Aim. We consider Russian deverbatives ending in -ние / -ение, -тие / -ие, -к(а) / -овк(а) / -ёжк(а), -ация, -ч(а), -б(а), -ок, and -ø in the role of taxis actualizers.

Methodology. The paper analyzes various deverbatives used with monotaxis and polytaxis prepositions of temporal and adverbial semantics, such as во время, в течение, после, перед, до, с, по, накануне, при, под, для, ради, вопреки, несмотря на, невзирая на, вследствие, в силу, благодаря, из-за, от. Use is made of such methods as hypothetical-deductive, inductive, descriptive, and classification methods, as well as the method of generalization and interpretation of linguistic material.

Results. It is found that deverbatives used with prepositions of temporal semantics actualize primary-taxis categorial situations of simultaneity, precedence and sequence. When combined with prepositions of adverbial semantics, they act as actualizers of secondary-taxis categorial situations of simultaneity.

Research implications. The paper examines the problem of actualizing taxis categorial situations of simultaneity and non-simultaneity in Russian statements with prepositional deverbatives. The obtained results make a contribution to the taxis theory and can be used in teaching language theory and functional grammar courses.

Aim. The role of words with the root -дом- is identified in literary texts written by F. A. Vigdorova in the 1950s–1960s.

Methodology. The paper establishes the frequency of F. A. Vigdorova’s usage of words with the root -дом- and examines their lexicographic characteristics. The nest of words with the root -дом- is analyzed, and the features of the semantic volume of lexemes with the root -дом- are revealed. It is shown that the lexeme дом has broad semantics. Use is made of the following research methods: linguistic observation, description, interpretation, statistical calculation, and elements of component analysis.

Results. Some features of the semantic volume of the lexeme with the root -дом- are identified for the first time in F. A. Vigdorova’s literary texts of 1950–1960. The obtained results allow one to expand the idea about the specifics of F. A. Vigdorova’s worldview as a linguistic personality, and about the features of her conceptual sphere. The results of the research can be used in lectures and practical classes on stylistics, linguistic semantics, and linguoculturology in higher educational institutions.

Aim. We identify the role of an interrogative sentence in the expression of the semantics of seemingness and determine the general semantic variant, which makes it possible to assert that an interrogative statement is one of the syntactic means of expressing the mode of seemingness.

Methodology. The research relies on the component analysis, which includes various aspects of the study of the language system: functional, semantic, pragmatic, and structural. In addition, use is made of the method of continuous sampling of the illustrative material.

Results. A related case for seemingness and interrogativity is the uncertainty and lack of information. Any interrogative sentence requires clarification of uncertainty. The very fact of raising a question indicates that the addressee doubts the knowledge of this or that moment of reality. Interrogative sentences belong to the far periphery of the category of seemingness and are located in the segment of the intersection of the field of interrogativity with the field of seemingness. The area of intersection of these fields is wide and depends on the contextual environment and the choice of lexical and syntactic means expressing the semantics of seemingness. The periphery can shift either towards the center of the field of interrogativity, or towards the center of the field of seemingness.

Research implications. The theoretical and practical significance is explained by the expansion of understanding of the role of interrogative sentences in the formation of functional and semantic categories and is determined by the possibility of using the obtained results in such courses as “Functional Grammar”, “Stylistics”, and “Modern Russian Language”.

Aim. We analyze manifestations of the “psychic” semantics of the subject, namely its reflexive association with the onym as a stimulus.

Methodology. The research is based on the results of an onomastic associative experiment, the purpose of which is to determine reflexive-associative reactions to such toponyms as Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Krasnodar. We identify and describe reflexive associations forming a certain onomastic concept as a mental structure, which is a model of the speaker’s orientation in the world at some part of the linguistic picture.

Results. All manifestations of the reflexive association on the onym as a stimulus are classified as follows: nomenclature, geographical location, regional identification, sights, famous personalities, social opportunities, physiological perception, emotional and social perception, and folklore association.

Research implications. Analysis of each selected category reflects the relationship between the use of proprietary and common vocabulary, depending on what associations arise in the process of the recipient’s mental activity.

Aim. We determine the syntactic function of an infinitive in an infinitive-substantive sentence, based on its grammatical and semantic features.

Methodology. A structural and semantic analysis is performed of the infinitive in infinitive-substantive sentences used in mass media. The range of analyzed constructions is determined using continuous sampling; the features of the infinitive are described using the structural and semantic method.

Results. Based on the results of the study, the syntactic function of the infinitive in infinitive-substantive sentences is determined. Grammatical features of infinitive-substantive sentences are revealed, which preserve the position of the subject receiving a predicative characteristic or evaluation in the predicate for the infinitive.

Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is determined by the expansion of the semantic field of infinitive-substantive sentences, and by clarifying the idea of the function of the infinitive in this type of sentences. The materials of the paper can be used in the practice of teaching modern Russian.

Aim. We study the objective world of F. M. Dostoevsky’s prose from the point of view of the writer’s artistic ontology. Boots as a detail of the hero’s costume are considered in the context of the systemic organization of the work, taking into account different, hierarchically correlated planes of the image, such as socio-cultural, psychological, ideological-philosophical, and metaphysical. The proposed approach allows one to broaden our understanding of the significance of an artistic detail both for characterization of a character and for building a worldview of a text.

Methodology. A typology of the mentions of the artistic detail in question is proposed. Boots are analyzed as a point of intersection of external and internal, as well as of objective and subjective planes of characterization of both the hero and the world, in interaction with which the character represents himself. We study the novels “Poor People” and “Demons”, which open and complete Dostoevsky’s appeal to subject matter in a dialogue with the aesthetics of the “natural school”. This makes it possible to trace the evolution of one of the most important artistic principles of Dostoevsky’s prose—the change in the ‘optics’ of the narrative and the transition from the external to the internal, i.e. emotionally, ideologically, and ontologically oriented existence of a detail in the artistic world of the writer.

Results. The features of the phenomenological image of the detail in the works of Dostoevsky and the specifics of playing with the image in various artistic contexts are revealed; a question is raised about the meaning of the ‘metatext’ plot of creativity at various levels of the work, including for revealing the specifics of the artistic detail in all the potential variety of its meanings.

Research implications. A new approach is suggested to the artistic detail in Dostoevsky’s prose, taking into account its multi-level structure and metatextual potential.

Aim. We analyze the philosophical problems in Anna Bunina’s poetry, who is reputed to be the founder of female lyrics in the Russian literature.

Methodology. Based on the material of A. P. Bunina’s poems, we consider two main thematic aspects of the problems of her work: the theme of the poet and poetry, religious and philosophical problems. The main methods of research are observation, synthesis, and interpretation of results.

Results. The idea of the thematic range of Bunina’s philosophical lyrics and gender characteristics of the interpretation of some aspects of philosophical problems are significantly expanded.

Research implications. The obtained results contribute to expanding the idea of the thematic range of Anna Bunina’s lyrics as well as of female poetry in the beginning of 19^th century.

Aim. We study the peculiarities of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s individual style in his fairy tales.

 Methodology. The formation of a holistic view of the individual style of an artist is a strategic task of any philological research. Following famous philologists of the early XX century like A. F. Losev and P. N.Sakulin, by an individual style is traditionally meant an organic combination of form and content embodied in works of art. The genre and thematic originality of the texts, the peculiarities of the choice of characters and ways of their creation, the use of allusions, on the one hand, and the embodiment of the philosophical picture of the author’s world using these means, on the other, allow one to determine the stylistic uniqueness of the writer. The stylistic originality of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales is formed based on the folklore fairy tale tradition, as well as on the tradition of I. A. Krylov’s fables and the techniques of satirical depiction used by N. V. Gogol. The paper considers three groups of fairy tales, conditionally characterized depending on the figurative system and genre specifics of the works. The philological analysis of the text of fairy tales is based on the work with the inner form of the word. This basic principle of considering a work of art was formulated by A. A. Potebnya.

Results. In analyzing the most famous fairy tales by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the semantic content of the characters’ images is considered, the means of their creation are revealed, the main motives of the works that form the writer’s position are described, and individual biblical allusions that expand the artistic content of the works are analyzed. The analysis made it possible to reveal the main features of the author’s style, manifested in the peculiarities of the fairy tale genre, in the use and transformation of the Russian satirical tradition, and in the writer’s expressed tragic worldview.

Research implications. The theoretical and practical significance consists, on the one hand, in identifying the features of the individual style in M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales, which are characterized by a special combination of fantastic and realistic ideas, as well as of an accusatory metaphor in creating images, a caricature in portraying the vices of society, an aphoristic form, and bitter irony reflecting the pain of the author for the contemporary reality. On the other hand, the research materials can be useful in the work of a literature teacher who reveals the world of the storyteller Shchedrin at literature lessons.

Aim. We analyze the features of the image of Russian space and time in the travel diaries of the German scientist S. G. Gmelin, leader of several academic expeditions of the 18th century.

Methodology. The research relies on descriptive, cultural-historical and historical-typological methods.

Results. Scientific works of S. G. Gmelin are studied from literary and literary-culturological points of view. The approach makes it possible to reveal the artistic potential and meaning in the scientific text and to determine the features of the scientific image and the ways the author solves the multitasking problem.

 Research implications. The theoretical and practical significance of the paper lies in the possibility of applying the analysis technique in the study of non-fiction texts in order to identify the meanings of an artistic, cultural, philosophical nature. The obtained results can be part of a special course on the problem of genre typology of the Russian literature of the 18th century.

Aim. We determine the place of the Bible in hagiographic literature on the example of the life of St. Stephen Makhrishchsky, as well as identify the main reasons that guided the authors of hagiographic works when using the biblical text.

Methodology. The paper considers the features of use and quoting of the Scripture in hagiographic literature, as well as its semantic load and the degree of variability. A comparison is performed with other literary monuments, primarily with the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, as well as the liturgical Charter and hymnographic texts of the Orthodox Church. Use is made of the methods of descriptive, comparative and problem analysis, which allow for a more detailed study.

Results. It is shown that the Scripture is an important element for hagiographic literature. As a rule, hagiographers use it to characterize events, show their significance, offer an illustration and explanation of the actions of saints and other characters, demonstrate their inner state, and emphasize loyalty to Christ.

Research implications. The obtained results can be used in further studies of ancient Russian literature, most of which had a religious character. In addition, the presented material can be used in teaching Russian literature courses.

Aim. We identify and investigate the writer’s critical and ironic aspect aimed at the positive characters of V. P. Kataev’s comedy “A Million Torments”.

Methodology. The criticism, reviews, articles of the writers of the Soviet and post-Soviet period are analyzed. The study makes use of structural and sociological methods of studying literature. A selective analysis of the work is carried out, the studied group of characters is identified, and the artistic elements used by the author are determined.

Results. The results of the study compensate for the incompleteness of the critical approach to the play, which in the Soviet period was associated with political correctness, censorship, and in recent times with the lack of research interest in the drama of the 1930s. Since the appearance of the comedy in public, “A Million Torments” was considered to be a sharply satirical work. However, the analysis established the presence of a second semantic and meaningful plan of the comedy. The analysis showed that the author in the play makes an active criticism of the ruling class – the proletariat. With the turned dialogues (the author’s voice), an allusion to the work of D. S. Merezhkovsky “The Coming Boor”, the writer directs the attention of the reader and the viewer to the positive characters of the comedy. With sharp satire, the critical and ironic aspect of the writer, mostly located in the field of content, points to the disturbing features of the socio-cultural appearance of the nascent working intelligentsia.

Research implications. Kataev’s critical and ironic aspect in the play “A Million Torments” can serve for holistic understanding of the work in the context of the drama of the early 1930s. The research materials can be used at lectures on drama of the 1920–30s of the last century and seminars dedicated to the drama of V. Kataev. The results of the work can be used by artistic directors of theaters, directors, and stage designers in staging Kataev’s dramatic works on stage.

Aim. We identify peculiarities of the existence of the concept of “little man” in modern Chinese cultural space, and examine the TV series of modern China, which shows hard life of modern youth in the city. The image of the Chinese movie hero is synchronized with that of a “little man” in the Russian literature, first described by the Russian writer V. Belinsky. A “little man” is a type of a literary hero who appeared in the realistic works of Russian writers at the beginning of the XIX century.

Methodology. The paper relies on the method of linguistic, translational, and linguoculturological analysis of the film text and on the hypothetical-deductive method.

Results. The concept of the “little man” in modern China in the film discourse cannot be isolated from the cultural and historical context. The obtained results are absolutely new and can be used in some areas of applied linguistics (linguoculturology, linguopragmatics, semantics), as well as related sciences (media communications, intercultural communication, cultural studies, philosophy, etc.).

Research implications. Theoretical and practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using the obtained results to study the new language of cinema and Chinese film discourse, as well as to compare Chinese and Russian from linguistic and cultural points of view and to investigate Chinese- Russian translation. The results of the study are of practical importance in the context of further scientific understanding of the posed problem, and can be applied in such areas of modern science as the theory of film discourse, media discourse and media communication, gender linguistics, etc.