Publications

This book examines the function and development of the cult of saints in Coptic Egypt, focusing primarily on the material provided by the texts forming the Coptic hagiographical tradition of the early Christian martyr Philotheus of Antioch, and more specifically, the Martyrdom of St Philotheus of Antioch (Pierpont Morgan M583). This Martyrdom is a reflection of a once flourishing cult which is attested in Egypt by rich textual and material evidence. This text enjoyed great popularity not only in Egypt, but also in other countries of the Christian East, since his dossier includes texts in Coptic, Georgian, Ethiopic, and Arabic.

This is a German language article about the Foreign Cemetery (Gaikokujin Bochi) in Yokohama: its history, the circumstances of its origin, the study of the national, ethnic, and religious background of those who are in the ground. This is the part of a project (with archival research and field study parts) about this cemetery and the reconstruction of the history of life and death of foreigners in Japan in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

This is a review on the book of David P. Fields, Foreign Friends. Syngman Rhee, American Exceptionalism, and the Division of Korea. 2019, University Press of Kentucky, 254 pages, ISBN 9780813177199.

The implementation of socialism in North Korea required the large-scale involvement of women in economic relations. In order to align the rights of women and men in social life, the government pursued a policy of gender equality, conducting extensive advocacy among the female population aimed at a transformation of the understanding of women’s social roles and the nature of femininity. In the original context of women being encouraged to be workers and passionate contributors to the construction of the socialist state, the traditional stance on women as caring mothers and wives was supplemented with internationalist rhetoric on womanhood. However, with the transition to the Juche-oriented socialism, the discourse on women was modified, increasing the emphasis on motherhood and childrearing and reducing internationalism. Based on an analysis of the women’s magazine The Korean Woman, the present study analyses discourses on motherhood and childrearing in 21st century North Korea. The preliminary results of the research show that, while motherhood remains an essential component of the discourse on women, it is formulated in terms of building a powerful socialist state.

Recently, Libyan conflict has become one of the vital elements that determine the development of the geostrategic space in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Meanwhile all the governing mechanisms of this artificial state, the social structure of which still crucially depends on tribes and archaic principles of their interaction, were destroyed.

During the Libyan monarchy the social fabric of the country was held together among other factors by the network of Islamic institutions, while in Ghaddafi`s Libya it came down to his personal charisma and the network of his contacts and connections through tribal elders and elites. Since late 2011, there has been an apparent lack of such a factor, on the state level, that could contribute to reunification of the Libyan society or, at least, be used as an impetus for the main actors to compromise. Instead, there are multiple tribes, controlling territories and infrastructure, and numerous militias, controlling the cities, and three governments, each posing as the sole legitimated one.

This article is an effort to analyze the current political situation in Libya through activities of main actors and web of opportunistic interactions they create on the national and regional theatre. Beside the three governments and the tribal factor, the emphasis is made on a number of neocons recently entering the political milieu and claiming their stakes in the future of the country.

An attempt is made to look at the international relations theories, such as realist and liberal interdependency narratives, in their holistic approach to the state, through the lens of their applicability to the Libyan file, and their use as a pathway to understanding Libyan puzzle and forecasting the future to the possible development . Through our research we made an informed argument that these theories as they equate the state with the country, failing to distinguish between the state, government, society and so on (Thomson, 1995), their use in the argument becomes largely similar to a “parlor debate” when applied to our case study. The closest argument to be found is the radical Krasner’s (1984) statism theory with the “us against them” dichotomy where the state is “us” and “them” are seen as other states and own society. This layout is much closer in our view to the Libyan backstage than any other in circulation.

We further study a plethora of power centers in Libya including tribes and clans and their proximity to the heart of the crisis be it nationally or internationally, not simply because they exist, but in an effort to formulate relevant arguments for future debate which is inevitable from our point of view.

This article is a polemics on the methodology of research in historical inquiry discussing recent publications in the domain of early Soviet children’s books. The study of this material is gaining momentum in recent years. Scholars use this material for many reasons: demonstration of the new facets of the Russian Avant-garde, investigation of peculiarities of the Soviet childhood, or for deconstruction of the subtle way of indoctrination of the first generation of the Soviet kids and construction of the New Man (as in my own book which happened to be the first English-language monograph on the subject of Soviet picture-books). The article problematizes the limits of the usage of the trendy theories (or their buzzwords – like “disempowerment”) for writing on the material which cannot be easily matched with these theories. It discusses broad methodological issues: the applicability of fashionable theories to a given subject matter and where-when-how the popular agenda turns into tendentiousness and distortion of facts.  

[1] For instance, Kelly, Catriona. Children’s World: Growing Up in Russia 1890-1991. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007; Kirschenbaum, Lisa A. Small Comrades: Revolutionizing Childhood in Soviet Russia, 1917- 1932. NY: Routledge Falmer, 2001.

[2] Steiner, Evgeny. Stories for Little Comrades: Revolutionary Artists and the Making of the early Soviet Children’s Book. Seattle-London: University of Washington Press, 1999.

In March 2019, a Round table was held in IDV RAS, which was attended by the staff Of the center for analysis and forecasting of Russian-Chinese relations of IDV RAS and invited experts. the Round table discussed topical issues of Russian-Chinese relations in the context of the current situation in international and bilateral relations. In particular, A. O. Vinogradov's report considered the prospects of Russian-Chinese relations in connection with the development of China's relations with the countries of the European Union.

In summer 2018 the United States launched a trade war against China. Before that, there was a chance that both sides would find a compromise, some hopes were still in place during bilaterial negotiations in May. However, new US tariffs on import from China were imposed in July and August with the total of 200 billion. The successful economic growth of China leads to the transformation of the world economic space, where the leading positions are still occupied by the countries of the West. The new US administration, fearing economic competition, announced a policy of containing China. In this case, Washington is going to violate the existing rules of international trade. The tension in the economic relations of the United States and China is growing. The authors look into the history, ideology and details of the conflict between two major powerhouses of the global economy. They try to investigate how both countries will be affected by the emerging trade war, which is also challenging the whole system of international trade regulation. Besides, the conflict between Washington and Beijing is understood as a fundamental shift in the world economy and politics where rising powers take the lead in globalization. For the first time in the history of Sino-American relations economic tensions between the two sides have reached such a scale. Analysis of their consequences far exceeds the standard methods of assessment of trade policy measures.

This article discusses a process that could be defined as ‘exchange of saints’ between Egypt and Syria in the second half of the first millennium. Coptic synaxaria and liturgical books contain commemorations not only of the local martyrs who were born and suffered in Egypt, but also a great number of commemorations of foreign saints who later became appropriated by the Coptic Church, such as a group of the so-called Antiochene saints whose relics were claimed to belong to Egypt either because these saints were martyred in Egypt or because the relics had been transferred to Egypt at some point. The presence of these saints in early hymnographic collections preserved in two manuscripts of the ninth century (M574 and M575 of the Pierpont Morgan Library) provides ample evidence of the continuing and lasting interest of the Egyptian Christians in Antiochene saints. Such enthusiasm could probably be explained by the work of Severus of Antioch (465-538) who did a great deal to promote the exchange of saints between the two communities. The article also examines the seeming absence of reciprocity on the Syrian side and reviews the evidence provided by the early material, such as the hymns attributed to Severus of Antioch, which came down to us in Syriac translation revised by James of Edessa in the seventh century. One of these texts, a hymn dedicated to the Egyptian martyrs, is of particular interest in regard to the ‘exchange of saints’ and shows that the process was in fact reciprocal.

Panmunjom On April 27, 2018, the DPRK and ROK leaders met at the “House of Peace” in the village of Phanmujom. The summit was filled with positive emotions and resembled a universal holiday. The South Korean side care220 Summary fully prepared for the meeting. A special role was assigned to the works of art. To decorate the space and set the tone for the meeting, the presidential administration chose large paintings, photographs and video art depicting Korean nature. Each stage of the meeting took place against the background of art. The article discusses works of art exhibited in the “House of Peace” at the inter-Korean summit in Panmujom. It explains the content and symbolism with which the South Korean side filled them. The use of art during the inter-Korean summit seems to be a good example of how to create a mood and inspire a meeting with necessary feelings.

The article is dedicated to the studies of communicative practices characterizing the system of traditional lifestyles of women in China and Russia. On the basis of comparative analyses of the novel Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes by Guzel Yakhina and a story The New Year Sacrifice by Lu Xun the basic types and characteristics of communication of women with social surroundings, family and nature are defined. These include: social and sacral communicative practices, based on social and ethno cultural values and ethno psychological attitudes. The dual character of ethno-cultural tradition forming women’s lifestyle is determined, constructive and destructive aspects of women’s communicative practices are studied. Women’s characters are studied as examples of the transformation of the traditional lifestyle within the context of conflicting relations between old traditional norms and new socio-cultural realities, various types of social bans and penalties (up to sanctioned abuse). The books by Guzel Yakhina and by Lu Xun reveal parallel trends in the artistic representation of basic characteristics of cultural traditions regulating women’s activities in family and society as well as similar ethical and psychological features of both main characters. The article studies two levels of realization of women’s communicative practices: “husband – wife”, and “son – mother”. It is stressed that the researched books both represent women’s communicative practices not only as verbal activity, but as a description of various types on non-verbal communication (touching, gestures, positions), which is more important for the image of a mother. The realization of women’s communicative scenarios, such as “standard scenario”, “gaining meaning of life scenario” and “scenario of losing one’s family” are examined.