspective trend of historical research – development of the problem of relationship between the government and society on the example of the development of the regions of Russia in the XVIII century in the works by G.F. Miller. This study is based on the principles of historicism and multi-factor nature of the historical process, realized through the use of historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-biographical, dialectic and typological methods of research. The author concluded that the writings of the scientist allowed not only to carry out detailed description of spiritual and material life of the representatives of Turkic and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Middle Volga Region, to define their ethnoconfessional characteristics, but also to take into account historical, geographical and geopolitical conditions influencing their development and integration into sociocultural, sociopolitical and social and economic space of the Russian Empire. Scientific heritage of G.F. Miller also contributed to the creation of the system of methodological bases of archiving and source study. Potential of this heritage for carrying out different researches is high, partly owing to the handwritten archive of the historian in German in the funds of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, containing extensive cohort of unique historical documents, not introduced into scientific discourse.

In the article, the authors attempted to consider the urgent problem of the evolution of relationship between the government and the church at the everyday level of the «people's faith» without a chronological divide in the form of events of the 1917 revolution. «Folk faith» is a kind of «apocrypha», generated by the daily adaptation of various religious teachings by the «congregation», with their level of education and cultural development. The «congregation» within the boundaries of this work refers to the representatives of the simple social classes in the pre-revolutionary period, bourgeois and peasants, and ordinary residents of the Samara region in the Soviet period, that is, the so-called «little man». This «little man» in such a multinational region as the Middle Volga region, was largely embraced, despite the russification and Christianization (Orthodox), by confessional and national traditions. In the late XIX – early XX century, before the 1917 revolution, «religious persecution» in relation to religious dissent manifested itself in such practices of church and secular power as exhortation procedures, seizures of literature, objects of worship, in the rigorism of verbal culture, when offensive connotations were used in clerical work against Old Believers and sectarians. After the 1917 revolution, the period when the construction of ideology was only taking place is of particular interest. And, despite the ideological atheism of the new Soviet regime, despite the struggle against the church and religion, the 1920-ies were a period of some tolerance towards sectarians. This period continued until the 1930-ies, when the Soviet government already clearly led anti-religious and anti-sectarian policies. The study of the popular religiosity of the representatives of the Middle Volga during the period of social upheaval is necessary for the further improvement of religious-state relations and the formation of the spiritual consciousness of citizens, which confirms the scientific relevance of this topic. The purpose of this article is to examine the evolution of the relationship between the government and the church at the everyday level of the «people's faith» without a chronological divide in the form of events of the 1917 revolution. The results of the work done prove that everyday life, from the perspective of consideration, as is customary in ethnographic methods, «from the inside», shows that the picture of the human world cannot change due to a change in the political system instantly. A person can adapt to the new «rules of the game», but what we call the «people's faith» is much deeper, this is how a person behaves alone with himself.

The article focuses on the study of possibilities of implementing the concept of historical memory, which has been widely used in recent scientific and practical activities. The following tasks contributed to the realization of the intended goal: analysis of historiographical situation that contributed to the formation of a new scientific direction; study of the method of publishing sources; consideration of the prospect of using collections of documents and materials in the practice of memorialization. The research is based on the concept of historical memory, which is reflected in the works of A. Bergson, M. Halbwachs, Ya. Assman, P. Riker, P. Nor, and others. When writing the article, the achievements of domestic researchers Zh. Toshchenko, L. Repin, and L. Mazur were actively used. Methods of source studies, comparative, critical, conceptual and problem analysis of texts contributed to a comprehensive disclosure of the topic. The relevance of the article is connected with a few aspects: 1) one of the perspective concepts used by scientists in the study of the problem of preserving historical and cultural heritage is the concept of «place of memory»; 2) defining the formation of cultural and historical code as the main task of historical memory, the authors of the article suggested that collections of documents and materials to a much greater extent than many other phenomena of material and spiritual culture can be identified in the modern humanitarian space as significant «places of memory». Such symbolic constructs are particularly relevant for localities and regions of Russia, where a significant part of archaeological and architectural monuments has been destroyed or is at the last stage of destruction. The material of the study was unique eyewitness accounts of historical events included in the «Set of documents on the history and culture of Mordovia». The analysis of experience of Mordovian scientists, who identified and published a significant body of historical sources in the shortest possible time, showed their wide thematic and chronological range. Thematically, military-patriotic publications that chronologically relate to the first half of the XIX and the first half of the XX century predominate. Presenting modern publications of sources as an established form of translation and actualization of cultural meanings, a way of preserving historical and cultural heritage, the authors suggested that purposeful activities to expand such «places of memory» (such as collections of documents and materials) should be expanded and deepened. Its promising areas are the key problems of regional history – national policy of the 1920-ies and 1930-ies, collectivization, industrialization, and so on.

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze historical stories that were updated in the space of collective memory of residents of large Siberian cities (Omsk and Novosibirsk) in the conditions of democratic transformations in the country and society in 1985–2000; to achieve this goal, the author set the following tasks: to establish the factors of evolution of collective memory that arose during the period under review; to identify new features of translation of memory about the past; to reveal the stages and content of reflection of residents of large cities of Western Siberia on the theme of the historical past, taking into account the transformations that took place in the sphere of collective memory. The problems of studying the collective memory of modern Russian society, the politics of memory, and the factors of manipulation of historical consciousness have caused acute scientific and journalistic discussions for several years. An informative (due to its mass character) source for studying the transformations of collective memory is the letters of the citizens of the country as a response to various published materials related to the history of the country. The relevance of this topic is justified by the need to understand the processes that led to the formation of the views of residents of post-Soviet Russia about the past. The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of previously unclaimed archival sources that illustrate the process of evolution of the views of «ordinary» people on Russian history and, directly, the history of Siberia. The research was carried out within the framework of the problem field memory studies, which is characterized by the development of new interdisciplinary methods and approaches in the study of specific features of collective memory, as well as practices of historical policy; traditional retrospective and genetic methods of historical research were also used. Based on the reference to Omsk and Novosibirsk materials, we conclude that the stories on the theme of collective memory that were updated in the years of perestroika and the post-perestroika period are similar. First of all, these are the events of the revolution and Civil War in Russia, the events of the period of the 1920-ies–1930-ies, the Great Patriotic war, but, at the same time, uncharacteristic for collective ideas about the past «before 1985», an appeal to pre-revolutionary history, as well as a high degree of emphasis on the problems of modernity in their «binding» to historical facts. Transformations of ideas about the past in the 1985–1990-ies are characterized as global, which served as an impetus to the awakening of civil activity in society. The stages of strengthening and weakening of people's interest in historical subjects are determined depending on various political and socio-economic factors.

In the article the author views the problem of the content of professional training of future translators (interpreters) based on a sociocultural approach, defines the directions of sociocultural approach: familiarization of future translators (interpreters) with material and spiritual values; with the cultural interaction of the individual, society and nature; with the style and the way of life. The principles of sociocultural approach that contribute to social competence: the principle of «dialogue of cultures», which is a method of simultaneous learning of a foreign language and culture of different peoples in the correct relationship with their own language and culture; the principle of multiculturalism, which consists in preserving and increasing the diversity of cultural norms, values, rules of behavior, foundations and types of interaction in educational systems; the principle of conformity to culture, based on the fact that language education must include not only scientific knowledge but also cultural and social experience, and cultural areas of the target language; the principle of interdisciplinary integration is a mastering of foreign language in direct unity with the events, history and culture of the country of the target language, in conjunction with the unit of cultural and humanitarian disciplines are singled out and systematized; the author proves that the study of languages and translation based on a sociocultural approach contributes to the formation of students 'worldview, as well as their understanding of history of human development, their native country, awareness of themselves as a representative of national values, communicative culture. The article highlights the translators’ (interpreters’) responsibility for professional activities.

The relevance of the problem of digitalization of liberal education is caused, on the one hand – by the reduction of classroom classes in the humanities (History, Cultural studies, Foreign language, etc.) in higher school and the demand for autonomous students’ training; оn the other hand – there are advantages of digitalization in the global world, which can enrich and diversify traditional education. The article authors consider that this process has problem areas too. Research objectives are: to consider the means and properties of information educational technologies; to analyze the theoretical works about educational digitalization; to determine advantages and disadvantages of the digital technologies use in the learning process. The main research method is the analysis and synthesis of theoretical research, the presentation of provisions about the functional and motivational aspects of digital technologies; about the need for their use in the educational process at the University. The authors propose to study the historical heritage through information and communication technologies, to focus on notable phenomena of world history, to follow the students’ self-reflection, internal motivation for self-improvement of modern generation, the maximum realization of its potential and high-tech achievements. The empirical material was a long-term experience of teaching the humanities using information and communication technologies at Ogarev Mordovia State University and on postgraduate studies at Research Institute by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. This article differs from the other researches by the universality of the scientific approach, by the conclusions novelty and schematic visualization of scientific results. The authors clearly presented the advantages of digital technologies, which include many different tools for autonomous learning and simplify the holding of the classes. Thus, it is advisable to use the digital technologies in the educational process.

In the article the author views the peculiarities of formation of sociocultural literacy that seems to be knowledge of national and cultural characteristics of the country of the studied language, the culture of speech behavior. Its structure contains value, cognitive, activity and subjective-personal aspects. Studies have proven that the presence of social literacy contributes to the actual self-realization of a person. However, until today in the scientific community there is no exact definition of the concept of "literacy". Today, the quality of literacy has changed in connection with the development of society and the needs of the individual; it should contribute to its inclusion in the cultural life of the country for its progress and its self-development. Sociocultural literacy is a matter of the general education of a person who is not only able to solve normative problems in a quality manner, but also those that are dictated by global social processes, integration into the world community. In the article the author defines literacy as preparedness for development, and competence – as a level of culture. Thus, she proves the necessity of relying on cultural and competency-based approaches to the formation of students' sociocultural competence, which will be facilitated by the synthesis of the activity and personality components of readiness for a certain behavior during communication with representatives of other cultures.

The verbal and nonverbal markers of etiquette traditions in the webinars for modern English language learners are described and systematized with regard to their linguocultural aspects. One of the stimuli for this research is the growing interest in learning the English language through Internet technologies, especially through webinars, which are currently one of the most popular ways of learning by the Internet strategies. Another impetus for this study is the importance of using the correct speech behavior formulae within the English-speaking communicative environment. These speech formulae are a must for the effective communication of both native members of the English culture and representatives of other cultures. The present research project is aimed at systematizing verbal and non-verbal trends in the sphere of communication based on the webinars scripts intended for learners of English. The research materials embrace the webinars presented by famous British scholars in teaching foreign languages. These scripts are taken from the websites and portals such as British Council, Cambridge English, Macmillan education, Education First, etc. that are extremely popular among methods providing teachers of English from all over the world. The data obtained and studied in terms of discourse analysis are evidently showing that the key trend in learning English today focuses on the methods providing the formation of effective conversational skills through various authentic communicative situations. These webinars are traditionally focusing upon conversational techniques, speaking/spoken English vocabulary, fluency of speaking etc. The webinars’ scripts are considered in terms of basic characteristics describing the moderator’s way of communication with the audience. The article is aimed at studying modern trends in the English educational discourse through webinar etiquette traditions which demand a thorough knowledge of cultural background and a good command of conversational English.

The article deals, firstly, with the phenomena of explicitness and implicitness with regard to the category of evaluativeness, secondly, with the theoretical distinction between «explicit evaluation» and «direct evaluation», «implicit evaluation» and «indirect evaluation». The problem of this distinction is relevant as these terms are often confused and used interchangeably. The research is based on commentaries made by British sports commentators during international figure skating competitions broadcast on British Eurosport Channel in 2005–2019. The research included two stages: 1) analysis of principal features of explicitness and implicitness based on examples of explicit and implicit evaluation in sports commentaries; 2) comparison of various types of evaluation – explicit, implicit, direct, indirect – for the purpose of eliminating any terminological ambiguity. According to the research, the notion of explicitness is characterized by clearly marked content and a high degree of meaning specificity. Besides, the meaning of an explicit statement can be deduced from the words composing the statement. The main feature of implicitness, on the contrary, is the occurrence of hidden, implied meanings. Thus, explicit evaluation is a type of evaluation in which evaluative meanings have formal expression and can be easily interpreted by the recipient of the text, whereas implicit evaluation is a type of evaluation meaning which may be comprehended with the help of the context and background information. When contrasting categories of implicitness and indirectness, it was shown that implicitness alongside with explicitness is an important feature of the language. Terms «direct» and «indirect», on the other hand, can be used as a characteristic of ways of transferring meanings. Therefore, explicit evaluation and direct evaluation are not the same terms and indirect evaluation is not always implicit. As a result, three groups of evaluation were formed: 1) explicit direct evaluation; 2) explicit indirect evaluation;3) implicit evaluation which is always expressed indirectly.

Contemporary linguistics and stylistics provide no ambiguous interpretation of the «expressivity» concept and all of its definitions intersect with the concepts of «emotionality», «imagery», «intensity», «expressiveness», etc. Currently, deliberate attention is focused on the study of expressivity issue in both domestic and foreign linguistics, however, despite the rich theoretical material; there are no clear concepts and terms. Many contradictions are found in the very definition of expressivity: a number of scientists associate expressivity with both the functional side of the language and the semantics of words, while others describe it in terms of linguistic stylistics and lexicology. In the context of these problematic issues, the aim of the article was to develop an integrated approach to the conceptual interpretation of «expressivity», «means of expressivity», as well as to provide a clear demarcation between the first of the concepts and the term of «emotionality».

In this article, based on the analysis of literary sources, the following tasks has been implemented: we considered approaches to the interpretation of the «expressivity» concept, after which, during a contextual and stylistic analysis, we identified the key expressive means on the basis of four speeches announced by the famous British politician, Margaret Thatcher, which allowed to identify lexical and syntactic means creating expressiveness in the statements of the mentioned politician. The main research method in this article was a descriptive analysis, as well as a component analysis, which provides for the consideration of connotative interpretation focused on the speech units used by Margaret Thatcher in public.

In the framework of this article, the most memorable speeches of the politician were analyzed in order to understand how she managed to manipulate the audience. In addition, the lexical and syntactic features of Margaret Thatcher’s linguistic image, as one of the most famous politicians, and, no less important, speakers, are revealed. In particular, anaphoras, epiphoras, rhetorical constructions, parentheses, emotionally marked vocabulary, metaphors, comparative figures of speech and elements of citation are highlighted, which allowed the policy-maker to attract the attention of the audience, increase her credibility, discredit opponents, etc.