Basic Divisions: Department of Russian Literature, Laboratory of Visual and Cultural Anthropology, Laboratory “Folklore of the Kama Region”.

 

Brief Description of Research Activities

The School of Literature Studies at the Faculty of Philology was established due to the scientific activity of such outstanding philologists as Professor V.V. Gippius, P.S. Bogoslovsky (1920s), B.P. Gorodetsky (1940s), R.V. Komina, N.S. Leites, S.Y. Fradkina (the 1950s – early 1990s) and other scholars who worked at Perm State University. In 1960s-1980s Doctor of Philology, Professor R.V. Komina (Head of the Department of Russian Literature (second half of the 1950s – the early 1990s) and Dean of the Faculty of Philology (1970s)) established the Literary School that was devoted to the typological investigation of the Russian historical and literary process.

 

The range of the scientific problems of the trend includes the following issues: integrative processes in the domain of spiritual culture; complex research of the process of Russian literature development in the XXth century; a combination of local data investigation (for example, folklore and literature of the Kama Region) and a broad cultural context; investigation of mechanisms of cultural process dynamics, the system of interrelations and interactions within the integral literary structures, synthetic “resulting” literary connotations, types of communication where various cultural languages (painting, music, theatre, cinema) are used; a complex interdisciplinary research of ways of interaction of traditional (including archaic) and modern culture. Scholars actively analyse such broad cultural, historical and artistic concepts as existentialism, romanticism, impressionism, expressionism and post-modernism. Along with this, classical literary and cultural issues are investigated in the aspect of general interdependent development of culture and modern science.

 

The Laboratory “Folklore of the Kama Region” provides the storage of documents from the field folklore practices in various areas of the Kama Region during the 1950s-1990s, and the data of urban folklore and various social and professional groups.

 

In the period of 1987-2010 laboratory investigators and students issued over 300 scientific publications. The collected materials were included in the series of the unique books about the Kama Region folklore (“Folk songs of the Perm Region”, collected folk stories etc.).

 

The laboratory established the following projects on the basis of the Perm Regional Local History Museum which were ordered by the Cultural Board of the Perm Region:

1) “Collection of folklore and ethnographic data of the Perm Region” which includes over 100.000 records of folklore songs, descriptions of rituals, clothes of the Kama Region peoples in the XIX-XX  centuries;

2) “Collection of child folklore of the Kama Region”.

 

The Laboratory of Visual and Cultural Anthropology of Perm State University carries out investigation of folk culture and shoots ethnographic documentary films. The laboratory specialists made the first in Russian Science video recording of a series of traditional peasant rituals (calendar and family), folklore and ethnographic data devoted to religious beliefs of the Kama Region peoples (recording of religious folklore texts, studying cultural and natural objects of worshipping etc.) were collected, analysis of the altered state of consciousness in traditional culture, as well as detailed recording and interpretation of narratives which were generated in the altered state of consciousness was made.

 

At the present time the sphere of scientific interests includes mostly the problems of investigation of symbolic resources of contemporary society: non-linear space-time systems of traditional culture (interrelation of landscape objects, calendar traditions and social identities); cultural borders and identity systems; symbolic forms of existence of informal social groups (“Finno-Ugric world”, youth subcultures); sacred symbols in everyday culture (phenomenon of folk religion).

 

Selected Publications Characterising Scientific Research Trend

1. Problems of literary process typology: inter-university collection of papers. Perm, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985. (In Russian)

2. Typological investigation of literary process: (case study of the Soviet literature): inter-university collection of papers. Perm, 1987. (In Russian)

3. Typology of literary process (case study of the Russian literature of the XIXth century). Perm, 1988. (In Russian)

4. Problems of literary process typology (case study of the Soviet literature): inter-university collection of papers. Perm, 1989. (In Russian)

5. Problems of typology of the Russian literature of the XXth century: inter-university collection of papers. Perm, 1991. (In Russian)

6. Literary process typology and writer’s artistic individuality. Perm, 1993. (In Russian)

7. Readings devoted to B. Pasternak: Proceedings of Inter-university Conference (October, 1990, Perm). Perm, 1990. (In Russian)

8. Arustamova A.A., Zyryanova E.V., Knyazeva E.A., Kondakov B.V., Ovchinnikova I.G. Development of Information and Communication Competence of a student of Faculty of Philology. Perm: Perm State University, 2007. 132 p. (In Russian)

9. Arustamova A.A., Kondakov B.V. Constant “America” in Russian literature of the XIXth century // Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology. 2010. Iss. 5 (11). pp. 111 – 120. (In Russian)

10. Arustamova A.A., Korolyova S.Y. Image of “master of forest” and mythologisation of space in  Komi-Permyak culture // Imaginative world of traditional culture: collection of papers. Moscow: State Republican Centre for Russian Folklore, 2010. pp. 141 – 145. (In Russian)

11. Gasheva N.V. Russian prose of the 1990s (aspect of individual creative work): Study Guide. Perm, 2008. 124 p. (In Russian)

12. Gasheva N.V. Literary structures of individual texts of Russian prose (the turn of the XX – XXI centuries): Study Guide. Perm, 2009. 102 p. (In Russian)

13. Gasheva N.V., Kondakov B.V. Development trends of Russian prose of the 1990s. Article 1 // Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology, 2010. Iss. 5 (11). pp. 175 – 183. (In Russian). Article 2 // Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology, 2010. Iss. 6 (12). pp. 172 – 179. (In Russian)

14. Korolyova S.Y. Knowing person in contemporary Komi-Permyak village // Slavonic culture and contemporary world: Proceedings of scientific conference. Iss. 6. Moscow, 2004. pp. 81–91. (In Russian)

15. Korolyova S.Y. Image of a righteous man in V. Rasputin’s “village prose” (towards the question of literary realisation of folk religiousness) // Perm University Herald. Series “Russian and Foreign Philology”. 2009. Iss. 1. pp. 79 – 89. (In Russian)

16. Korolyova S.Y., Kolosova V.B. Mythology of plants in A. Remizov’s fairy-tale cycles, “With the Sun” and “Towards the sea-ocean” (On correlation between mythological and poetic image and folklore origin source) // Myth in folklore traditions and Contemporary History culture (Readings of History and Theory of Culture. Iss. 57) / ed. by S.Y. Neklyudov. Moscow: Russian State University for the Humanities, 2009. pp. 110 – 128. (In Russian)

17. Rogotnev I.Y. Literary world of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and anti-world of carnival culture. Perm: Perm State University, 2010. 308 p. (In Russian)

18. Facts and true stories. Old stories recorded in the Kama Region/ by K.E. Shumov. Perm: “Janus” Press, 1991. 156 p. (In Russian)

19. Prayers, spells and invocations for all occasions/ by K.E. Shumov. Perm: “Janus” Press, 1992. 86 p.

20. True stories about poltergeist and other evil spirits living in barns, houses and bathhouses/by K.E. Shumov, E.S. Prezhentseva. Perm: “Janus” Press, 1993. 134 p. (In Russian)

21. Spells and invocations. In a life circle/ by K. Shumov. Perm: “Sagittarius” Press, 1998. 146 p. (In Russian)

22. Dora-Dora-pomidora. Children folklore of the Kama Region/by K.E. Shumov, E.S. Prezhentseva. Perm: Printshop №1, 1997. 99 p. (In Russian)

23. War and song. Soldier and war songs in the Kama Region folklore/by A.M. Belavin, I.A. Podyukov, A.V. Chernykh, K.E. Shumov. Perm: Perm State Pedagogical University, 2005. 200 p. (In Russian)

 

The Most Significant Fundamental and Applied Research Projects

1. 2002-2003 – The grant of the Volga Federal Region “Cultural heritage, preservation of traditions, intercultural dialogue”.

2. 2003-2004 – The grant of Inter-regional Institute of Social Sciences “Traditional culture in the time of cultural fault”.

3. 2001 – The grant of Soros Foundation for organisation of International Scientific Conference “Changing linguistic world” at Perm State University.

4. 2003-2004 – Programme “Inter-regional Investigation in Social Sciences” organised by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Kennan Institute for Perspective Russian Research (The USA), Carnegie Corporation in New York (The USA), John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Project “Traditional values in the time of cultural fault”. 

5. 2001-2002 – Programme “Integration” (jointly with Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) “Traditional culture and ethnic-cultural contacts in Komi-Permyatsky Autonomous Area”.

6. 1999-2000 – The grant of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation № 53, Federal Target Programme “Language, culture and society: complex research in Social and Cultural Anthropology” “Christian images and plots in Russian artistic culture of the XIX-XXth centuries”.

7. 1998-1999 – The grant of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation № 53, Federal Target Programme “Fundamental Higher Education Research in the sphere of Natural Sciences and Humanities”.

8. 2000 – 2001 – The grant of the Programme “Fundamental Higher Education Research in the sphere of Natural Sciences and Humanities. Russian universities” № 015.10.01.64 “Biblical images and plots in Russian artistic culture of the XIX-XXth centuries”.

9. 2002-2003 – The grant of the Programme “Fundamental Higher Education Research in the sphere of Natural Sciences and Humanities. Russian universities” UR.10.01.061 “Folk culture of the Russian and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Kama Region (historical, typological, functional, semiotic aspect)”.

10. 1998-1999 – The grant of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation № 67 “The Jew mentality in the aspect of the Russian literature of the XIX-XXth centuries”.

11. 1999-2001 – The grant of Russian Foundation for Basic Research № 99-80021 “Dialogue of cultures in the Russian province in the time of “turn of centuries” (the late XIXth-the early XXth century; the late XXth – the early XXIth century): ideas, images, trends”.

12. 2000-2002 – The grant of Russian Foundation for Basic Research № 00-06-80242 “Cultural archetypes and national traditions”.

13. 1998 - The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 98-04-18-019 “Traditional culture in a modern village”.

14. 2000-2002 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities “The generation of the 1990s in artistic culture and journalism: value transformations”.

15. 2002-2004 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 02-01-00520 а/Т “Cultural heritage of the Russian and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Kama Region. Interaction and development trends”.

16. 2003-2005 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 03-04-00243 а/Т “Encyclopedia “Writers of the Kama Region”. XVIII-XXI centuries”.

17. 2006-2007 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 06-04-82405 а/U “Theatre space of the Great Ural”.

18. 2007 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 07-04-03401g “Historical and contemporary Russia from the Slavonic peoples’ point of view”.

19. 2007-2009 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 07-04-82401 а/U “Russian classical literature in the cultural life of the Perm Region of the late XIX-the early XXth century”.

20. 2007-2008 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 07-04-82405 а/U “Perm literature and its reflection in Russian and Komi-Permyak artistic culture of the Kama Region in the second half of the XXth-the early XXIth century”.

21. 2008-2009 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 08-04-82411 а/U “Drama and theatre of the Urals: historical and cultural processes, development perspectives”.

22. 2009-2010 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 09-04-82410 а/U “Religious folklore of the Perm Region”.

23. 2011 - The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 11-14-59601 е/U “Veps forest and Ural taiga in folklore”.

24. 2004 – The grant of the Ministry of Education GO2-15-22 “Russian formula of existentialism”.

25. The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 03-04-00265 а/Т “The Kama Region literature: Study Guide for 5-9 grades”.

26. 2009-2010 – The grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation “The images of traditional culture in belletristic literature of the 1950 – 2000s: mythological poetical aspect”.

27. 2009-2010 – The grant of Russian Foundation for the Humanities № 09-04-82410а/U “Religious folklore of the Perm Region”.

 

Training of Researchers (Post-graduate and Doctoral Programmes)

Specialties 10.01.01 – “Russian Literature”; 10.01.08 – “Theory of Literature. Text Studies”.

 

International Research and Educational Activities

Educational and scientific cooperation with University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje (Republic Macedonia), University of Dunaújváros (republic Hungary) and other universities (foreign student education; editing joint symposium books; professional development programmes).

 

Research workers of the Laboratory of Cultural and Visual Anthropology collaborate with the International Commission on Visual Anthropology (E.M. Chetina and I.Y. Rogotnev are members of the Commission) and participate in the International Congress of Ethnologists and Anthropologists.

 

Since 2002 A.A. Arustamova, Reader of the Department, has been a member of the Society for American Culture Studying (Moscow) which is included into the European Association of Americanists. A.A. Arustamova is also a member of the Society for Multi-ethnic Studies of Europe and America.