Vol 16, No 4 (2024)

The ongoing lexical processes in the modern Russian language include the emergence of new words. Traditionally, language mechanisms involved in the development of new concepts are considered to include borrowing (transcription, transliteration, calque translation), metaphor and metonymy, and play on words. Gaming slang is a subtype of computer slang. It is a means of self-expression, of expressing emotions and evaluation, the use of slang words helps save time. Gaming slang can be divided into two main categories – global and local. Global slang is common to gamers all over the world, while local slang words are understood only by native speakers of the same language. The article analyzes the linguistic mechanisms involved in the creation of new lexical units in the slang of gamers playing popular online computer games. The research is novel in that it deals with previously unstudied linguistic material and its linguistic interpretation. In the course of research, a targeted sample of slang words used by gamers was created on the basis of game chats and Internet forums as well as the website https://gamer-info.com; then the recorded lexemes were classified taking into account derivational mechanisms. The total number of analyzed units is 100. The author studies the lexical processes occurring in the modern Russian language, presents the notions of computer slang and gaming slang, describes their differences. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the selected units of slang with respect to the implementation of such linguistic mechanisms as transcription, transliteration, calque translation, metaphor, metonymy and play on words; the most frequently used mechanism is identified. Methodologically the study is based on: works of N. S. Valgina devoted to modern Russian as well as active processes occurring in the vocabulary of the Russian language; scientific and popular science works on semantics and lexicology by M. A. Krongauz; scientific articles by other modern scholars on lexicology and stylistics. The relevance of the topic for the Russian and foreign scientific community is determined by the expanding Russian-language slang vocabulary used by gamers, the involvement of a large number of native Russian speakers in computer gaming communication, and the need for scientific reflection on the linguistic processes that characterize this discourse practice.

The article substantiates the concept of ‘scientific polemical discourse’ as a complex verbal and mental activity in the scientific sphere of communication aimed at refuting a differing point of view and arguing the author's position. The use of the word ‘scientific’ in the preposition emphasizes the sphere of functioning of the discourse and its being conditioned by the corresponding sphere. The question of the relationship between the concepts of ‘functional style’ and ‘discourse’ is considered. They have a common methodological principle of analyzing linguistic specificity in its extra-linguistic conditionality. The difference lies in the criteria of selection and abstraction levels of extra-linguistic factors. The choice of factors relevant to scientific polemical discourse is argued. The communicative intention ‘expression of disagreement’ becomes a factor in the formation of this discourse because it is the speech activity dominant for scientific polemics participants. Disagreement is defined as a type of reaction to speech similar to negative evaluation of speech behavior, where this evaluation can be expressed by a variety of speech techniques: any kind of criticism, doubt about the correctness or acceptability of a certain position, objection, refutation. Based on linguistic studies, the author proves the legitimacy and preferability of using the designation ‘polemical’ compared to other ways of naming polemical communication varieties. This word is most appropriate to the tasks of studying and providing communicative-pragmatic description of the discourse in question. Such features of scientific polemical discourse as the conflictual nature, institutionality, ‘double’ addressability, evaluability, argumentativeness, and intertextuality are illustrated on the material of scientific polemical texts.

The paper analyzes the functioning of the unit v svoyom rode in Russian oral everyday discourse as a potential pragmatic marker-approximator. The source of material for analysis was the spoken subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus. The study employs the corpus approach and scientific methods such as continuous sampling, descriptive, comparative, and quantitative methods. The analysis showed that the expression v svoyom rode in oral discourse has significantly enriched its dictionary meaning of uncertainty (‘from a certain point of view’) with a number of pragmatic meanings: approximation (reducing the categoricalness of the statement), hesitation (overcoming speech hesitation and formalizing speech search), reflection on what has been said or is about to be said, and marking the ending of a phrase/remark. The dictionary lexico-grammatical meaning of the unit v svoyom rode in oral use has almost been lost; instead, there appeared several pragmatic meanings (functions) that are not described in the existing dictionaries, which allows us to consider the unit under study as a potential multifunctional pragmatic marker-approximator. This, in turn, may become the basis for including this unit in the Dictionary of Pragmatic Markers. The results obtained can be useful for understanding the trends in the development of Russian everyday speech within the framework of colloquial speech studies (analysis of oral speech), for the practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language (linguodidactics), as well as for the practice of translating Russian literary texts into other languages.

The paper provides a semantic analysis of expressive vocabulary that reflects the ideas of the Russian-language speakers about drinking alcohol. The material of the study are colloquial words and idioms expressing emotional / psychological attitude of the speakers to different referents of the alcohol consumption situation (that is: the process of drinking, the drinker himself, the alcoholic beverage, the state of intoxication, etc.). The authors study expressive units used by representatives of different social strata, including such units found in fiction, colloquial language, slang, vulgar speech. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study is based on the works of N. A. Lukyanova, T. V. Matveyeva, V. N. Teliya and other Russian linguists, where expressiveness is defined as a lexical category associated with the emotional-evaluative attitude of the speaker to the phenomena of reality and manifested in the connotative part of the lexical meaning of the expressive word. This study is the first to provide an analysis of the two semantic components of the ‘alcohol consumption’ vocabulary – intensity and emotional evaluation. It has been established that the intensity of the expressive vocabulary in question correlates with the deviation from the socially approved norm of drinking and the subsequent state of intoxication; this vocabulary manifests both negative and positive evaluation of the referents. The authors underline the influence of context on the emotional connotation of an expressive word and the consequent difficulty of interpreting expressive words (positively or negatively), describe the contextual means that make it possible to identify the emotional connotation of the used expressive.

The authors come to a conclusion that a large number of expressive lexical units in narrations about drinking alcohol indicate their relevance to the speech behavior of native speakers of the Russian language. This confirms the expediency of further study of collective and individual perceptions of alcohol consumption present in the Russian-language linguistic worldview.

The article offers an overview of critical writings devoted to the works of Andrei Volos. The author analyzes papers by writers and critics A. Bitov, A. Vasilevsky, O. Kudrin, I. Kukulin, A. Latynina, I. Loginov, V. Oskotsky, M. Remizova, I. Rostovtseva, Yu. Surovtsev, A. Salomatin, literary critics S. Abashin, Z. Azizova, A. Kazimirchuk, M. Maracheva, V. Maroshi, V. Meskin, T. Polovinkina, G. Rebel, E. Sergeeva, E. Shafranskaya. It is shown that of particular interest to researchers in the works of A. Volos are the theme of the East and the methods of its artistic implementation, the features of the plot and composition, style and genre traditions. The article discusses a number of other major problems, including the connection of the writer’s works with the traditions of Russian, Persian, and Tajik literature, the principles of reproducing Eastern spirituality (in particular, Muslim culture), the images of ‘oriental’ characters, the image of the author himself, and the system of his philosophical beliefs. All these questions are unexplored or insufficiently studied. The analysis of critical works proposed in the article helps to gain an idea of ​​the significance of the figure of A. Volos as a prose writer, of his uniqueness and place in the modern literary process. Studying the works of A. Volos, scholars and critics come to a conclusion about his unique approach to literature and deep understanding of various aspects of history, culture, and society. His works are distinguished by their multi-layeredness, ambiguity, and vitality, which makes them especially attractive to readers and researchers.

This article provides reflections on the contact connections with Goethe (including through other authors of the story of Faust) in the novel by the Latvian prose writer Margeris Zarins (Marģeris Zariņš, 1910-1993) Mock Faustus, or The Corrected Complemented Cooking-Book CCC (1984). The subject of the study is the translated text as a cross-border object (the novel was translated into Russian by Valda Volkovskaya). The writer plays with the codes of different versions of Faust – from the book published by Spies, through the mediation of Christopher Marlowe (Zarins constantly mentions and quotes his The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus) and Goethe (Faust is also directly mentioned and quoted) to Thomas Mann and Bulgakov, and this is perfectly conveyed by the translator. In the depiction of the pact between man and the devil, Zarins demonstrates the integral form of contacts with Marlow, Goethe, Thomas Mann, and Bulgakov, in the creation of the central character – the musician – with Thomas Mann, in the display of political and literary life through the procession of the devil with his retinue through the capital – with Bulgakov. The differential form of contacts is manifested through the denial of God's salvation of Faust (Master, musician, etc.) and of the granting of peace to him. Faust by the Latvian author is a fiend of hell, a werewolf, an executioner, and a commandant of a Nazi concentration camp. The differential form of contacts is also manifested through the deliberate shuffling of the motifs related to the prototypes. Mock Faustus by M. Zarins and translator V. Volkovskaya is a complex combination of intertextual and translational secondary authorial transgredience. The writer escapes the influence of a number of works, the translator inherits intertextual secondary authorial transgredience and even a chain of intertextual secondary authorial outness (Marlow, Goethe, Bulgakov, Thomas Mann, etc.).

The article is devoted to the study of the reception of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment in China in the 1920s. At that time, China was undergoing a period of political, social, and cultural upheaval in which nationalism, the New Culture Movement, and Marxist thinking intertwined with each other, exerting a significant influence on public perception and cultural values. Against this background, the way in which Dostoevsky's works were interpreted, commented on, and disseminated is crucial for understanding the ideological changes and cultural development of Chinese intellectuals of the period.

This study employs the methods of empirical research, comparative literary studies and analytical methods of historiography and modern communication studies. The article deals with documentary evidence and provides historical analysis of Dostoevsky's works in the socio-cultural context of China of the 1920s. It analyzes the reasons for the special attention to the novel Crime and Punishment in China and its wide influence on Chinese readers, traces the way of distribution and the reception of Dostoevsky's works in the country in the 1920s. By examining the views on the novel of famous Chinese scholars such as Mao Dun, Sun Fu Xi, Wang Tong Zhao, Hu Yu Zhi, Zhen Zheng Duo, Zhou Zuo Ren, Jiang Qi Fan, Qu Qiu Bai, and others, we understand how they evaluated the plot and the moral issues raised in the novel and how the literary ideas of these scholars echoed or contradicted Dostoevsky's ideas. Studying these issues contributes to the analysis of discussions and debates that Crime and Punishment provoked in the Chinese literary world at the time, as well as of the impact that the novel had on the development of Chinese literature.

The article discusses the perception by the late Hauptmann of the phenomenon of childhood and the closely related image of the child, which reveals the specificity of the playwright’s worldview in comparison with his early works, contributes to clarification of the complex creative process connected with the expansion of the writer’s conceptual horizon.  Hence the objectives of the present study are as follows: to identify the principles underlying the poetics of Hauptmann of the late period; to reveal the playwright’s theoretical positions concerning the phenomenon of childhood and the image of the child; to substantiate the nature of Hauptmann’s existential searches connected with the paradigm of continuous renewal; to provide reflections on the game model presented by Hauptmann as a dramatic genesis of childishness; to show, using the example of the drama Iphigenie in Aulis, the unique thinking of the girlchild, the acquisition by the game consciousness of a new existence.

The analysis revealed contextual Hauptmann’s connections with the game discourse of his epoch (Groos, Buytendijk, Huizinga), the dramatist’s close world-view contact with 18th-century game traditions (Goethe, Schiller). The modernization of their basic positions concerns the ontological perception of game as the quintessence of childishness, which, being a property of the soul, is perceived by Hauptmann as a divine cosmic principle. The child, creating playing being in his/her consciousness, contributes to the manifestation of the game world essence. The study has found that the triad (unconscious childhood, the loss of unconscious childhood, conscious childhood), represented in theoretical works and only partially presented in children’s dramas of the early period, receives a full poetic embodiment in the late drama Iphigenie in Aulis. The creative idea of a child’s continual reflection, leading to a new spiritual birth, manifested in the early dramas through the game metaphor of sunlight, is reproduced in the later works as a moonlight gameplay. Iphigenie the child, having created a night proto-drama in her head, deprived of childhood in the visible being, finds it in the night darkness, which becomes her protection and support.