Vol 45, No 3 (2023)
Articles
7-7
ARCHAEOLOGY
ASBESTOS IN THE CULTURE OF THE ANCIENT POPULATION OF KARELIA WITH RHOMB-PIT AND COMB-PIT WARE TRADITIONS
Abstract
The article presents the results of a study aimed at revealing the reasons that caused the appearance ofpots with asbestos temper and ornaments made of this fi ber material in the culture of the population with rhomb-pit ware tradition in the Onega Lake region (Obonezhye) in the fi rst half of the 4th millennium BC. During the study of pottery collections, the information about all the rare fi nds of potsherds with pit-comb decoration and asbestos temper in the region was collected and the discovery sites were mapped. The morphological characteristics of the potsherds werealso described and compared with the characteristics of rhomb-pit and comb-pit ware with sand and gravel temper. Thearticle discusses the archaeological materials from an ancient workshop for producing asbestos pendants (probably forexchange). The authors substantiate their assumption that the beginning of the asbestos use could be connected with theinfl uence of the population with typical comb-pit ware from the Saimaa Lake region in eastern Finland. The population with the rhomb-pit ware tradition did not used asbestos often, which can be explained by a rather long period of transition to a new strategy of extraction and use of local mineral resources.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):8-18
8-18
WORLD HISTORY
ANCIENT GREEKS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE IN THE MIRROR OF DIVINATION
Abstract
The purposes of the article are to identify and summarize the ancient Greeks’ perceptions of the future,drawing on the results of the author’s long-term study of the literary and epigraphic sources on ancient Greek divination.This research includes a general interpretation of the meaning of the events described in the literature which wererelated to the situation of consulting an oracle, a study of the principle of oracle contexts formation, and the lexical-semanticanalysis of the terms used for divination. Based on the sources of the archaic and classical period, the authorformulates three main theses refl ecting the fundamental principles according to which the ancient Greeks assessed thefuture and built their relations with it: two types of the future (with one being concrete, one’s own and close, and anotherbeing indefi nite, alien and distant); an unwritten prohibition to ask oracles about the future; and the inability to changethe future presented in the response given as advice. Then the author expands the time frame and formulates the fourththesis that refl ects the development of these concepts during the period of the Roman Empire in Asia Minor dice oraclesand alphabetical oracles: the description of future events was combined with advice expressed in the form of an order forming a non-individualized presentation of the future in a narrative-imperative form. Each thesis is formulated as a conclusion accompanied by brief illustrative material.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):19-26
19-26
HISTORIOGRAPHY, SOURCE STUDIES, METHODS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
CONTEMPORARY TRANSLATION OF JOHN BELL’S NOTES OF HIS JOURNEY TO CHINA IN 1719–1721
Abstract
A new stage of relations between Russia and China began in the late XVII – early XVIII centuries, layingthe foundation for future economic and political interaction. For both partner states the trade caravans and offi cialembassies became important sources of information about the other party. The image of the exotic country was largelyformed for the Russians by reports of the travelers who had visited China, a country that was largely closed to foreigners.One such mission, led by L. V. Izmailov, visited China in 1719–1721 by order of Peter the Great. The embassyincluded a Scottish physician John Bell, who left detailed records about the journey. These notes became a valuablesource of information not only about the nature, culture, and customs of the peoples inhabiting the vast lands east of theVolga River and further to Lake Baikal, but also about the culture and economy of China. This article deals with the annotatedtranslation of these notes (they were published only once – 250 years ago, as a rather inaccurate translation fromFrench). The aim of this work is to justify the necessity of a scholarly translation with detailed historical, linguistic, and country-specifi c comments that will reveal all the wealth of the information contained in the notes and introduce it into scientifi c circulation. For the fi rst time, a full translation of one of the Bell’s book chapters, describing the reception of the Russian embassy at the imperial court, is published. The publication is accompanied by detailed comments.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):27-42
27-42
RUSSIAN HISTORY
EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN KARELIA AFTER WORLD WAR II: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Abstract
Providing employment for the population is an essential precondition for social stability and wellbeingof people. These topics remain insuffi ciently covered in historical literature. This article analyzes major problemsand regional features of the employment situation in Karelia after World War II using previously unpublished archivalmaterials. The combination of the system approach, problem-chronological, historical-comparative, and statisticalmethods was used for the study. The key solutions for the staffi ng problem in the Republic are described, the forms andmethods of involving citizens in public production, and the effi ciency of labor potential use are analyzed, with specialfocus on the political dimension of the goal of “employment for everyone”. Particular attention is given to the causesof unemployment among certain population groups, particularly among women, and to the actions taken to develop thesocial sphere. Able-bodied working-age people evading “socially useful labor” and violating workplace discipline weresubject to tough administrative penalties and criminal prosecution. It is stated in the conclusion that by the late 1950s the Republic achieved the target of high labor activity of the population, but women’s labor remained discriminated against and the labor potential was not used effi ciently enough.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):43-49
43-49
CLASSIFIED MOBILIZATION RECORDS MANAGEMENT IN THE USSR DURING THE PRE-WAR DECADE
Abstract
The study of the history of mobilization training in the interwar period in the USSR remains highly relevant.One of the achievements of Soviet mobilization training was the formation of a system of secret mobilization records managementin civilian institutions, organizations, and enterprises. The article is aimed at conducting a comparative analysis ofpreviously unstudied instructions on classifi ed mobilization records management in the Soviet city and district executivecommittees during the 1930s and early 1940s. The analyzed documents help to form a picture of the regulations for ensuringthe secrecy of mobilization records management in the said period. The article substantiated the conclusions that classifi edmobilization records management was part of the Soviet nationwide mobilization training system and developed during thepre-war decade, refl ecting the changes of this system. In 1930, the fi rst-of-its-kind “framework” instruction on classifi ed mobilizationpaper management in civil institutions and organizations was developed. The experience of the pre-war decade madeit possible to develop a representative documentation management procedure that corresponded to the country’s system ofmobilization training formed by the early 1940s. The article traces changes in the regulations and techniques of classifi ed mobilization paper management, and the requirements for its organization, employees and their functions. It also identifi es the main directions and trends in the development of the national mobilization training system in the dynamics of the pre-war decade.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):50-57
50-57
FOLKLORISTICS
LUBOK LITERATURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CONSTRUCTION OF SPACE IN RUSSIAN FOLK EPICS
Abstract
The article deals with fantasy (fi ctional) toponyms that penetrate into Russian folk epics at the latestage of their development, which is a refl ection of the fading function of historical memory in the song epics. Thehandwritten tradition of epic tales and their popular lubok versions was an effective source of fantasy toponyms. Interms of space in epics, one can fi nd some traces of “The Tale of Andrew of Crete”, “The Tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich”,“The Tale of Prince Bova” and “The Story about the Russian Sailor Vasily Koriotsky”. This fact once again testifi esto the mutual permeability of the oral and written components of the traditional culture of the Russian people. Fantasytoponyms generated by popular lubok literature not only form the space of newly created epics (“The Sunfl ower Kingdom”,“The Marriage of Peresmyaka’s Nephew”, “Rynda”, “Garves”, “Yeruslan Lazarevich”), but also become theelements of the space of traditional plots (“Kozarin”, “Ivan Godinovich”, “Volkh Vseslavyevich”, “Volga and Mikula”, “Vasily Ignatyevich and Batyga”, blended epics about Dobrynya: “The Fight of Dobrynya Nikitich with Ilya Muromets”, “Dobrynya and Alyosha” and “Dobrynya and the Serpent”).
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):58-68
58-68
RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND NATIONAL LITERATURES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
MEMORIES OF V. M. MOROZOV ABOUT V. I. MALYSHEV
Abstract
The paper addresses the history of friendly relations between a Petrozavodsk philologist V. M. Morozov(1910–1983) and V. I. Malyshev (1910–1976), a famous archaeographer and the creator of the Ancient ManuscriptsRepository (Drevlekhranilishche) at the Pushkin House (Pushkinskij Dom). They met while studying at the PhilologicalFaculty of Leningrad University in the 1930s and kept in touch for many decades until Malyshev’s death. Morozov wasa member of Malyshev’s fi rst archaeographic expedition to Karelia in 1940, while Malyshev repeatedly helped his friendin diffi cult life circumstances. After the death of Malyshev, Morozov wrote memoirs about him. Reminiscences aboutMalyshev can also be found in Morozov’s letters to his friends and colleagues. This set of documents is now stored aspart of Malyshev’s archives in the Manuscripts Department of the Pushkin House (collection 494). Morozov providedinteresting biographical information about Malyshev and made an attempt to assess his personality and research activity.These sources can be used for studying the history of Russian philological science of the 1930s–1970s. The memoirs were written with the intention to publish them, but it did not happen at the time, and now these materials are presented to the public for the fi rst time. The memoirs and additions to them are accompanied by commentaries.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):69-89
69-89
FOLKLORE SOURCES OF VIKTOR PUL’KIN’S BOOK OF TALES THE BRONZE HORSEMAN
Abstract
The study analyzes folklore traditions in the collection of tales titled The Bronze Horseman written byViktor Pul’kin. The purpose of the article is to conduct a comparative analysis of two tales with the same name publishedbetween 1972 and 2003. The relevance of the article is due to the insuffi cient study of the writer’s works. Theabsence of papers that would analyze The Bronze Horseman tales confi rms the novelty of the study and determines itstheoretical and practical signifi cance. The object of the study is the tales from Viktor Pul’kin’s book The Bronze Horseman,as well as his folklore sources – historical legends about Peter the Great recorded on the territory of the OlonetsProvince and in Karelia. The subject of the study is the folklore aspect of these works’ interpretation. The article uses theliterary historical method and the comparative method. The study revealed that the plots of the two stories are different.The use of historical legends, fairy tales, proverbs, riddles, a set of folklore motifs, and various fi gurative and expressive means testifi es to the infl uence of oral folk tradition on the artistic structure of The Bronze Horseman. Revealing the folklore character of the writer’s works opens up new possibilities for their interpretation.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):90-98
90-98
World Literatures
THE IMAGE OF KARELIA IN HARRY MARTINSON’S POEM ANIARA
Abstract
This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the image of a region in terms of the implementation ofthe basic principle of geopoetics – the interaction between space and culture. The subject of the study was the image of Karelia fi xed in the mind of a Swedish poet and the Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson. Karelia is one of the regions whose image is actively studied using the material of prose and poetry, which determines the relevance of the study.This article is included in a wide research fi eld focused on interpreting the image of the region in the poetic and prosetradition of both domestic and foreign literature. Martinson’s post-apocalyptic poem Aniara written in Sweden in 1956was the source of the study. The article presents the image of Karelia based on the historical, natural, cultural, spiritual,and moral content, as well as the importance of the region in the life of society and the poet himself. The material outlinedin the article demonstrates the attitude towards Karelia as an ideal, a holy place, a lost paradise. The interweaving of different levels of text interpretation leads to the conclusion that Martinson created his own individual version of the image of Karelia based on real observations of its nature, history, life, and culture.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):99-104
99-104
Theory of Literature
FORMATION OF THE TERM “POETRY” IN RUSSIAN LITERARY STUDIES OF THE XVIII AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY
Abstract
The article is the fi rst attempt to systematically describe the formation of the term “poetry” in Russianliterary studies of the XVIII and the fi rst half of the XIX century. Its meaning seems obvious, this is why it has not beenclearly defi ned so far. In Russian literary studies, the term “poetry” fi rst appeared in the Latin-language poetics of FeofanProkopovich, who focuses on Aristotle’s Poetics and quotes it close to the original. Without giving a clear defi nitionof this term, Prokopovich understands poetry as imitation through speech. In the critical and theoretical words of theclassicist this term changes its meaning, being identifi ed with the poetic form of literary works. Despite the impact thatthe theory of European classicism had on his dictionary, Nikolay Ostolopov returns to Aristotle’s conceptual idea and says that the terms “poetry” and “verses” are not equivalent to each other. Vissarion Belinsky’s article “The Division of Poetry into Genres and Forms” is the only work that unequivocally defi nes poetry as an imitative art regardless of its form.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(3):105-111
105-111
Reviews
112-115
Anniversary
116-116
117-117