Том 30, № 1 (2025)

Time for K. Balmont is not only a moment of experiencing a lyrical emotion in all the entirety of its unique circumstances and the means to express such an emotion, but also the subject of poietic reflection, which attains the form of temporal designations, or temporal units, in his poems and which gives insight into general approaches the poet applied to time as a source of poietic creativity. We conducted a study of archetypicity of the novel literature and its ability to embody the mythologic “content” in itself, and is aimed at elucidating the tools for mythologization of time in Balmont’s poems as a reflection of the folk conscience which has impacted on the uniqueness of the author’s poietic manner. Scientific novelty of this study is defined by focusing attention on temporal designations, or temporal units, as resource for artistic world-modelling based on the principles of mythologic and folkloric conscience. The main body of the article represents an analysis of how these temporal designations function in Balmont’s poetic works: as realization of the sacral meaning of events or phenomena; as indication of the supernatural essence of an object; as mutual reversibility of the temporary and the eternal; as a cycle of all that happens in the world (a round-dancing of time); as metaphor of transience of life or, conversely, as an opportunity to “stretch out” time in order to fit long years into a single moment. The results suggested that Balmont considered time and temporal designations, or temporal units, as a way to reproduce the laws of being in the form of poetic images bearing the signs of folk conscience in themselves.

The fiction of Ba Jin (1904–2005) is most closely associated with the legacy of Ivan Turgenev. For a comprehensive understanding of the Russian classic in China, it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of Turgenev’s works and Ba Jin’s Destruction (1929) and New Life (1936) from the point of view of the anti-nihilistic component. The authors examine the problem of nihilism in Turgenev’s Virgin Soil (1877) and Ba Jin’s novels in order to identify similarities in the fates of revolutionary nihilists. Only by determining the specific character of the main characters, comparing them with each other, comparing the development of the plot and common themes, it is possible to explain the author’s intention, to trace Turgenev’s influence on Ba Jin’s creative methods and worldview.

The comparison of the novels The Commission (1976) by Russian Soviet writer Sergey Zalygin and The Heart of Aztlan (1976) the American author of Mexican origin (Chicano) Rudolfo Anaya, published at the same time on different continents, is determined by the attempts of famous 20th century novelists to identify possible ways to achieve social harmony in the changing historical reality. The article examines the multi-functionality of the idyllic chronotope in the application of socio-utopian ideas by the writers of the 1970s. The novelty of the study is specified by strengthening the emphasis on the unconditional role of the idyllic chronotope in revealing the ideological and thematic content, assessing the dimension of the author’s personality and the importance of his contribution to world literature. The world view, genre-forming and plot-forming functions of the idyllic chronotope are singled out, its world-modeling role in the literary works is determined. It is established that in the novel of S. Zalygin the idea of harmonizing the social order acquires the form of “memories of the future”, because the image of Belyi Bor, going back to Belovodye, symbolizes the “lost paradise” of the patriarchal idyll of the Russian village. R. Anaya recreates the image of Aztlan, the spiritual ancestral home of the Aztecs, which becomes a reference point in determining the national identity of Mexican Americans in the process of their self-definition and denotes the hope for a successful construction of a better future.

The Arabic travelogue, rihla, is dedicated to the travels of an Eastern man around the world. The purpose of the study is to show the significance of this genre for Arabic national culture over the centuries, its influence on modern Arabic prose. The authors described the distinctive features of rihla against the background of similar travels in other cultures and in other time periods, thus substantiating the legitimacy of introducing the term ‘rihla’ itself, despite the already existing in scientific circulation terms ‘travel literature’, ‘travel description’, ‘travelogue’. At the same time, the authors draw parallels between the Arabic rihla and A Journey Beyond the Three Seas by Afanasy Nikitin. The deep rooting of the phenomenon of rihla in the Arab culture, and its close connection with religion and science, in the opinion of the authors, did not allow the genre to disappear in the Middle Ages. Therefore, one of the objectives of the work was to trace and generalize the history of rihla in the Modern era and later. The work substantiates the conditions for the formation of the genre, describes its transformation by the 19th century, explains the role in the emergence of late national fiction, found an appeal to it in the latest literature, an attempt was made to present various types of its authorial implementations based on the works of modern Egyptian writers (N. Mahfouz, G. Al-Gitani, Yu. Zeidan). All this allowed us to build a single thread of the genre’s history, to show that the emerging Arabic novel relied on it in many ways, and that the experimenters of Arabic postmodernism, which coincided in time with the wave of rising national consciousness, preferred to turn to it.At the same time, the connection betweenmodern literature and the genre of richliis established preserving one of its two most important characteristics – closeness to scientific factography or the presentation of travel as a spiritual test.

In connection with conceptual changes in the globalized information society, the authors comprehend the drift from a relatively free media system with competition of post-truths and everyday expertise to the systems regulated by national legislation based on value and civilizational guidelines. The research question is whether it is possible to preserve the former architecture of the media space at the global and national levels. The article notes that the information space is in the phase of destruction of the informational and social mainstream, when the principle of social management through the cascading of narratives in a demediatized space works. The authors identify the characteristic features of the transformation of the model of socio-informational processes management against the background of postreality, suggesting a deeper degree of intervention in human social life, both at the level of socially involved groups and individually. The implementation of postreality mechanisms is impossible in the conditions of media degradation and demediatized space. The following hypothesis is put forward and tested: further information demediatization of the unified information space, which is losing its global integrity, is strategically impossible without partial remediatization. The processes characteristic of the current stage of information society development will require a return to media platforms, country (regional) information segments will be built around them.

The concept of metaphor is presented and analyzed in relation to the phenomenon of political cartoons. Guided by Conceptual Metaphor Theory, developed by Lakoff and Johnson as the theoretical framework, this study aims to examine how metaphors in political cartoons function as essential components in conveying complex socio-political messages. Through a meticulous exploration of the likeness between two seemingly unlike entities –perceiving one through the lens of the other – this study argues that cartoonists leverage visual metaphors, along with a diverse array of humor, symbolism, and irony, to illustrate societal conflicts and critique political realities, all while effectively conveying nuanced messages in a concise manner. A significant achievement of this study is the development of two comprehensive tables that categorize prevalent source and target domains in the metaphoric conceptualization of political cartoons, accompanied by relevant examples that elucidate their application in this context. The findings reveal how cartoonists utilize these domains to critique social realities and evoke cognitive responses from audiences. By categorizing and providing context for these metaphoric structures, this study not only enhances the understanding of visual metaphors but also contributes significantly to the scholarship on visual rhetoric in political communication.

Presents the results of a study of the information space of the Balkan states conducted during the presidential elections in Turkey in 2023. The authors referred to this period as one of the most striking political events in the country over the past five years. The purpose of the proposed work is to identify the level of interest in Turkey’s domestic political events both from residents of the Balkan countries and from the national media of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to compare the data obtained and identify a correlation between them. It is hypothesized that the inhabitants of the Balkan states pay great attention to the issues of Turkey’s foreign and domestic policy. The level of interest of residents of these states is revealed based on the analysis of big data in the spatial-temporal coordinate system (media geographic approach). Ranking and media metric analysis made it possible to trace the dynamics of changes in the number of requests on the topics Turkey and Recep Tayyip Erdogan (the main markers of the presidential race). The results of the second stage of the study (content analysis of publications of the national mass media of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) allowed us to compare the results of the two stages of the analysis. The authors conclude that Internet users of the Balkan states did not show significant interest in the political life of the Republic of Turkey and considered the country more as a place for tourism and recreation, while the national media of this region turned much more often to the political life of Turkey than to other topics.

The Internet shutdown in West Papua and Papua, in 2019 as an example of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia failure to balance national security and digital freedoms. The Internet shutdown was suppress and control the flow of information has been criticized as an authoritarian strategy that undermines human rights and digital freedoms, further deepening mistrust between the state and citizens. The Ministry needs to refrain from abusing their powers and ensure that cybersecurity regulations do not violate civil liberties, as excessive restrictions weaken democratic values. Emphasized the Ministry’s failure to comply with cybersecurity standards, which has led to human rights violations and manipulation of perceptions of national security, ultimately damaging Indonesia’s reputation. Finally, the article highlights the value of long-term relationships in transitional justice, justifying the need for a human-centered approach to institutional transformation within the framework of national cybersecurity initiatives. This article highlights the importance of transparency, accountability, and the protection in preventing future abuses. This article calls for a reevaluation of cybersecurity practices for digital freedoms, emphasizing the necessity of transparent and inclusive policies that reflect democratic principles.

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The article presents a review of the materials of the scientific seminar Crimean Shmeleviana as part of the literary geography of the Peninsula, organized by the Department of Russian and Foreign Literature of the Philological Faculty of the RUDN University on June 26–28, 2024 in Alushta. Its subject matter is related to the problem of ‘reflections’ of local texts (Moscow, Petersburg) in foreign projections (Berlin, Parisian).