Abstract: The aim of the research is to find archaic elements in decorate carving on houses in the Buoy district of the Kostroma Region, Russian Federation, and analyze whether these elements correspond to cultural heritage continuity criteria. The subject of the research is devorate elements made out of wood and fixed on houses. Taking into account references to the semantics of paganism and the use of these elements not only as decoration but also as protection from negative influence on houses and people living there, Travin focuses on general and local typical decoration elements on a wooden building. The method used by the author of the article is the visual fixation of decorative carving and comparison of visible decoration with decorative elements of pre-Christian era that can be found in this region based on the analysis of literature and images. The results of the analysis give an insight into the chain of cultural heritage and demonstrate the decorate elements have been used for hundrends or even thousands of years. The main outcome of the research is the proof that modern house craving elements in the northwest of the Kostroma Region have elements of the Bronze Age and the Neolitic Age. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author uses the comparison method to compare decoration of previous generations with decoration of current generation in a wide territory. The conclusion of the research is that modern decorative patterns have very ancient decorative elements which is a proof of the continuity of cultural heritage in this region. 

Keywords: folk, neolith, Buoy, heritage, house, casing, carving, decor, culture, crafts

Abstract: The aim of the research is to find a universal musical fear formula, in particular, formulas of sound portraits of Dracula, the key figure of the horror movie. For this regard, Babich analyzes expressive musical means that are often used by composers when creating a terrifying tone as well as technological musical solutions used in horror movies. The object of the research is the movies created in the XXth and XXIst centuries based on Bram Stocker's gothic novel 'Dracula'. Using the methods of acoustical expertise of the soundtrack, textological analysis of musical scores complex analysis of media content and comparative studies methods, the researcher analyzes musical solutions used in Dracula movies from the point of view of evolution of the horror movie genre. As a result of the research it becomes obvious that in movies in which a monster or another form of evil personification is a key figure, a composer usually creates a sound portrait of a villain. In most cases, this portrait takes form of a bright melodic formula which becomes the main theme tune. On the opposite, horror movies without a monster do not have a bright melodic tune and are based mostly on suspens-effects and action music. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the question about the method of creation of a villain's sound portrait in a monster-centered horror movies has never been raised before in music studies. Thus, the main result of the research is a universal musical 'Dracula formula' as an example of genre identity that is presented for the first time in the academic literature. This formula is used to create a sound image of personified evil in the world cinematography.

Keywords: devilish quint, melodramatic model, monster, Dracula, suspence, sound portrait, musical fear formula, horror movie, dissonance, suggestion

Abstract: The subject of the research is liminality in Russian folklore. In his article Fusu aanlyzes liminality as a typical feature of Russian folk culture caused by its adherence to pluralism and immensity. This specific feature of mentality is expressed in folklore as the core of etnic mind and national spirit. Fusu analyzes chronotopes, characters and narrative features of Russian fairy tales in which liminal locations and liminal characters are a frequent case. Fusu discusses how initiation rituals that imply liminality and transfer are expressed in fairy tales. To write this article, the author has used the historical-culturological, structural and comparative approaches. The research methodology also includes psychoanalysis that allows to interpret liminality as a longtime immersion into the unconscious and functioning of psyche at the borderline level. The author's special contribution to the topic is the anlaysis of how liminailty is expressed in Russian folklore based on the example of fairy tales and the author's conclusion that as the core of national everyday consciousness, folklore reflects boundedness typical for the world view and attitude of Russian ethnos. Liminal spaces and liminal characters in folklore tales reflect inherency of liminality from life and personality development. 

Keywords: folk spirit, mentality, initiation, transition, liminal space, liminal character, fairy tale, folklore, liminality, liminal location

Abstract: The object of this research is the imperial funeral crowns of the Russian monarchy in the XVIII – early XIX century. The goal consist in determination of the artistic patterns and analysis of funeral crowns as the jewelry works of art considering the stylistic development. Reference to archival documents allowed revealing the circumstances of creating these crowns and names of the masters, role they played in funeral ceremony, as well as reconstructing the exterior of some of them. The author is first to analyze the artistic image of the imperial funeral crowns that undergone transformation throughout the XVIII – XIX century. It related to the shifts in stylistic preferences in the Russian artistic culture, as well as replacement of the court jewelers who executed the royal order. The author describes the stylistic evolution of funeral crowns – from exuberant, made out of multicolor gemstones in the early XVIII, to silver gilded silver crowns that only imitated the image of imperial crown of their deceased holder.

Keywords: Dublon, Samson Larionov, Russian emperor, regalia, imperial court, funeral ceremony, funeral crown, the art of jewellery, imperial crown, Pierre Théremin

Abstract: This research examines the transformation of symbolism and use of the visual family emblems (Mon) in Japanese culture of the late XIX century. The new era of Meiji marked the beginning of a new level in foreign policy and simultaneously the search for the objects of national identification in the past. Many cultural traditions of feudal time passed into history, except those transformed for this period. Mon, emerged in the feudal era, resemble the process of cultural transformation in the society of that time. The author applies the method of comparison and generalization in comparing the traditions associated with Mon of the feudal time and modern time. The scientific novelty consists in examination of the use and changes in the symbolism of Japanese heraldry of the late XIX century. This period became transitional towards the “mass” culture of the XX century. The emblems Mon for the first time received legislative recognition, regulated display system, and contributed to the creation Japanese system of awards, although faded its previous meaning of private emblems.

Keywords: transformation, feudal era, traditional culture, Meiji era, emblems, symbols, culture, elite group, culture change, award system

Abstract: The object of the research is existential literature. The subject of the research is several existential novels and stories in Russia and abroad that illustrate circumstances giving rise to existential thinking especially in literature. The XXth century became a culminating point of philosophical ideas being expressed in a literary form. One of the versions of what caused that phenomenon is that philosophical discourse could no longer handle the great number of meanings that were supposed to be conveyed by a philosophical text. The structural functional method became the basis for research and allowed to define structural correspondences between philosophical generalisations and literary techniques. The method allowed to reveal literary techniques that performed the role of philosophical thought in literary images and events. The structure of a literary text intensifies the intrigue without letting knowing the reader about events. Philosophical essay implies operation with generalized substances to convey the message disregarding the fact whether the reader is ready to perceive it. Another important factor is the news opportunity that is given by a literary work.  The literary form of philosophical ideas in Russia was influenced by the peculiarity of a Russian classical thought closely connected with philosophical approaches and problems. Ancient logos without contributions of the European culture of the Modern Time is an ontological issue that organizes the philosophical discourse and gives space to literature and other philosophy-related areas. 

Keywords: images, concepts, categories, text, phenomenology, discourse, narrative, Russian philosophy, philosophy, literature

Abstract: This article conducts a semiotic model of Japanese models of communication with the Alien. The authors analyze the syntax of the system of relations with the Alien/Other, as well as the semantics of particular images of the Alien. Certain homogeneity of Japanese society makes encounter the Alien/Other an exceptional phenomenon, which reflects the behavioral patterns of Japanese cultural tradition, as well as peculiarities of otherness of the Alien that initiates the cultural contact. All of the aforementioned turns the analysis of this phenomenon of cultural encounter into a special heuristic problem that should be resolved within the framework of various disciplines and methodological approaches. The specificity of Japanese representations with regards to otherness is analyzed using the semiotic methods, primarily structural method, which allow determining the main oppositions help to establish a communicative paradigm of relationship with the Other: center/periphery, Japanese/Barbarians, openness/closeness, ordinariness/sacredness. Alongside the structural method, the author also uses the historical methods for examining this phenomenon in diachronic and synchronic aspects. Special attention is given to comparativist approach that allows correlating the image of the Alien with certain images of the Other, currently functioning in Japan in the context of youth fashion. The authors determine the common moments characteristic to representations of liminality of the Alien/Other, which transfer it from the area of ordinary to the area of supernatural. The analysis demonstrates that Japanese model of communication with the Alien is considered a multilayer phenomenon, based on the static traditional approach, as well as pragmatic dynamic approach. All of these leads to a complex classification of the Alien/Other that considers minute details capable of helping a subject to build such communication.

Keywords: European influence, shogunate, homogeneity, otherness, The other, alien, japan, colonial possessions, barbarians, center

Abstract: The subject of the research is the historical 'turn' in the culture of our days. The beginning of a new understanding of history can be found in the researches of post-modernism theorists who wrote about the loss of the sense of history in fragmentary (post) cultural space. Shapinskaya raises a question about what causes the interest of modern human in the past and historical events in the form of myths or transformed in fantasies and narratives. One of the causes of this phenomenon is escapism that allows human to avoid the burden of everyday life by dwelling in fairy tales and fantasy worlds. The other important cause is expansion of digital technologies allowing to integrate historical-mythological images of virtual space. Shapinskaya describes several strategies of representation of the past, extreme examples are educational forms of representation of past events based on modern achievements and historical games that perform purely entertainment functions. Shapinskaya gives representational examples of such forms of presenting past events used in popular culture and concludes that there is a connection between the 'historical turn' and general characteristics of (post)Soviet culture such as fragmentation, changes in temporality, digitalization and gamification. At the same time, interest in the past is typical for the humankind in general and modern people are much concerned about preservation of cultural memory. From the point of view, searches for the grounds of human existence in the past are important for the development of identity of a modern human. 

Keywords: cultural memory, virtual space, identity, fantasy, (post)modernity, representation, escapism, Myth, Images of the Past, game