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 Georgy Arbatov Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences

Maxim Gorky Institute of World Literature

Russian Society of American Culture Studies

 

Abstracts of the RSACS  LI International Conference

 «The Concepts of «America» and «American» in Literature and Culture of the USA: Historical and Modern Connotations» 

December 2-6, 2025, Moscow

 

Andrew Wiget

Professor Emeritus, New Mexico State University

“I, Too, Sing America”: When A Spring Wind Arose in America and the Soviet Union

The theme of this conference — «The Сoncepts of «America» and «American» in Literature and Culture of the USA” –is not only timely but urgent.  Today the ways in which Americans and America are represented not only to the world but to themselves is more than an academic question.   We are in a reactionary moment.  The idea of American exceptionalism has taken a bizarre and dangerous turn.  In both the United States and abroad, attempts are being made to invalidate the idea of America as a complex historical mosaic of experience.  Instead, there is official pressure to revert to an older, less complicated idea of America and an American national character.   In this talk I want to argue for two points.

First, that this is, in fact, a genuinely reactionary response to the actual success of promoting that more complex vision of America through law, literature, and public discourse.  I draw on my own personal and academic experience.  I was raised and educated in that simpler notion of American national character, but my later career has been shaped by demonstrating the shallowness and inadequacy of such a simple notion.

Second, there are dangerous consequences to seizing this reactionary moment as a way to reassert bizarre notions of American exceptionalism and national character.  In the US, the present government believes that ideologically reshaping public discourse on national identity and history is necessary step towards forging a unified national identity.   However, experience shows that such a policy marginalizes large segments of the population and  will inevitably lead to resistance, which will be used to justify violent suppression.  In short, such steps ultimately undermine the goal of national unity that they aim to promote by showing that such exclusionary national identities have no inherent truth and can only be maintained by force.

For me personally–and I believe it is true for all of us all of us positioned socially as academics–the dangers of this reactionary moment can only be resolved by restoring a concept of  national identity based on a truthful vision of national history and culture as complicated  and inclusive.  For me, a transformative moment in this regard was a 1991 seminar I organized in Moscow in which American and Russian scholars of American literature met to discuss the shape of the new, second edition of The Literary History of the United States then being developed at IMLI.

 

Dr. Carolyn Calloway-Thomas

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies

Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) Advisory Expert

World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence

Past President, World Communication Association

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana USA

 

The Otherness of the Other: Ethnic Diversity, Tribalism, and Empathy

On June 5, 2009, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, who was imprisoned at Buchenwald concentration camp as a 16-year-old boy, toured the site with President Barack Obama during the latter’s trip to Germany.  In commenting on the barbarism  resident at Buchenwald and in reflecting on other terrible and evil acts that are  “meant to diminish the humanity of other human beings,” from Cambodia to Bosnia, Nobelist Wiesel asked a  compelling question, ”Will the world ever learn?”  And then he offered, we human beings must “stop hating the otherness of the other” and “respect it.”

In my talk, I will argue first that genuine efforts to foster ethnic and racial inclusion are leading to an ossification of discourses and a troubling specie of tribalism (Us versus Them), which undermine sociability and civil society. Second, drawing on Yuval Noah Harari’s concepts of subjectivity and inter-subjectivity, as well as on Kantian, Stoic and other notions of a respect for human dignity, I will offer a pedagogy of empathy as a humanizing way for deepening intercultural relationships among human beings in the United States.  Finally, I will discuss how a pedagogy of empathy (a toolbox), fused with reasoned discourse and thoughtfulness can promote more compassion in the world.  If not now, then, when?

 

Section 1. Journalism

Coordinator Dr. Andrey Ruskin

 (Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia)

December 2, 2025,  Tuesday, 10 am – 1 pm (MSK)

1. Nikolai Zykov

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia

Everyday life of Americans as covered by The Voice of America

The topic of everyday life in America was regularly covered by the oldest US international broadcaster. Social, economic, and cultural aspects of this topic were addressed. The broadcaster’s primary goal was to familiarize listeners with issues of social structure, social institutions, and the functioning of the various branches of power. The main task was to demonstrate the characteristics of the American way of life. Both informational and analytical materials were published on this topic, including video information. The Russian section also regularly covers the lives of people of Russian descent and Russian-speaking Americans, for example, discussing their work or their own businesses. In recent years, information projects on social life, economics, and culture have successfully developed. One of the most interesting materials was a story about Russian America, a museum preserving the memory of Russians who lived in America in the 19^th century. These stories about everyday life in America have become very popular with audiences.

2. Irina Isakova

Independent researcher,  Moscow, Russia

Changing Image Perceptions of America: civil-military relations – traditions and current realities

The topic has a real practical significance for understanding domestic and foreign policy decision-making processes in the U.S., and for evaluation, forecasting of the Washington’s potential actions and reactions in variety of domestic and foreign policy situations. The report will examine a set of concepts that makes a pattern of the civil-military relations that traditionally considered to be a showcase of the American way of life and governance. The evolution of civil-military relations, their current state define today’s cultural and political background, enabling to demonstrate the framework and directions of the developments within the American society, especially under Trump 2.0 administration. The issues of governance, leadership, authority, responsibility and accountability are at the core of the «new vision» of the civil-military relations.

3. Arseniy Kanidyev

State Academic University of Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Algorithmic Constitutionalism and Freedom of the Press: Redefining the First Amendment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Content Moderation

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has historically served as a foundation for the development and implementation of the “fourth branch of government”.

American journalism has been a primary mechanism for regulating civic society and shaping the country’s socio-political landscape. Beyond the reconfiguration of the U.S. information sphere with the advent of the Internet and social media, a new variable has emerged – artificial intelligence – as an additional transformative factor in the functioning of social platform algorithms. In the era of widespread adoption of products by major tech corporations into American culture and everyday life, a “constitutional gap” has formed in the U.S. legal domain: American technology companies are simultaneously protected by the First Amendment as media publishers, yet they bear no fundamental responsibility for the instability and negative externalities generated by their platform algorithms. This research offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the constitutional crisis surrounding the right-wing culture of the First Amendment, and its impact on current regulation of both traditional American journalism outlets and modern social networks and platforms. Utilizing doctrinal-legal analysis, empirical research, comparative law, regulatory frameworks, and case studies, the study traces the genesis of regulatory approaches toward American journalism – from its earliest historical practices to its contemporary challenges. The article demonstrates that American constitutional doctrine can borrow the European regulatory framework for content governance. “Algorithmic Constitutionalism” would preserve the core protections of free speech in the U.S., while imposing meaningful management requirements: platforms would justify algorithmic restrictions as proportionate to legitimate interests (such as preventing illegal content and protecting minors), subject to independent review. This approach diverges from both the American absolutist stance on platform control and the European paternalistic oversight of content restriction. The research reveals that normative frameworks capable of safeguarding both expressive freedom and algorithmic accountability are empirically feasible and constitutionally consonant. Without doctrinal evolution, the First Amendment risks becoming a protection exclusively for elites overseeing technological infrastructure. Absent constitutional constraints, this phenomenon could fundamentally alter the democratic balance in the United States.

4. Nikita Litvinov

The HigherSchool of Economics – The NationalResearchUniversity, Moscow, Russia

Contemporary Russian-language Media of America and Russian-speaking-Americans: Features and difficulties of interaction  

Nowadays in the U.S. non-English Media begin to play a more and more significant role. The main audience of such publications are the various diasporas. This report examines how contemporary Russian-language media in America cover (or don’t) events of both global and federal significance, as well as local issues of interest, primarily to the diaspora. It was found that media almost totally ignore particularity of its primal audience. This is attributed to Russian-speaking diaspora’s reluctance, and often inability, to perceive itself as a separate group with its own values and heroes, and their desire to integrate more quickly into American society.

 

5. Maxim Razmyarchik , Lipov Artem Alekseevich

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia

Countering the Spread of Disinformation and “Deepfakes”: the experience of American Fox News and CNN TV channels in 2025 

In the context of the trust crisis to the media and the rapid spread of digital disinformation, including generative technologies such as “deepfake”, leading news organizations, including TV news channels are becoming key institutions to verifying information. The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the strategies of the two leading US cable 24-hours news channels, Fox News and CNN, in countering digital disinformation. Special attention is paid to how their ideological orientation influences approaches to fact-checking and attempts to restore audience trust. An analysis of the practices of these TV channels makes it possible not only to assess the effectiveness of their measures, but also to identify the underlying causes of the crisis of trust rooted in the politicization of the media space.

6. Maria Sargsyan

Southern Federal University, Institute of History and International Relations, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

The Dynamics of American Media Discourse on Latin American Migration during Donald Trump’s Second Presidential Term

Donald Trump’s second presidential term was marked by the tightening of deportation policies, the introduction of new entry restrictions, and the expanded mobilization of federal agencies in immigration control. These developments reshaped the American media landscape and deepened polarization in the coverage of immigration. Left-wing outlets emphasized the protection of immigrant rights, whereas right-wing media reinforced narratives of control and national security. Consequently, xenophobic framings of Latin American migration became increasingly prominent within public discourse. This study examines U.S. immigration coverage through the lens of critical discourse analysis to explore how political rhetoric and media representations shape public perceptions of immigration. The analytical framework reveals how polarization and media rhetoric evolve in response to the tightening of immigration policy, offering insight into the interaction between political and media discourse. The research aims to trace the evolution of narratives about Latin American immigrants in liberal and conservative American media during Trump’s second term. It establishes theoretical foundations drawing on Teun A. van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis and scholarship on Latin representation, compiles a corpus of news articles classified by political orientation, and applies both qualitative and quantitative methods, including content and discourse analysis. The approach enables the identification of key narrative structures and the comparison of semantic fields across left- and right-leaning outlets, providing an integrated view of how ideological positions shape representations of migration.   The study hypothesizes that the Trump administration’s increasingly assertive immigration rhetoric intensified ideological polarization: conservative media amplified narratives of control and security, while liberal outlets adopted a reactive stance centered on human rights and inclusion. While interpretive subjectivity remains a potential limitation, this concern is mitigated through transparent and consistent coding procedures. The findings reveal a persistent ideological divide in immigration discourse during the Trump’s second term. Conservative outlets increasingly emphasized security-oriented narratives, whereas liberal platforms highlighted humanitarian and rights-based perspectives. The shift from administrative to identity-centered framings coincided with a rise in xenophobic undertones. Overall, the study underscores the mutual reinforcement between political rhetoric and media representation of migration. It illustrates the analytical value of discourse studies in understanding how media shape public perception amid growing polarization.

 

7. Fedor Serdotetsky

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia

The Image of America and Americans in Digital Culture: Representations in the Telegram Discourse of International Media 

The digital age has radically transformed the ways in which national identities are represented. Today, America exists not only as a geopolitical and cultural entity but also as a media construct circulating within a global digital environment. This transformation becomes especially visible during times of crisis, when national narratives collide and are reinterpreted through new modes of communication. This study focuses on the representations of the concepts “America” and “Americans” in the Telegram discourse during the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2023-2025). The material includes posts from both English-language and Russian-language channels (The New York Times, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, RIA “Novosti”, RT, The Voice of Palestine, The People for Israel, and others), representing diverse types of media actors – from institutional outlets to grassroots initiatives. The research employs frame analysis and the concept of affective publics (Papacharissi, 2015), viewing Telegram as a part of the contemporary American media ecosystem where global audiences encounter competing digital representations of America. Within this space, the idea of America acquires multiple meanings: as a symbol of freedom, democracy, and humanitarian mission, or as a marker of hegemony, double standards, and cultural imperialism. In the English-language discourse of Telegram, America retains the classic features of soft power: rationality, humanism, and a moralizing mission. In contrast, Russian and Middle Eastern channels construct an alternative narrative –America as a source of instability, an instrument of external control, and a moralizing actor on the global stage. Telegram thus becomes an arena where two cultural models of American self-representation collide: the idealistic and the critical. These findings suggest that Telegram functions as a mirror of contemporary American cultural identity, reflecting the interplay between national and transnational meanings. The image of America in this digital context serves not only as an object of external perception but also as a dynamic element of the global cultural dialogue in which the very idea of “America” is continually reconstructed through the language of digital culture.

8. Yegor Akimov

High School #1, Yoshkar-Ola, Mari-El, Russia

The political culture of the «Deep South» through the prism of machine politics: the phenomenon of Harry Byrd Sr.

The study of political machines in American political science traditionally focuses on the phenomenon of urban bosses of the «northern» type. However, the political organization created by Senator Harry Byrd Sr. in Virginia in the middle of the 20th century is a unique and insufficiently studied phenomenon of «southern» machine politics. Its stability, functioning mechanisms, and profound influence on the political culture of the «Deep South» require a separate analysis. The problem of the study is that to what extent the «Byrd Organization» was a classical political machine, and to what extent it was a specific product of a regional political culture characterized by patriarchal conservatism, strict racial hierarchy and a one—party system. The relevance of the research is due to the need to review the established theoretical framework of machine policy and to understand the long-term institutional legacy of such systems. The main conclusions show that the stability of the Byrd machine was based on three fundamental principles: a system of patriarchal patronage built around rural elites; ideological conservatism, which used the rhetoric of “massive resistance” to consolidate the electorate; and effective control over all levels of government under the domination of the Democratic Party. An important result is a demonstration of how regional political culture has transformed classical models of machine politics, creating a stable symbiosis of traditional relations and modern management practices.

9. Polina Minailenko

Saint-Petersburg State University, Political Sciences Department, Russia

From Civil Religion to Narrative Identity: The Image of America in Presidential Holiday Proclamations 

The holiday is a special socio-cultural phenomenon. It takes the community out of the state of everyday life, creating a space for collective experience and symbolic affirmation of identity. The holiday proclamations of US presidents are not just ritual addresses, but also a tool for constructing national identity. The proclamations capture the view of what “Americans” and “America” represent, and also reflect the transformation of cultural symbols in the public consciousness. To analyze the content of the concepts “Americans” and “America”, a corpus of 166 presidential proclamations and addresses was formed, covering the rhetoric of the last four US presidents – George W. Bush, B. Obama, D. Trump and J. Trump. Biden. The study includes texts dedicated to 6 federal holidays. The Bush administration is characterized by a synthesis of patriotism, religious universalism, and a heroic narrative. “America” is portrayed as a chosen nation, bringing freedom to the world, and “Americans” as descendants of pioneers and defenders of freedom. This discourse is a kind of civil religion. For Obama, holiday texts become a space for rethinking this rhetoric in the spirit of multiculturalism and inclusion. He introduces the voices of previously marginalized groups. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is bringing holiday discourse back into the mainstream of so-called nostalgic nationalism. His proclamations affirm a traditional, heroic version of America. Joe Biden offers the opposite strategy to him: his proclamations are focused on recognizing historical traumas and strengthening solidarity, similar to Obama’s strategy.  Thus, all presidents retain a common narrative of American exceptionalism (“beacon of hope, freedom and opportunity”) – the understanding of who Americans are is changing significantly. All presidents formally exclude indigenous communities from the civil nation, leaving them outside the symbolic “we”, although noting their contribution. Since the presidency of D. Trump’s holiday proclamations no longer portray America as a united people, like Bush’s or even Obama’s. In Trump’s rhetoric, the enemy shifts inward: “radical activists”, “anti-patriotic forces” that undermine “true American values” and destroy American culture and history.  The change of these narratives reflects the transition from the essentialist to the narrative model of national identity. America is no longer perceived as a static ideal with clearly defined boundaries; the essence of Americans is becoming blurred and mobile. The cultural changes characteristic of the postmodern era – the multiplicity of identities, the fragmentation of value systems, and symbolic overload — are directly reflected in presidential proclamations, which become a mirror of the cultural shift.

10. Konstantin Romanov

Department of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

“Canada Strong” vs. “Canada First”: Conceptualizing “Canada” and “Canadians” in Canadian Socio-Political Discourse of 2025

2025 marked a period of profound internal transformations and a reassessment of foreign policy orientations for Canada, particularly in the context of evolving relations with the United States. The general parliamentary elections in April, and the preceding campaign, thus transcended mere routine political procedure, becoming a focal point for the re-evaluation of fundamental national concepts.

This report analyzes how calls for national unity were shaped during the election campaign and subsequent dialogue with the new American administration, and what competing visions of “Canada” and “Canadians” were proposed by key political forces. It will examine the ideological content of the slogans of the Conservative Party (“Canada First. For A Change”), the Liberal Party (“Canada Strong”), and the public movement “Elbows Up, Canada!”, and reveal their role in constructing contemporary Canadian identity.

 

Section 2. American Culture of the 17^th-19^th Centuries

Coordinator Dr. Boris Maksimov

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia)

December 2, Tuesday 2.00 pm-5.00 pm MSK

 

1. Helen Lioznova

Lomonosov Moscow State University School of Public Administration, Russia

The Concept of “America” in the North American Colonies at the Turn of the 17^th to 18^th Centuries: the contribution of New England Puritanism to the formation of regional identity and American self-awareness.

The purpose of this research is to examine how New England Puritanism influenced the development of regional identity and protest ideology in the colonies of North America at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The development of American political institutions, culture, and national identity was significantly influenced by New England puritanism. Analyzing Puritan “histories”, sermons, pamphlets, and the first American newspapers, the author concludes that indications of the development of regional identity were there long before the American Revolution started. The foundations of protest ideology that would serve as the basis for the future struggle were laid in the late 17th century in the New England colonies of North America, under the influence of religious worldview, socio-political views, and the direct participation of Puritan ministers in opposition actions.

 

2. Savelii Iakhnovets

Lomonosov Moscow State University Law Department, Russia

Philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment as the basis of XVIII century’s culture. Civilizational Analysis of T. Jefferson and T. Paine views 

The main problem of philosophy of the age of Enlightenment as a kind of culture of civilization of XVIII century is seen by the author in the ways of the advancement of law and state, person and state, religion and state. The adoption of the Declaration of Independence showed that the rights of the individual are immutable principles of any culture, religion has separated from political institutions, but remained in the hearts of people: religious foundations of life and vision of the world have been preserved. Thomas Paine was a sort of revolutionary liberator who wanted the independence of the United States, a religious philosopher of polytheism who influenced the culture of the time being under preview. Thomas Jefferson and his contribution to human culture in the form of a long and arduous journey towards establishing the ultimate form of majority democracy, freedom of speech (in which there is an expression of culture); has left its beneficial mark on the US.

 

3. Boris Maximov

Lomonosov Moscow State University Journalism Department, Russia

The American Face of Edgar Allan Poe

In the USA, until the middle of the last century, Edgar Allan Poe was considered as an importer of European (primarily German) horror and the traditions of French intellectual prose of the Enlightenment to the New World. It is characteristic that a monograph on the ‘American face’ of Edgar Poe appeared only at the very end of the last century. Meanwhile, Edgar Poe’s prose — namely his grotesques, arabesques, and ‘tales of ratiocination’ — reveals a whole range of features of the American mentality. These include, in particular: rejection of fatalism, distrust of speculative philosophy, a critical (albeit ambiguous) attitude towards the aristocracy (which is condemned for snobbery and excesses of overconsumption), empiricism (and more broadly, inductive mode of thinking), sensualism, a Calvinist fixation on the themes of sin and retribution, a Puritan rejection of crude sensuality, and religious (prophetic) rhetoric.

 

4. Andrey Taigildin

Mari State University, Yoshkar-Ola, Mari-El, Russia

«The Norman» Southerners or the Development of National Identity of the White Population in the Slave-owning States of the United States before the Civil War of 1861-1865

There was a very important question for Americans “who were they?” in the antebellum USA. Despite the consolidation of the United States after the British-American War of 1812-1815, differences between the South and the North increased. In the South, a special ideology evolved, that based on states’ rights ideas, slavery, a special way of life, etc. There was an idea among southern intellectuals that Southerners are different from Yankees (northerners). Gradually, this idea was transformed into the ideology of southern nationalism. Many writers, journalists, and politicians in the region began to claim that Southerners were descendants of the Normans, unlike northerners of the Anglo-Saxons. This idea did not have time to develop into a coherent concept, but it was reflected in the lives of Southerners, the fascination with novels about knights, for example, by Walter Scott, the formation of the code of honor and the ideology of Southern nationalism.

 

5. Tatyana Belova

Philology Department

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

National Identity of Americans in the Novella Daisy Miller by H. James (1878) in Historical Connotations

The presentation examines a vital at the time problem of national identity of the “Europeanized Americans” – adherents of the unshakable high society manners, and their unjust opposition to the natural behavior of Daisy Miller, a young girl from the “American heartland” who innocently violates social conventions and is ostracized for it.

A love-sick young American F. Winterborn having lost after the long study in Europe his national identity and American spirit of freedom, is no longer able to defend Daisy in the eyes of his fellow countrymen or explain the true reason for her natural behavior in their society. Guided by false social conventions, he fails to stand up for her.  The story’s tragic conclusion further reinforces the humanistic message conveyed by the author in its subtext.

 

6. Nikita Leonov

Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

The Genesis of the Myth of the West in American Culture 

The chronotope of the West in American culture was formed inextricably linked with the concept of the frontier. Benjamin Franklin already did not separate these concepts, understanding them as a kind of free, undeveloped space that would play a decisive role in shaping American identity.

In his seminal work The Frontier in American History (1893), Frederick Jackson Turner identified the role of the frontier as crucial for the formation of a unique society whose mentality has nothing in common with the nations of Europe. Turner was the first to describe the history of America based on the process of continental colonization and defines the genesis of the American nation through contact with the wild environment of the West and conflict with the indigenous people. According to Turner, an American is a man formed through contact with the wild environment — the prototype of the “cowboy”, which in the future became an obligatory attribute of the Western genre, and from there got into popular culture, where it still exists in various guises. Despite the fact that Turner’s concept did not stand up to factual criticism, the West was finally consolidated in the mass consciousness as a kind of mythological space where the American national myth was created. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Buffalo Bill became heroes of national myths, forming the American archetype of the frontier hero, a man standing between the chaos of nature and the order of civilization.  Our study offers a multidisciplinary view on the problem of the genesis of the myth of the West, its socio-historical background and the processes of progressive formation of national identity. It examines the national myth in the context of the world practice of myth-making and examines the American myth of the West in comparison with the Russian and French national myth.

 

7. Eugenia Andreyeva

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Alaska in the Works of American Artists in the Context of Regional Exploration in the 19th–20th centuries

The report examines the process of Alaska’s exploration by Americans and its reflection in painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on the analysis of key historical events such as the purchase of the region from Russia, the colonization of the territory and development of extractive industries during the gold rush, the attainment of territorial status, the creation of national parks and reserves, as well as cultural interactions with indigenous peoples, it traces how the image of Alaska evolved in American painting over two centuries. Special attention is given to how historical events and societal changes were reflected in artworks, and how painting served as a means of understanding and integrating new territories into the national consciousness, depicting the natural beauty, cultural heritage, and ecological issues of the region. The study attempts to justify the importance of Alaska’s artistic perception in shaping the region’s national identity and its acceptance as part of the United States of America.

 

8. Peter Korolyov

Kursk Liceum # 1, Russia

Facets and tendencies of American culture of the 17th – 19th centuries in the research of the Kursk scientific school (in the works of T.V. Alentyeva and M.A. Filimonova).

Renowned Russian American studies scholars from Kursk, T.V. Alentyeva and M.A. Filimonova, have been fruitfully and effectively researching the culture, history, and public opinion of the United States in the early modern period for many years. For decades, these Doctors of History from the capital of the Nightingale region have supervised doctoral dissertations. Until 2022, both of these distinguished scholars have repeatedly undertaken research trips to the United States. The breadth of research topics and areas in the history of the United States in the early modern period is also astounding, ranging from gender history and the history of political satire and caricatures to the history of public opinion studies. The Institute of American History, founded by T.V. Alentyeva and M.A. Filimonova at Kursk State University, which has been successfully operating for 15 years, helps everyone interested in the problems and prospects of American history, from university professors and school teachers to graduate students and first-year students. The culture of the early modern period is inseparable from the historical era.

 

9. Eugenia Pogadayeva

Perm State National Research University, Russia

Images of America and Americans in the Poetry of Walt Whitman and Pablo Neruda: Ontological and Typological Similarities and National Originality 

The research report attempts to analyze the ontological and axiological foundations of Americanness in Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855–1892) and Pablo Neruda’s Canto General (1950). The relevance of the study is due to the importance of Pablo Neruda and Walt Whitman in world literature and in the literatures of the two Americas. Moreover, the ontological and typological similarities of their poetics remain insufficiently explored. It is concluded that both Whitman and Neruda place at the centre of their poetic universes an image of America, which is typologically similar and nationally distinct. The typological similarities are seen in the poets’ search for a cultural and civilizational archetype of an ideal society, a New World. Although the poets’ image of the New World is presented as an ontological substance, which is suprahistorical and mythological, it is inseparable from America. What distinguishes Whitman’s image of the New World from Neruda’s is the different spatial models they use: Whitman constructs an open spatial model of a horizontal world-cosmos based on urgia, whereas Neruda builds an interspatial model of a vertical world-chaos grounded in gonia (G.D. Gachev’s terms). The typological affinity of Whitman’s and Neruda’s poetry is also traced in the image of an ideal American they develop. The poets create the image of an ethnotype, a New Man, who constitutes a perfect American and a harmonious universal human being at once, a collective individual embodying North and Latin Americans as well as all humanity. At the same time the poets’ image of a man is nationally specific: pioneering becomes a North American’s defining feature, while tellurism, rooted in the indigenous, characterizes a true Latin American. Another typological convergence lies in the proclaimed non-Europeanness expressed in the poets’ appeal to a poetics of supranormativity. However, Whitman’s lyrical subject, opposing himself to the European, nonetheless acknowledges the continuity with Europe, whereas Neruda’s subject rejects everything European and sees his roots primarily in the indigenous peoples.

 

Section 3. American Culture of the 20^th and 21^st Centuries

Coordinator Prof. Dr. Elena Kornilova

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

December 3, Wednesday, 10 am – 1.30 pm (MSK)

 

1. Olga Antsyferova

Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia

Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy: A Century Later

2025 marks the centennial anniversary of the publication of Theodore Dreiser’s novel An American Tragedy. The paper will examine the history of the novel’s cinematic: Sergei Eisenstein’s screenplay, approved by the author but rejected by Hollywood; Josef von Sternberg’s film, where sociological motifs were eliminated and therefore met with hostility by the author. George Stevens’s postwar film adaptation, A Place in the Sun, which set the novel in the more class-free early 1950s, became a tragic story of love and the hero’s desire to dissolve into the fantasies imposed on the individual by society through popular culture (cinema) and advertisement.  A Place in the Sun was destined to make a cult film among both film intellectuals (Jean-Luc Godard) and the mass public, embodied in the protagonist of S. Erickson’s novel Zeroville and G. Franco’s film of the same name. Over time, cinema has increasingly transformed this text into a space for intertextual play, from which the real author is eliminated, and the plot is transformed into a mythologem of mass consciousness, and as such, inspired Woody Allen’s London trilogy (Match Point (2005), Scoop (2006), and Cassandra’s Dream (2007).

2. Natalia Petrovskaya

Georgy Arbatov Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies, RAS, Moscow, Russia

Americans and Work: 250 Years of Transformation from Farmer to Freelancer

For two and a half centuries, work in the United States has been not merely an economic category, but a cornerstone of national identity. The idea of an “American” as a self-reliant individual, defined by their own efforts and labor, has undergone a complex evolution—from the ideal of the self-sufficient farmer to modern platform-based employment and algorithmically managed labor. The core problem addressed in this study is that in the 21st century, the traditional work ethic—a central element of the US cultural code—is facing the challenges of digitalization, declining labor force participation, and growing social inequality.  The research examines the interconnected demographic, socio-economic, and cultural processes that have shaped the forms of labor and employment at different stages of American history. Over 250 years, the population grew from a few thousand to more than 342 million people, primarily through immigration, which altered the racial and ethnic balance and the structure of employment. Women have become active participants in the labor market, attaining leadership positions and entering the political elite, while overall labor force participation among Americans is declining.  The evolution of American work is traced through cultural representations, primarily in cinema, which has served as a mirror of labor identity. In agrarian America, work was conceptualized as a spiritual duty and a path to freedom (Gone with the Wind, 1939; Far and Away, 1992; The New World, 2005). The industrial era brought mechanization and the alienation of labor (Modern Times, 1936; On the Waterfront, 1954; Blue Collar, 1978; Norma Rae, 1979), while the corporate 20th century cemented the idea of the “American Dream” and occupational success (Citizen Kane, 1941; The Pursuit of Happiness, 2006). In the 21st century, entrepreneurship and self-employment have become new forms of self-realization (The Social Network, 2010; Joy, 2015; Madam C.J. Walker, 2020), yet the gig economy undermines previous employment guarantees and intensifies social vulnerability (Vice Special Report: Future of Work, 2019).  The main conclusions are that work in American culture reflects the dynamics of national self-awareness: a shift from collective labor to individualized survival strategies. Today, in the era of platforms and artificial intelligence, the concept of work is losing its stability, yet it retains its status as a cultural marker of American identity

 

3. Olga Nesmelova, Zhanna Konovalova

Kazan Federal University, Russia

“Why They Don’t Write Great American Novels Anymore?”  A genre in crisis in the 1960-1970s

 

4. Anna Aleinik

Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia

The Neon Emptiness of the American Dream in A. Ginsberg’s poem A Supermarket in California 

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of Allen Ginsberg’s poem A Supermarket in California through the prism of the American Dream concept and its influence on US culture and history. The poem is examined as a unique example of the artistic deconstruction of this concept. The study is motivated by the persistent need to reinterpret entrenched cultural narratives in an age where consumer culture maintains its dominance, not only in the United States but globally. Despite extensive scholarly attention, A. Ginsberg’s work has rarely been systematically analyzed within the context of the diachronic evolution of the American Dream—from its puritan origins to mid-20th century crisis. The primary objective of this work is to identify and analyze the specific mechanisms of poetic deconstruction employed by the author.  The methodological framework of this research is based on a synthesis of literary, conceptual, and motif analysis. The study provides a detailed examination of the expressive means that constitute the poem’s imagery. A central focus is the figure of Walt Whitman, the first national poet of the United States, who established the foundations of a unique poetic form and significantly influenced all Beat Generation poets, including Allen Ginsberg. The article investigates A. Ginsberg’s reinterpretation of Whitmanian traditions, as well as the role of W. Whitman himself in shaping A. Ginsberg’s particular vision of the American Dream. Furthermore, the poet’s ideas are analyzed through the lens of two fundamental traditions of American identity: the spiritual, represented by the theologian Jonathan Edwards, and the pragmatic, embodied by Benjamin Franklin, alongside motifs of early American literature.  The study’s principal findings conclude that A. Ginsberg accomplishes more than a mere critique of capitalism; he performs a deconstruction of the very structure of the American Dream. The analysis reveals its transformation from a utopian idea of a better life into a construct of endless consumption, thereby offering a crucially new perspective on the ideals of modern capitalist culture. In the poem, the figure of Walt Whitman serves not only as a guide but also as a symbol of a lost alternative — an “America of love” founded on a pantheistic embrace of the world, rather than on the pursuit of material accumulation.  The practical significance of this research lies in its potential application within pedagogical practice, particularly in the teaching of English, American literature, and cultural studies, to foster a holistic understanding of the key concepts of the US national consciousness among students.

 

5. Kirill Ignatov

Department of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Ideological revisionism” in contemporary US literature

World literature has long witnessed the phenomenon of “literary continuation,” i.e., the creation of an independent literary work whose plot and imagery draws, through direct borrowing or more or less obvious references, on a previously created literary work – possibly, by a different author or authors, in a different historical era, or even in a different culture. Suffice it to say that the poem Batrachomyomachia, written thousands of years ago, parodies motifs from Homer’s epic poem “The Iliad.” Yet, it was in the 20th century that the rapid development of literary continuation as a literary movement began. And it still continues today, largely due to the “secondary” nature of modern culture, which either builds on previous cultural achievements, attempting to imitate them, or engages with classic plots, characters, and texts. At times, literary sequels are written by the authors of the original works and receive well-deserved recognition – for example, Mark Twain’s series of novels featuring Tom Sawyer. But epic failures of long-awaited sequels are not uncommon – let’s recall Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman.” The most high-profile sequel to a popular work approved by the author’s literary heirs was Alexandra Ripley’s Scarlett (1991). Meanwhile, John Barry’s Peter Pan has two sequels: one written by Gilbert Adair in 1987 without the consent of the heirs, and the second, approved by the copyright holders (Barry bequeathed it to a London children’s hospital) –Geraldine McCaughrean’s Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006). The latter is what’s known as “fan fiction,” meaning it was written by a non-professional writer, rather a fan of the original work. In the 21st century, a new trend in the genre of literary sequels is emerging in American literature – a “revisionist” sequel appears, i.e., an independent work in which the ideological emphasis shifts. Two examples analyzed in this paper are Bruce Norris’s play Clybourne Park (2010) and Percival Everett’s novel James (2024). The play Clybourne Park is inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun (1959). Norris’s text presents events occurring during and after Hansberry’s play and, broadly speaking, is based on historical events that occurred in Chicago in the 1950s – the so-called “Washington Park Subdivision.” Hansberry’s play tells the story of an African-American family on the south side of Chicago attempting to improve their financial situation with the help of an insurance payment from their father’s death and move to a privileged, all-white neighborhood, whose inhabitants are unwilling to change the state of things. In Clybourne Park, events are reversed 50 years later: now a white family is about to move to a neighborhood that has become populated by African-Americans. The themes and motifs of Lorraine Hansberry’s play are given a completely new development by Bruce Norris: racial discrimination, racism, self-identification, cultural assimilation, cultural and historical heritage, and the complexities of human relationships. James is a 2024 novel by Percival Everett, a reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884): virtually the same characters, setting, and events are presented in a different light, as they are told from the perspective of a different narrator – the runaway slave Jim. Some of the plot differences in Everett’s novel reflect the shifts in perspective of a white teenager and an adult Black slave; others challenge Huck’s impartiality as a narrator; and yet others help create entirely new artistic images. The most significant difference between the two texts is the use of language. While for Mark Twain, language was a means of recreating historical, geographical, and social context (used with varying degrees of success by the author), for Everett, language is an instrument of the enslaved individual’s inner liberation, accompanied by a painful, and sometimes brutal, physical release from the shackles of slavery.

 

6. Natalia Kopytko

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus

America and Americans Through the Prismatic Lens of Otherness in J.C. Oates’s Novel The Gravedigger’s Daughter

The literary works of contemporary US female writer Joyce Carol Oates (born in 1938) touch upon a wide range of the topical issues of the late 20th — early 21st centuries, among which the significant place is taken by the issues of interethnic relations, military conflicts and their harmful impact on human psyche, both of their immediate participants and their families. J.C. Oates’s novel The Gravedigger’s Daughter (2007) demonstrates how the «ghosts» of the Second World War and Holocaust haunt even those people who managed to escape their direct threat and sometimes have the same fatal consequences. J.C. Oates described this book as an attempt to tell her readers about the things that used to be silenced in her family when both of her parents were alive. No matter how hard their life during World War II was, her family members managed to build and keep close ties and they didn’t care if for the sake of stability and balance they had to silence the family tragedies of the past. The novel’s epilogue written in the form of letters the protagonist Rebecca Schwart and her cousin, the anthropology professor Frieda Morgenstern, exchange was anthologized a number of times while the novel itself was nominated for several prestigious literary awards. The book opens with the description of the dramatic events in Rebecca’s life that take place in autumn of 1959, fourteen years after the end of World War II. Then there is a retrospective look into the fateful events of 1936, when Rebecca was just born in the family of immigrants who flee from the Hitler regime that is gaining power rapidly throughout Germany. Anticipating the danger of the coming Holocaust, they leave everything behind and move to the United States. According to Rebecca, back in 1936, when the War had not yet started, people were allowed to «emigrate» from Germany, though only those who had money. In these words one can feel pain and disillusionment which are to become the key emotional tendencies in the worldview of the Schwart family, because they had to leave behind across the Atlantic not only their relatives, their home and history, but also their own name. Exactly these characters in the novel become the embodiment of the «Other» concept from which perspective the reader perceives everything what happents to the personages later on the territory of the United States. The novel «The Gravedigger’s Daughter» explores the problems of family relations, identity, a person’s resilience and persistence while facing life’s hardships and privations caused by the world’s calamities, in particular, World War II and Nazism.

 

7. Irina Kudryavtseva

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus

Phenomena of American mass culture in the collection of short stories Flash Fiction America

With the rise of media and the entertainment industry because of factors such as industrialization, urbanization, and technological development, mass culture in the USA has had a tremendous influence on shaping personal and collective identities. Movies, radio, television, spectator sports, and popular music became powerful forces in creating a shared American experience and promoting American values. As seen from the texts in the collection Flash Fiction America (2023), contemporary American authors continue to turn to various phenomena of American mass culture to explore complex themes through familiar images and tropes which they deconstruct or imbue with new meanings, often in a playful, ironic manner. American movies, actors, TV shows, musicals, sports competitions (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jaws, CATS, Soul Train, James Brown, Mikey Rourke, David Hasselhoff, etc.) are mentioned in their stories to create a particular historical and cultural context and to add to characterization. However, in some of the texts the whole narrative is constructed around a popular film, actor or music groups (Jenny Watches The Exorcist, The Logic of the Loaded Heart, How to Be a Conqueror and others), and the thematic the aesthetic implications of this narrative strategy will be examined in the presentation.

 

8. Alla Nikoulina

Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University, Ufa, Russia

The U.S. South, North and West in Walker Percy’s Philosophical novels

Walker Percy, who consciously modeled his philosophical novels after the French existentialist patterns, denied the connection of his work with the U.S. southern literary tradition; however, the latter largely determines the peculiar features of his novels, including their setting, plot structure and character system. The leading existential theme of despair as a universal human condition is closely intertwined in Percy’s novels with the “lost cause” motif characteristic of Southern literature, while the southerners turn to be represented as passionate searchers who, due to their natural inclinations, demonstrate the desire to examine themselves and the surrounding world more closely than the others and discover the important philosophical truths about them. On the one hand, Percy’s novels impress the reader with their realistic reproduction of specific landscapes and the unique living conditions typical for the Southern states that discloses the writer’s undeniable ties with the U.S. literary regionalism. On the other hand, in accordance with the chosen philosophical genre, the concrete and realistic in his novels is intentionally endowed with additional symbolic meaning. The southerners in Percy’s books often travel north and west, thus helping the writer to construct not simply geographical, but ideologically determined oppositions as well. The North in Percy’s novels lacks beauty, harmony, and the atmosphere of spiritual communion typical for the South. The technogenic landscape of the northern cities, the dumb mechanical rounds of their inhabitants’ daily routine, and the loss of human individuality become the main objects of the writer’s criticism, embodying his vision of existence devoid of essence. The West, which attracts Percy’s characters as a place of spiritual renewal and freedom, eventually turns out to be unable to offer new life, suppressing them instead by its unbearable physical and emotional emptiness that becomes a symbol of metaphysical theorizing and spiritual abstraction rejected by the author. Refusing to cherish the old mythologized image of the South as an equally unacceptable abstraction, Percy nevertheless ties his hopes for human self-discovery to the preservation of traditional southern patterns of life that imply merging the sublime with the earthly, equal appreciation of the philosophical thinking and the beauty of the material world, enjoying life and staying close to other people. Percy finds his ideal not in the past but in the constantly developing present, living through which, in accordance with Gabriel Marcel’s concept of man the wayfarer, he regards as the only true meaning of human existence.

 

9. Anastasia Korolyova

Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

American Alternative: Edward Hopper’s Magical Realism

The topic of this text is the part of a larger research problem, the content of which is connected with the definition of the national identity of American art, or rather, self-definition, in the first half of the 20th century. It is connected with the search for an answer to the question of what constitutes the distinctiveness of the American worldview (it is important to emphasize that this process takes place within the broader context of the awareness of its own historical mission in relation to Europe and its place in the world, which occurred against the backdrop of the sharp increase in the political and economic importance of the United States from 1917, when its entry into World War I). In this sense, the significance of Hopper’s creative work seems exceptional, since in his case we are dealing with an artist who does not view his work as part of a single pan-European tradition, but, on the contrary, opposes it, as he did not live in Europe and rejected any influence of European art, emphasizing his independence. Hopper consistently defended his own identity as an American artist; this was his fundamental position, which consisted of contrasting himself as an American with European art. At the same time, his art, which emerged between the two world wars and is often defined as the epitome of Magical Realism, truly fits within the general framework of European artistic trends and can clearly be considered one of the most important segments of the new figurative art, defined in 1925 by the German critic and art historian Franz Roh as a specific expression of a magical approach to reality. The purpose of this work is to attempt to identify the distinctive features of his pictorial style and artistic content, which reveal the characteristics of a specifically American approach to depicting the real world.

 

10. Olga Lyubimskaya

Independent Researcher, Tyumen, Russia

The Image of Holly Golightly in Truman Capote’s Novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s: The Escape of the Holy Spirit 

Holly Golightly, the character of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958), has traditionally been associated with “holiday” or “celebration”. Her surname is usually understood as “to go lightly” or “to move carefreely.” A systematic study of Capote’s works allows us to expand and deepen the meanings of heroine’s image. The main motive in Capote’s works is the “living spirit/soul,” which constitutes the essence of things yet gravitates toward the silence of nature. In The Grass Harp (1951) the image of the “world soul” is conveyed through flickering flames and music in Indian grass. Capote personifies the qualities of the Holy Spirit in the figure of Holly. In this sense, the heroine’s name refers not so much to «holiday» as to Holy Spirit. Her surname, in turn, recalls the aforementioned flickering lights. Holly’s strands of multicolored hair, glowing red and gold in the sunlight, reinforce this image. The heroine’s multilingualism (French, English, Portuguese) may likewise be viewed as a marker of the Holy Spirit, manifesting in the gift of tongues. Traces of Holly are found in Africa, and her story is passed on in a peculiar mixture of “African, gibberish, and sign language.” Holly escapes from modern America into a nameless yet living nature. Her status on postcards “Traveling”, her aversion to bird cages point to the “omnipresence,” the one who “breathes where she will.”

 

11. Sofia Semenova

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

The Narrator Figure and Narrative Techniques in L. M. Miranda’s musical Hamilton: An American Musical 

With growing interest in historical memory and collective identity in the 21st century, rethinking the concepts of «America» and «Americans» has become particularly relevant. Contemporary memory studies draw attention to the fact that culture constructs memory not as an archive of facts but as a dynamic process of interpreting the past through the present. In this context, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton: An American Musical (2015) becomes an example of how a work of art can not only tell a story but also transform the model of its perception.  The aim of this research is to examine Hamilton as a narrative and analyze the figure of the narrator, types of narrative strategies, and the role of unreliable narration based on the concepts of J. Janne, M. Ball, S. Chatman, and W. Booth.   1) The musical represents a polyphonic narrative where the characters — Aaron Burr, Eliza and Angelica Schuyler, Thomas Jefferson, and others — act as homodiegetic narrators, creating a chorus of subjective perspectives that challenge the notion of a single «official» history;  2) Through epistolary and confessional forms («Wait for It», «Helpless», «The Reynolds Pamphlet») reveal the unreliability of the narrators in their emotional involvement and subjective interpretation; this turns Hamilton into a postmodern act of rewriting history, where memory and personal perception become tools for recreating the past;  3) By breaking the «fourth wall», the musical transforms the audience into a new participant of the narrative, who becomes not only an implicit reader (according to V. Izer), but also a co-author of the national myth. The quintessence of this idea is the final song, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, embodying the memorial reinterpretation of history and the role of the female voice in it

 

12. Natalia Serzhant

University of the National Academy of Sciences, Minsk, Belarus

Socio-Cultural Portrait of Generation Y in the Novels Feed by M.T. Anderson and G. Shteyngart A Super-Sad True Love Story

The report presents an attempt to identify and analyze the markers of the socio-cultural portrait of the millennial (generation Y), represented in the literary texts of the novels by M.T. Anderson Feed and G. Shteyngart A Super-Sad True Love Story. The goal is to show how the works reflect and form generation Y. Key thematic and figurative nodes are identified: technological mediation of life, consumer infrastructure, postponement of adult landmarks, ambivalence of social and emotional ties, as well as the desire for identity with its simultaneous fragmentation. M.T. Anderson in his cyberpunk novel Feed was one of the first to show how the millennial generation is formed.  In Shteyngart’s novel, the “socio-cultural code” of the generation is indicated in a tragicomic contradiction: the characters crave authenticity, but their language, environment and way of thinking itself are completely mediated by digital interfaces.  The novel is a dystopian, satirical work set in the near future of the United States. The key motifs of the novel are indicated: absolute dependence on consumer infrastructure and advertising; loss of linguistic and mental autonomy (the characters speak fragmentarily, are constantly interrupted by commercial flows); the crisis of the subject: the characters feel like “hardware”, an interface, and not full-fledged human beings; An eco-catastrophic background: the world around us goes into decline, but the characters remain in the sphere of entertainment and consumption. The style of the novel also reflects the peculiarities of millennial speech. The use of fragmentary, media language, interruptible sentences, advertising inserts in the text – all this is a stylistic device that reflects the experience of the generation. The analysis allows us to conclude that the socio-cultural portrait of Generation Y in the novels is represented as a generation “in crisis”. “deceived generation” (M. Harris). Its key elements – the dissonance between digital and analogue reality, trauma as an organizing principle of identity, the collapse of the meritocratic myth and the permanent search for authenticity – paint a portrait of a generation stuck between a past that did not exist and a future that does not come.

 

Section 4. Ethnic Aspects of American Culture

Coordinator Dr.Oksana Danchevskaya

(Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia)

December 3, Wednesday, 3.00 am – 7.00 pm (MSK)

 

1. Tatiana Alenkina

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia

The Contemporary Epistolary Novel about Indians and the Search for Hybrid Identity

The late 20th century saw the rise of literature about Indians and their self-awareness. Penned by white and Native American authors, the novel about Indians has become not only the narrative about suffering and its overcoming. The Indian is no longer a victim with his passive role, but the subject, with the search for identity being its central problem.  To address this problem, novelists are embracing the epistolary format. Like Native American themes, epistolary novel is having its heyday in the late 20th – early 21st centuries. Calling this phenomenon an “epistolary renaissance”, we, in line with English-language scholars, identify the diary as the most appropriate subgenre for expressing the protagonist’s inner self in the context of the interaction between white and Native American cultures.  The study focuses on contemporary novels about Native Americans: Jim Fergus’s “One Thousand White Women: The Diaries of May Dodd” (2000; Russian translation 2016) and Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”  (2007; Russian translation 2021). The paper aims to trace how epistolary writing helps to reveal the hybrid identity of May Dodd, a white American who left to live with the Cheyenne tribe in 1875, and Arnold Spirit Jr., an Indian living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in the late 20th century who left for an all-white school. In Fergus’s novel, wealthy young American May Dodd sees her participation in the government’s secret 1875 “Indian Bride” program as an escape from a mental hospital where her parents had committed her and taken away her illegitimate children. In her diary entries, May records her long journey, her companions, her love affair with Captain Burke, her marriage to tribal chief Little Wolf, and her life among the Cheyenne. During her life among the Cheyenne, May is getting increasingly disillusioned with whites and becomes the Indian squaw Mesoke. May-Mesoke respects her husband’s concern for the common good and his nobility; however, she also sees the tribe’s barbaric customs—the Cheyenne cut off the right hands of 12 Shoshone infants to “gain strength as a gift for their own children.” However, her home is a Cheyenne wigwam, and she meets death among her fellow tribesmen at the hands of whites who attack unarmed men, women and newborn children in order to clear the territory of all Indians.  Sherman Alexie’s semi-autobiographical novel recounts his childhood on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State in 1980. Like Sherman himself, the novel’s character, fourteen-year-old Arnold Junior, describes in his diary the extreme poverty, hopelessness, and alcoholism of the reservation, along with the ridicule of his classmates for his disproportionately large head. A white teacher encourages Junior to fight for his future, and he transfers to an all-white school in a neighboring town. Straddling two cultures, Junior gains a keen understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both whites and Native Americans. His best friend, a white teenager named Gordie, taught him how to study, and his Native American friends supported him at the funeral of his grandmother, who was struck by a drunk motorcyclist. In his diary, Junior captures a duality—as if two people existed within him; such assimilation resonates with an American identity rooted in multiculturalism. These different genres—a romance novel and a young adult novel—are united by the common theme of searching for identity in a situation “between two cultures.” The dramatic events of the 19th-century story, recounted in May Dodd’s diaries, reflect the evolution of the heroine, who by the novel’s end sees herself as a Native American woman, a part of the tribe. At the same time, the young man, a descendant of Native American blood from the Spokane tribe, views the reservation as a place of poverty and stagnation. The all-white school symbolizes escape from the reservation and the acquisition of a new perspective on his own life and ethnicity. This dual perspective helps him better understand the unique American national and cultural identity.

 

2. Dmitry Popov

Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, USA

Mary Austin as a Singer and Herald of the Native American’s Poetic Tradition: At the Origins of Modern American Poetry

Contemporary American poetry is a unique phenomenon in world literature due to its complete transition to free verse. However, the process of this phenomenon’s formation, including the role and significance of traditional Native American poetry, has not yet been fully elucidated.

The first reformers in this area were Whitman with his Leaves of Grass and Longfellow with The Song of Hiawatha. During the heyday of this process at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, one of its most prominent figures was Mary Hunter-Austin, who was not only a poet but also a theorist of versification. In the preface to the latest and most complete collection of her poems, D. Warren notes her significant influence on her fellow writers, especially as an experimenter with free verse forms. Another researcher, M. Castro, calls her “one of the most active and influential writers of the early twentieth century who defined the significance of Native American heritage for American culture.”

Since the 1910s, she has occupied a very prominent place in the literary world of New York. Here, her poetry truly flourished, in two closely related forms: translations from Native American folklore and her own lyrics.

By the 1920s, Austin had become the main author of articles and reviews on Native American culture in periodicals. K. Van Doren asked her to write the chapter “Aboriginal Authors” for his Cambridge History of American Literature. And the renowned critic G. Canby called her “the only true master of the American soil.”

In 1923 and 1930, she published two editions of the monograph American Rhythm, in which she argued that it was the poetry of the Native American peoples that should become the foundation from which American poetry itself should grow. She named many of her famous fellow writers as Whitman’s heirs, consciously and unconsciously echoing the rhythms of the American land and the songs of its indigenous peoples.

The relevance of her ideas is evidenced by the widespread debate in literary publications and the press. M. Van Doren, a poet, writer, and critic from New York’s Nation, states: “She has issued a challenge that will make every honest American poet stop and take a long, hard look at himself.” And Columbia University professor and Pulitzer Prize winner K. Van Doren calls her “a pioneer and a prophet.” She herself proudly notes about her American Rhythm that “now there is not a single American anthology that does not quote it, and not many Western poets who have not borrowed from it.”

Thus, the very fact of the real influence of Austin’s ideas and creative achievements on the formation of American national versification is beyond doubt, but this topic still needs further research.

 

3. Oksana Danchevskaya

Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia

Spider Woman as a Symbol of Femininity and Wisdom in North American Indian Mythology: Historical Roots and Modern Interpretations

The report explores the image of Spider Woman, a central figure in the mythology of many Native American tribes. She reflects ideas about the role of women in society, embodying feminine wisdom, creativity, and a connection with nature, as well as women’s role in creating peace and maintaining harmony. This mythological figure becomes a symbol of strength and a source of inspiration for Native American communities fighting for rights and preserving their cultural heritage. The report will examine how the image of Spider Woman is interpreted and reimagined in the modern context and the role she plays in shaping the cultural identity of both North American Indians and Americans.

 

4. Dmitry Vorobyev

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

The Problem of the Emergence of African-American Identity in W.E.B. Du Bois’s Work “The Souls of Black Folk”

The report examines one of the most famous works by African-American sociologist and political activist William E. B. Du Bois, “The Souls of Black Folk,” written in 1903. The central element of this work is the author’s attempt to grasp the nascent identity of African Americans, who were effectively denied full sociocultural integration into American society after the abolition of slavery. As a result, Du Bois proposed the concept of “double consciousness” among the Black population in the United States, emphasizing the presence of two complementary identities within the Black population – an American and an indigenous African. A pioneer of multiculturalism, Du Bois hoped that by sharing universal American values, African Americans would be able to preserve their distinct cultural heritage, which could also enrich American culture as a whole. Du Bois’s theoretical work was adopted by young African-American intellectuals that ultimately led to the emergence of the “New Negro” phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century, based on ideas of racial pride and self-sufficiency.

 

5. Tatiana Voronchenko

Transbaikal State University, Russia

“Chicano” in Search of Identity: A Complex of ‘Latinofuturism’ Ideas in the Poetry of Mexican-American Authors

The report discusses the representation of ‘cosmic’ consciousness and ideas of harmonious development of mankind in the works of Mexican-American poets within the ideas of Latinofuturism of the 20th century. The poetic work of Mexican-American (Chicano) authors of the Renaissance period of the 1960s and 1970s is characterized by a focus on the Future. The report deals with the poetic representation of the “cosmic race” theme in the works of R. Sanchez, Alurista, T. Villanueva. The author reveals that in the system of Latinofuturistic views, that are reflected in the poetic works of Chicano, there is an obvious strong emphasis on issues of ethnocultural integration, mestizaje and the search for one’s own identity to perform an image of the Future.

 

6. Elena Gladkyh

Transbaikal State University, Russia

The Representation of Regional Identity in Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton’s Novel “The Squatter and the Don”

The report examines the concept of regional identity and its construction in a literary text, focusing on the novel “The Squatter and the Don” by the 19th-century Mexican-American writer Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton. It highlights key markers that define Californian regional identity, including the image of the regional community, the significance of place, and the role of language.

 

7. Ekaterina Fyodorova

Transbaikal State University, Russia

The Problem of Self-identification in the Historical Novel by Mexican-American (Chicano) Writer A. Morales “The Brick People”

The report deals with the problem of self-identification of the Chicano character in the historical novel by Alejandro Morales “The Brick People” (1988). Morales examines the complex process of identity formation of Mexican-Americans (Chicanos) in the United States at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. In conditions of social oppression and cultural exclusion, Chicano characters face a choice: to remain faithful to their “roots” or to “integrate” into the dominant Anglo-American environment. The author reveals the writer’s desire to show the “multilayered nature” of Chicano identity, which includes elements of both the past (relating oneself to Mexicans and Latin Americans in general) and the future (understanding oneself as a Chicano in new historical conditions).

 

8. Tatiana Ivanova

University of Science and Technology MISIS, Russia

Roadside Memorials in the USA: National Character Through the Lens of a Utilitarian Approach to Memory Preservation

This study explores roadside memorials in the USA as a cultural phenomenon, examining their evolution, characteristics, and legal status. This practice is widespread globally; in the USA, it has its roots in Mexican immigrant communities that embrace Catholicism, where the veneration of such sites is common.  American roadside memorials are typically erected at the locations of fatal traffic accidents. Externally, they often take the form of crosses, symbolizing the end of a life journey. These memorials are frequently adorned with flowers, toys, photographs, and personal belongings of the deceased. While some may quickly fall into disrepair, others can expand over time due to ongoing care from concerned individuals.  As symbols of life’s fragility and transience, roadside memorials represent an effort not only to honor the memory of those who have passed but also to cope with death and the pain of loss. Many modern Americans have become distanced from the experience of mourning, as Western society grows increasingly secular. Simultaneously, death has become stigmatized; it is no longer a family affair but has been relegated to specialized institutions.  Conversely, the desire to establish roadside markers in memory of the deceased reflects certain traits of the American national character—practicality and a tendency to find utility even in sorrowful events. A striking example of how roadside memorials can serve practical purposes is the white bicycle and white shoe memorials, which are erected in honor of deceased cyclists and pedestrians. These structures are believed to act as landmarks in dangerous road areas and have become symbols of campaigns aimed at raising awareness about driving and road safety among the American public.

 

9. Kristina Korobko

Lugansk State Pedagogical University, Russia

The Female Perspective on the “American Dream” within Chinese Immigrant Discourse in the United States (A Case Study of Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club”)

Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club (1989) represents a quintessential example of late twentieth-century Chinese immigrant literature in the United States, in which the issues of assimilation and cultural memory are explored through the prism of female experience. For the first-generation heroines, the “American Dream” is associated with survival, social adaptation, and sacrifice for the sake of their children’s future, whereas their daughters perceive it as a symbol of personal freedom and self-realization. The idea of the “American Dream” is embodied not in the act of immigration itself, but in the destinies of the second generation, which becomes the living embodiment of the parents’ hopes and aspirations. This shift endows the ideal with a personal and existential rather than a purely social or utopian dimension. The intergenerational conflict serves as a mechanism for reinterpreting the very essence of the “American Dream”: from a symbol of external success it transforms into a metaphor of inner emancipation. Thus, the cultural codes of the homeland and the new country do not exclude but rather complement each other, forming a hybrid identity. The novel’s narrative structure – a polyphonic gallery of female voices – creates the effect of multiplicity, where individual stories become part of the collective experience of the Chinese American diaspora. The specificity of this paper lies in its interdisciplinary approach, combining literary, cultural, and gender analysis. Examining the “American Dream” from a female perspective is of particular significance, since women’s experience in immigrant literature reveals the inner contradictions of this concept, reflecting the tension between collective sacrifice and individual freedom, cultural memory and assimilation. In contrast to the traditionally masculine model of success, oriented toward social mobility and material prosperity, the female interpretation uncovers the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the “American Dream” as a process of self-definition, in which harmony is achieved not through external well-being but through the overcoming of cultural and intergenerational divides.

 

10. Yuri Stulov

Independent researcher, Belarus

America Imagined and Real in the Conscience of Chinese immigrants (on the basis of Gish Jens’ dilogy)

The report discusses the dilogy of Gish Jen, the renowned American writer of Chinese descent, in which she traces back the difficulties of two generations of Chinese immigrants on the way to assimilation in American society that arouse problems with self-identification and choice of life priorities. It points out the difference of two generations in the approaches to value orientations and the influence and interaction of Chinese and American cultures in the formation of a hybrid personality. The analysis of the novels of the dilogy showed that they deal with the most acute problems for the immigrants: self-identification and rooting into the soil of the new homeland as well as finding their place there without severing ties with the historical homeland. The report addresses the work of the writer, which has yet been understudied, though the questions that she deals with are some of the most painful for US society. It may be used for further study of transcultural authors, closer acquaintance with their poetics from the point of view of theory and translation studies.

 

11. Maxim Ochkalov

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Sebastopol Branch, Russia

Italian-American Identity as a Narrative: The Evolution of Representations in US Cinema (Mid-20th – Early 21st Centuries)

The report examines the process of constructing Italian-American identity as a cultural narrative embodied in Hollywood cinema representations throughout the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century. The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of representations as a dynamic process in the discourse on the place of ethnic groups in the structure of American national identity. An analysis of a corpus of key films (from Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” to David Chase’s “The Sopranos”) in conjunction with an interdisciplinary theoretical framework – the theory of discourse and representation (M. Foucault), cultivation theory (J. Gerbner) and public sphere theory (J. Habermas) – has revealed cinema as a space of symbolic struggle for the right to a voice and authentic self-determination. The main objectives of the report are: first, to identify the mechanisms of stigmatisation through the dominant mafia narrative and its influence on public perception; second, to define the functions of humour, parody and complex characters in deconstructing stereotypes and legitimising a new, more inclusive version of «Americans». The relevance of the topic is due to its direct projection onto contemporary discussions in American society about multiculturalism, the legacy of immigration, and the role of mass media in the ongoing process of shaping national identity.

 

12. Elena Shabashova

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia

American University: Salad Bowl or Melting Pot?

Universities being a crucial element of American society possess common and unique features. Community diversity in Universities of the USA is a distinctive feature. Students and faculty, researchers, administration and campus staff originate from various regions of this huge country and abroad being of different religious beliefs and ethnicity. What are common and unique features in ethnic culture of American universities? “Americans” – who are they? Is diversity in ethnic cultures considered? To what extent? What are its forms? What university units are responsible for support and development of ethnic cultures? What events do American universities set to maintain identities of different ethnic communities?  All these aspects and some other questions are of interest for both American universities and universities all over the world. Sharing knowledge and cross-cultural competence, broadening the mind by getting acquainted with various ethnic cultures, social engagement in different ethno-cultural events, helping home university, campus, local community allow us to suggest the university transformation from “melting pot” to “salad bowl”.     Current research is based on materials of national and foreign scientific articles and various media resources.

 

 

Section 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture

Coordinators Dr. Nadezhda Shvedova

(RAS Arbatov Institute of the USA and Canada, Russia) and Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova

 (Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia)

 

December 5, Friday 10.00 am – 1.00 pm (MSK)

 

1. Nadezda Shvedova

Georgy Arbatov Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies, RAS, Moscow, Russia

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): A Long-Awaited Prospect

The US Congress declared August 26th as Women’s Equality Day back in 1973, over half a century ago. The event commemorated the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, which granted American women the right to vote. This was no coincidence, but a significant milestone. Women’s Equality Day reminded the entire country of the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution (ERA). More than a century ago (in 1923), an amendment was proposed that would have ensured equal rights for all US citizens, regardless of gender.

Why hasn’t this idea been implemented yet?

Why has the “Equal Rights Amendment” to the US Constitution remained unimplemented as the 28th Amendment for over a century?

What are the prospects for its positive fate?

Why is the passage of this amendment so important for gender equality and human rights?

Despite its obvious relevance in the era of gender equality, the ERA faces numerous obstacles. First, there is political resistance from conservative forces. Second, there are legal and procedural disputes. The US Supreme Court, in Coleman v. Miller (1939), ruled that Congress has the right to set ratification deadlines, but removing them requires a new proposal. This creates legal uncertainty. Third, there are socioeconomic factors: gender stereotypes and the influence of lobbying groups are slowing down the process. Furthermore, in a climate of political polarization (after the 2020 and 2024 elections), the priority of gender issues is strained by other issues (migration, economics). Besides, there is a lack of unity among feminist movements: some activists view the ERA as outdated compared to more comprehensive approaches to equality.

However, progress made toward women’s equality can be lost at any time, as these gains depend on legislation that can (and has already been) weakened or repealed. The landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned nearly 50 years of reproductive rights precedent and returned control over abortion laws to the states. The current Equal Rights Amendment could prevent this, making this document critically important. It supports a comprehensive approach to women’s rights.

Priorities include achieving economic equality and enshrining it in an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees equal rights for women, as well as protecting abortion rights, reproductive freedom, and other aspects of women’s health. Including the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution would ensure federal protection of women’s equal civil rights and their bodily autonomy (i.e., control and freedom of choice in decisions about one’s own body, free from external domination or coercion), as well as access to legal abortion and comprehensive reproductive health care for women.

The overwhelming majority of U.S. residents support the constitutional guarantee of equal rights based on gender. The prospects for passage of the ERA are difficult, but not hopeless, especially since active supporters of the ERA, and there are many of them, have demonstrated remarkable long-term persistence in achieving their goal.

 

2. Maria Zolotukhina

Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Child Reading and National, Ethnic and Racial Identities in the contemporary US

The culture of child reading in the United States in recent decades has encompassed several discourses. Among them is the promotion of reading as a wonderful, essential practice, recommended by educators and doctors—the foundation of a happy, fulfilling childhood. Books are still seen as a much safer sphere for children than the digital environment. At the same time, the digitalization of reading opens up entirely new opportunities for engaging (even capturing) and educating children. But there is also a completely different discussion of reading—as a problem, literally reaching the level of moral panic (to the point of near-powerlessness) due to the insufficient levels of literacy in general and reading skills among children. This is especially acute for less affluent groups, often African Americans. These discussions are a continuation of the idea of cultural literacy, proposed by the renowned educator E. Hirsch back in the late 1980s. The concept itself has been and continues to be criticized from both the right and the left, including the inclusion into the Hirsch’s proposed list of mostly deceased white men as necessary cultural baggage. This brings me to the first question to be considered today: To what extent does contemporary children’s literature reflect the ethnocultural diversity of the United States, both past and present? What is considered sufficient (both quantitatively and qualitatively) to achieve a decent level of representativeness? What and is being done to shape a pan-American identity? What chapters in the history of the American nation are among the popular, recurring themes in children’s educational and entertaining literature? The author proposes to provide examples of a significant increase in the differentiation of plots and characters in books based on their origins and identities, which, however, do not meet all the criteria. I would like to outline the essence of a critical approach to teaching national history and, finally, list the topics (and methods of presenting the material) that reflect the mosaic nature of the United States, past and present. The sources for the report will be educational materials, examples of children’s fiction, media materials, and the results of participant observation.

 

3.Tatyana Kamarovskaya

M.Tank Belarusian Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus

Religious Narratives in M. Gordon’s Novel “Pearl”

For Americans, people who united around a religious idea four centuries ago and created a state on its basis, religious issues have always been of fundamental importance. Religious narrative permeates many works of American literature. The topic of my report is religious narratives in M. Gordon’s novel Pearl. The Catholic narrative determines the interpretation of the main moral problem to which the novel is devoted – the problem of guilt and forgiveness. Each of the novel’s characters comes to the realization and solution of their moral dilemmas in the spirit of the fundamental concepts of the Catholic faith.

The novel is devoted to the problem of terrorism in Northern Ireland in the last years of the twentieth century and is based on the opposition of the American, arising from the basic concepts of American society, based on the recognition of the value of the individual and respect for his rights, and the Irish, embodied in the activities of the IRA, attitude to this problem. This confrontation is embodied in the images and destinies of the novel’s heroines, mother and daughter, Maria and Pearl. The main characters of the novel are mother and daughter, and their relationship and acceptance of each other constitute an important theme of this novel which is typical of other feminist novels as well.

 

4.Tatjana Srceva-Pavlovska

American University of Europe – AUE, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Female Paranoia as a Symptom of the Postmodern Quest for Meaning – Thomas Pynchon’s Oedipa Maas and The Crying of Lot 49

This paper explores the aspects of female paranoia manifested by the main character Oedipa Maas in Thomas Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49. Pynchon portrays this “female detective” as a personified, complex manifestation of the postmodern search for meaning, which can be as well seen as a critique of the gendered dimensions of epistemological uncertainty. The research further addresses the novel’s problem of how female paranoia functions simultaneously as both a symptom of subjective disintegration and as an interpretive strategy in a world governed by unstable signs and fractured narratives. The methodological framework used combines feminist literary criticism with postmodern theory, blending Baudrillard’s concept of simulacrum and Foucault’s discourses of power and of madness, as integral parts of the paranoid, female world. Furthermore, the paper investigates how Oedipa’s attempts to decode the elusive ‘Tristero system’ reflect both the feminist struggle against patriarchal epistemologies as well as the postmodern’s yearning for transcendence in a world devoid of certainty. Oedipa’s paranoia is beyond mere pathology; it becomes an act of epistemic resistance whereas her obsessive decoding of signs reclaims interpretive agency in a symbolic order that marginalizes female subjectivity. However, Pynchon’s deliberate ambiguity avoids to provide a resolution, thus suggesting that the search for truth in a postmodern world is inherently circular and self-consuming. Thus, the female paranoia, as embodied through Oedipa Maas, serves as both a critique of patriarchal systems of knowledge and meaning, and a metaphor for the endless, even apprehensive female desire for understanding and coherence amid chaos.

 

5. Yuliya Viarbitskaya

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus

Understanding the role of women in the formation of the American nation (based on Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series) 

The paper analyses the gender aspects of a number of novels in the fantasy series Outlander by the American writer Diana Gabaldon, which are set in the United States during the Сolonial Era and the War of Independence. The cycle is based on the fantastic assumption of the possibility of time travel, but the main character, Claire Fraser, cannot change the course of history, which required from Diana Gabaldon a plausible recreation of the cultural and historical reality of colonial America, including existing gender roles and limitations. At the same time, the main character, being a highly qualified doctor, is aware of the opportunities for women in the contemporary society. The purpose of the paper is to trace, by analyzing the image of the main character and other female characters in the novels of the cycle, how the author simultaneously reproduces and deconstructs gender assumptions and stereotypes. The main conclusion is that the success of the American project would not have been possible without the active, equal participation of women in it. Rethinking the historical events which were significant for the United States through the prism of modern gender concepts allows Gabaldon to create a deeper and more socially significant narrative about the birth of the American nation.

 

6. Ekaterina Markova

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia

The Shapeshifter Called Moses: Harriet Tubman and Gender Ambiguity in James Emanuel’s Mythopoetics 

In African-American literature, the image of Harriet Tubman–the Underground Railroad heroine nicknamed “Moses” who rescued hundreds of slaves–is traditionally associated with masculinity, maternal care, and divine providence. However, James Emanuel’s poetry enacts a fundamental mythopoetic transformation of this figure. In his work, H. Tubman appears not only as a “freedom fighter,” but also as a “shapeshifter”– a being capable of limitless metamorphosis, moving between worlds and overcoming all borders.  This essay examines the issue of gender ambivalence in the representation of historical female figures in African-American poetry. An analysis of Emanuel’s poetic method reveals how stereotypes and categorical thinking limit the perception of the individual. The poem Jazzanatomy, for instance, reimagines femininity by weaving African mythological elements – such as voodoo symbolism, the loa, and ancestral serpent myths – into a familiar cultural image. Rather than portraying femininity as a passive ideal, the poet presents it as a dynamic and potent force, simultaneously embodying resistance and the power to forge peace.  Through a focus on symbols such as “tails,” “snails,” and “lizards/snakes” (in particular, Damballa Wedo), this analysis contends that Emanuel deliberately endows Tubman with traits traditionally associated with the spirits and tricksters of African cosmology. This strategy allows the poetry to transcend dualistic stereotypes that confine the female protagonist to the roles of either victim or aggressor.  The argument concludes that J. Emanuel’s mythopoetics not only position Harriet Tubman within the canon of female resistance heroes but also elevate her to a divine status, equating her with African mother goddesses such as Mawu, Yemoja, and Oshun–deities whose power stems from their creative, life-giving, and destructive natures. Her identity is formed not only through bodily transformation and ritual pain but also through an ontological unity with the cosmic order, where the boundaries between human, ancestor, and deity are blurred. Thus, the “Shapeshifter called Moses” becomes not merely a symbol of liberation from slavery or gender stereotypes, but rather a manifestation of sacred femininity, in which resistance, motherhood, magic, and divinity merge into an integral whole.

7. Larisa Mikhaylova

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia

Egalitarian Concepts of Saving the World in the popular TV Series  9-1-1 (2018-pres): multidimentional goodness

Nowadays there is rarely a series that attracts universal appraisal, but 9-1-1 remains  one of the most viewed  Ryan Murphy’s shows. I would argue that the reason it remains in the focus of public’s attention is that the showrunners maintain egalitarian approach to all life-saving situations. Members of the Los Angeles firehouse 118 team and other first responders in communication center and police include characters of all major ethnic groups and gender identities from the very start until now. The show was dropped by Fox but continued by ABC in the same vein for the seventh season. The genre of the show can be defined as a procedural, using specific terminology of first responders and showing one feat of courage after another for seven straight seasons. The characters are not presented as heroes but as a family taking care of other members of human family. And it continues to explore the potential for helping others which in the climate of ICE raids on immigrants and general atmosphere of distrust offers the viewers a foundation of stability in the world that became palpably harsher, which produced a multiplying effect of its attractiveness, akin to the traditional superhero movies with a leitmotif “Somebody save me”. Analysis of the viewers’ responses on IMDB show that people forgive “one-dimensional goodness” of the characters for the warm feeling of human ability to help each other it produces. In fact, if we look deeper into the ways the characters interact, we would see that their goodness is rather multidimensional and includes equal input of all genders and experiences of culturally diverse characters to effectively help people around and themselves. Thus demonstrating a potential the viewers  themselves have to save the world from the dangers in real life.

 

Section 6. Fantastic in the Arts

Coordinator Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia)

 December 5, Friday, 2.15 pm – 5.15pm (MSK)

 

1. Larisa Mikhaylova

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia

E Pluribus Unum: Employing the Basic American metaphor in the series Pluribus (2025)

Vince Gilligan chooses a part of the most famous American linguistic and cultural concept as the title of a new science fiction series in which the population of Earth acquires the knowledge and skills of everyone and becomes one  except a handful of just 13 people, remaining “unjoined”. This premise allows for a new perspective on not only the juxtaposition of the individual and the collective, but also  reflects on the characters’ life choices and concepts of national and personal identity. The paper compares the series Pluribus  with V (1983, 2009-2011) to highlight the specific features of  representing collective consciousness in American science fiction of the 20th and 21st centuries.

 

2. Ekaterina Abramova

HSE University, Moscow, Russia

A Satirical Depiction of the American Backwoods in the Comic Strip Li’l Abner by Al Capp 

This paper explores the comic strip Li’l Abner by Al Capp as a satirical representation of the American backwoods, focusing particularly on the portrayal of Appalachian “hillbilly” culture. It situates the strip within a broader tradition of American caricature and cartooning that has long used rural stereotypes for both comedic and critical purposes. The problem at the heart of the paper is how Li’l Abner simultaneously reinforces and subverts stereotypical images of the Appalachian people, and how these representations have evolved over the comic’s four-decade run. The study begins by contextualizing the figure of the hillbilly in American popular culture, showing how cartoonists have historically drawn on exaggerated depictions of Appalachian life to entertain urban audiences. Within this framework, Al Capp’s Li’l Abner stands out for its complexity: while it trades in typical tropes—poverty, ignorance, rustic charm—it also imbues its characters with unexpected intelligence, resilience, and even heroism. The article argues that Capp deliberately chose Appalachian figures not just for humor, but to create a subversive lens through which to critique modern American life, from consumerism to political corruption. A detailed analysis is provided of Dogpatch—the fictional Southern setting of the strip—and of Li’l Abner Yokum and his eccentric family and neighbors. These characters, though absurdly drawn, become vehicles for social commentary. Characters such as Mammy Yokum, with her moral authority and fists of steel, or Daisy Mae, as a complex figure of both romantic ideal and feminine strength, demonstrate Capp’s skill in using caricature for satirical ends. Dogpatch itself is revealed as a paradoxical space—both backward and oddly ahead of its time, a place of tradition and innovation. We’ll trace the evolution of Li’l Abner from its debut in 1934 to its conclusion in 1977, highlighting shifts in tone and political engagement. The strip’s critical reception during its original run and its legacy in contemporary culture will be discussed. The conclusion emphasizes that while some elements of the strip now appear dated or problematic, Li’l Abner remains a landmark in American satire, one that complicates simple readings of rural America as either comic or pitiable.

 

3. Aishat Ostanbekova

St-Petersburg State University, Russia

March Music as a Manifestation of Superman’s American Identity (based on the 1978 Film Superman)

This research analyzes the march as a manifestation of Superman’s Americannnes in the 1978 movie Superman and is the first attempt in Russian-language scholarship to examine Superman’s identity as an American superhero through the march element of his musical theme in Richard Donner’s Superman (1978). The source base of the research includes visual sources (Donner’s film), sound documents (music by John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, and John Williams), as well as articles and dissertations. This research aims to demonstrate that the march is a key element responsible for the Americanness of Superman’s musical identity in Donner’s movie via the employment of descriptive-narrative and cultural-historical methods. The march originated as military music; however, over time in the United States it came to be performed increasingly often at important ceremonies, public events, school sports games, and in circuses. Thus, the gradual transformation of the march from military music into entertainment began. The march retained its patriotic and nationalistic overtones while becoming more popular and widespread thanks to the repertoire of school marching bands. The works of composer John Philip Sousa further cemented the march in the minds of ordinary Americans as a genre closely associated with patriotic fervor and nationalistic pride. Later, another composer—John Williams, whose music was influenced both by Sousa’s quintessentially American marches and Aaron Copland’s pastoral compositions—incorporated a march into the musical theme for Superman in the 1978 film. Superman is the embodiment of an ideal America, and his very creed—“truth, justice, and the American way”—equates truth, justice, and Americanness. The choice of a march for Superman’s musical theme underscores the patriotism and nationalism intrinsic to his identity as an American hero. On the one hand, the march, which originated as accompaniment for soldiers on the battlefield, has not lost its militaristic undertones over the years, even as it became popularized enough to be included in the soundtrack of an entertainment movie. On the other hand, its association with the traditionally American works of Sousa amplified themes of nationalistic exultation and American exceptionalism. The image of Superman as the embodiment of a virtuous and just America is reflected in the movie’s soundtrack, with Superman’s theme emphasizing his inseparable connection to the United States’ history and culture. Thus, the march proved to be an appropriate genre for shaping Superman’s musical identity, reflecting his American nature through a centuries-old tradition of patriotic and nationalistic motifs.

 

4. Stanislav Kazachenkov

Rostov State University of Economics , Russia

The “American Mission” Re-Imagined: From Captain America’s WWII to the Avengers’ Global Guardians

In the modern globalized world, mass culture has become a pivotal arena for the formation and rethinking of national identities. This research is devoted to analyzing the evolution of the concept of the “American mission” — a cornerstone of US national identity — through the lens of comics and cinematic adaptations by Marvel Comics. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to understand how popular culture not only reflects but also actively participates in constructing perceptions of America’s global role.

The research problem lies in the fundamental reinterpretation of the “American mission” within superhero narratives — from its initial moral clarity and national certainty to its contemporary global ambivalence and internal reflection. The analysis is based on three key models: the propagandistic patriotism of Captain America during World War II, the socio-critical allegory of the X-Men during the Cold War era, and the “global guardian” complex in the age of The Avengers.

The main findings demonstrate a sequential transformation. The original mission, embodied by Captain America, represented a straightforward confrontation with absolute evil. During the Cold War, the X-Men internalized the conflict, personifying the struggle for civil rights and distrust toward government institutions. In the 21st century, The Avengers as “global guardians” face dilemmas of international intervention, sovereignty, and the moral cost of security.

The conducted analysis concludes that the evolution of the “American mission” in Marvel Comics narratives represents a movement from unconditional belief in national exceptionalism and one’s own government toward a critical understanding of global responsibility and the moral vulnerability of a superpower, indicating profound changes in the collective consciousness of American society.

 

5. Artemy Atamanenko

Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia

The Political Identity of the Contemporary American Superhero: ‘The American Way’ and Power

The American mass political imagination is reflected in various cultural representations, including comic culture. In the 21st century, superhero comics and related works have increasingly addressed questions of political identity among superheroes, a theme first masterfully explored in Alan Moore’s graphic novel Guardians. Contemporary American comics and film adaptations often grapple with whether a superhero should serve as a controlled extension of those in power or rely on their own independent civic stance in modern society.

Our methodology is grounded in the ideas outlined in M. Di Paolo’s work War, Politics and Superheroes about superheroes as personalized socio-political groups representing an average portrait of the identities they embody. The concept of “Reinforcement through simplification”, highlighted in the works of T. Vandtke, suggests that superhero comics streamline non-essential plot details to focus on a vivid, central message. We consider comic artifacts as part of the ideological projection of social power, following M. Mann. In this view, they play a role in shaping, disseminating, and moderating ideas related to authority and influence.

In 2025, a significant number of films and television series adapted from superhero comics were produced, wherein protagonists often confront contemporary governmental authorities in pursuit of national well-being. Additionally, characters possessing superpowers who have entered into pacts with ruling political entities are frequently portrayed as antagonistic figures both narratively and morally. Captain America: Brave New World delineates the evolving perception of the quintessential American national superhero within a context in which the national symbol can no longer place trust in the political leadership represented by the President of the United States. James Gunn’s Superman explores the moral and legal tensions experienced by an extraterrestrial superhero who identifies as American, yet finds himself conflicted by the constraints of international legal frameworks and the influence of powerful private corporate interests. Additionally, the second season of The Peacemaker series exemplifies the convergence of the corrupting nature of power with personal animosity towards individuals possessing extraordinary abilities, thereby highlighting themes of moral ambiguity and the destabilizing effects of authority. The series Generation V, based on the Boys universe from the comic book series by Garth Ennis, explores themes like manipulation within the superhero industry, which can be seen as analogous to broader ideas of covert influence and institutional control.

Superhero narratives as a form of reflection on political events and processes in the current American configuration is turning into an instrument of cultural criticism of executive politics. This may be related both to the increasing polarization of American society between supporters of the Republican and Democratic parties, and to perceptions of common problematic topics in American and global political life. At the same time, there may be a commercial factor involved: superhero narratives become critical not only because their authors offer relevant messages, but also because of audience expectations. Nevertheless, the antagonization of the superhero and power is becoming an objective trend in the modern image of the American superhero.

 

6. Elena Kornilova

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department

The Future of American Civilization in Bong Joon-ho’s Dystopian Film Mickey 17 based on the novel by Edward Ashton

A grotesque parody of modern Western civilization from Warner Bros. Pictures, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s film, based on Edward Ashton’s novel of the same name and starring Robert Pattinson and Steven Yeun, was released on February 28, 2025. A special screening of the film was held at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2025. The plot of this eerie dystopia is based on several archaic and modernist myths that feed off of contemporary pop culture and propaganda.

If we speak of archaism, then first of all, it is the myth of human immortality, the technological realization of humanity’s dream of overcoming death and resurrection, realized in many Indo-European and other mythologies of the world, such as Christianity (the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus), ancient Greek mythology (Dionysus-Zagreus, Persephone, Adonis), etc. True, this immortality is parodic in the best traditions of the thriller: over the course of the film, the hero dies seventeen times in the most brutal manner, but his consciousness, copied in minute detail to a hard drive, allows for the launch of a new technology and the “reprinting” of him from garbage and biological waste on a 3D bioprinter. He is an “expendable” character, as stated in the contract he signed, when he decides to escape Earth and embark on a perilous journey to an uncharted planet, where a certain Earth “messiah,” in reality defeated politician Kenneth Marshall, promises to create a paradise on “a separate planet”—a just social structure for those who join him on an intergalactic journey.

In this fantastical setting, the ancient motif of duality also plays naturally. Mythological models retain their significance in a parodic dystopia about intergalactic travel, the exploration of distant exoplanets, digital immortality, human cloning, the latest 3D printing technologies, as well as in transparent allusions to the destruction of values in the modern world and the essence of populist democratic government. Since the film is completely new, it is worth discussing the entire complex of ideas presented in it from the perspective of historical poetics and futurology.

 

7. Osip Kazantsev

Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

How to be an American without America? An answer by J. G. Ballard in Hello, America! (1981)

Since the early years of American independence, American identity has been seen as a variable rather than a constant in a complex historical equation. Politicians, religious activists, immigrants, voters, and, of course, writers tried to substitute their own meaning into this socio-political formula, thereby finding the necessary solution. But it was always a temporary solution. J. G. Ballard’s science fiction novel Hello  America  (1981) presents a universal “key” to the equation for identifying the American origin, moreover in an unexpected way. To find an answer to the question of what it means to be an American, it is necessary to annul America itself as a state, country and civilization. And see what remains when reduced to the “factory settings”. And only freedom will remain.

 

8. Darya Mitrokhina

Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia

An American Nightmare: The Transformation of Lovecraftian Motifs in The Sinking City and Darksiders 2 Video Games as a Reflection of National Identity”

H.P. Lovecraft’s works have become part of the cultural code of the United States, expressing the “American nightmare” – the deep-seated fears of the national consciousness. This study analyzes how the video games, The Sinking City and Darksiders 2, interpret Lovecraft’s key concepts: the fear of the unknown, the insignificance of humans, and the theme of decline in the context of American identity. The Sinking City places classic Lovecraftian horror in the atmosphere of an American city in the 1920s, highlighting themes of moral decay, social crisis, and fear of the unknown, reflecting the darker aspects of American history. Darksiders 2 takes cosmic horror to a metaphysical level, exploring questions of free will and the struggle against predestination. Both games vividly portray the fear of losing control and identity, which is central to the American cultural narrative. Research methods include motivational and comparative analysis, as well as the study of game content. In conclusion, it is argued that both games serve not only as adaptations of Lovecraft’s legacy but also as platforms for dialogue with the historical and contemporary connotations of “America” and “Americans,” demonstrating how literary fears find new life in digital culture. Thus, Lovecraftian horror in games becomes a tool for reflecting on the national history and contemporary state of the United States.

 

Imprints: Image of Russia and Image of America

Round Table In Memoriam of Professor Yassen Zassoursky

Coordinator RSACS Academic Secretary Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova

 

December 3, Wednesday, 7.30 pm –9 pm  (MSK)

 

 

1. Irvin Weil

Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

Family Story as an Origin Story for the Country

 

2. Alyona Vanova

Independent researcher, Moscow, Russia

Metaphorical concepts of America and Russia: stereotypes and archetypes

A methodology and theoretical background for my paper is “Metaphors We Live By” book by George Lakoff and Mark L. Johnson. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that designates one thing is used to specify another: one thing conceived as representing another. Does it mean that metaphors of the U.S.A. and/or Russia describe the essence of each country? Do the countries live by similar metaphors and what they are, if any?  In my study, I analyzed 103 idiomatic phrases with metaphors for America such as “America is a melting pot”, “America is a river of opportunity”, “America is a quilt” and many others looking for similarities in Russian culture (metaphors of Russia in particular).  Here are my conclusions:  1) through exploring the metaphors, we can gain a deeper understanding of what America and Russia mean to their native speakers;  2) the U.S.A. is not just a country, for its description we use the name of the whole continent “America” whereas Canada is also North America, as well as Latin America, it means that the U.S.A. have “possessed” all America. Likewise, the Russian Federation is the entire “Russian world” (Rysskiy Mir);  3) Americans and Russians live by different metaphors but there are many archetypal symbols and concepts that we see in both cultures, for example, “America is a giant magnet”. Russia is also a magnet for migrants from Central Asia and other places; “America is a land of pioneers”, whereas Russia is the county of heroes. I’ll name some similar metaphorical concepts in my paper.  4) The full compliance of metaphors is rare but possible, for instant, “America is a land of opportunity”, “Russia is the county of opportunities” (in plural) / (Россия – страна возможностей).  5) There are many idiomatic phrases with double metaphors for America, such as “America is a lighthouse of democracy”, “America is a patchwork of dreams”, etc. It’s not typical for Russia (each idiom usually has a single metaphor). 6) America and Russia can be understood through various metaphors, each shedding light on different aspects of their identities. Comparative studies of metaphors and looking for similar archetypical concepts might be useful for cultural diplomacy and better understanding of both counties.

 

3. Stanislav Kazachenkov

Rostov State University of Economics, Russia

Redefining the ‘Digital Frontier’:  Russian Innovation Vs. U.S. Tradition in Tax Systems 

The concept of the ‘Frontier’ as a territory for exploration and the embodiment of the ‘American Dream’ is one of the key myths shaping the national identity of the United States. In the 20th and 21st centuries, this concept was transferred to the digital sphere, where Silicon Valley tech companies came to be seen as the new pioneers. However, modern realities challenge this established narrative. The problem of this research is to determine how the perception of the ‘digital frontier’ is changing on a global scale when non-Western countries, particularly Russia, demonstrate leadership in the digital transformation of key state institutions. Using a comparative analysis of the digitalization of tax administrations in Russia and the United States, the report explores how technological solutions shape a new image of national efficiency and sovereignty. While the US maintains a complex, decentralized, and largely traditional tax system, Russia has implemented a centralized, innovative, and user-oriented digital platform, which has radically increased the efficiency of tax control and convenience for citizens. The main conclusion of the work is that the practical exploration of the ‘digital frontier’ in public administration is now taking place largely outside the United States. These challenges entrenched notions of technological leadership and create a new, alternative image of a ‘digital future,’ which prioritizes technological sovereignty, centralized efficiency, and a strong state over decentralization and market freedom. Thus, through an interdisciplinary approach (jurisprudence, political science, cultural studies), the report contributes to the discussion on the evolution of the concepts of ‘America’ and ‘American’ in the modern world.

 

4. Zhang Rong

Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Department of Foreign Languages, Moscow, Russian Federation

Music as a Medium: The Efficacy of Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching in Chinese Learners’ Perceptions of Russian and American National Images through Foreign Language Song Teaching

In the context of globalized education, exploring intercultural learning pathways that transcend traditional language classrooms is of great significance. This paper innovatively applies the concept of intercultural communicative language teaching to university foreign language music classes, aiming to explore the effectiveness of music-based teaching content in reshaping learners’ perceptions of the national images of Russia and the United States.

The study designed a comparative teaching experiment: the experimental group received foreign language instruction using representative Russian and American songs (covering classic, popular, and folk songs), with systematic integration of cultural background analysis, lyric interpretation, and discussions on emotional resonance; the control group received conventional foreign language culture courses. Through a semester-long blended approach study (questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and learners’ music log analysis), this study collected and analyzed changes in learners’ cognitive, affective, and attitudinal dimensions.

The results show that music-based teaching intervention produced significant effects. Learners in the experimental group broke through the original media stereotypes and historical narrative frameworks in their perceptions of Russia and the United States, becoming richer and more humanistic. Through musical melodies, lyrics, and the background of their creation, these individuals perceived the diversity within American culture and its spirit of social critique. Simultaneously, they developed a strong empathy for the historical weight, artistic depth, and emotional world of the Russian people. This cognitive reconstruction stems from the profound resonance and non-defensive understanding evoked by music as an “emotional language.”

This study concludes that Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching, using foreign language songs as a starting point, is not only an effective method for teaching language and culture but also a unique path that directly reaches emotions, effectively softens cultural prejudices, and promotes the construction of a positive national image. It provides strong empirical support for advancing intercultural understanding in the arts and humanities.

 

5. Ljubica Kardaleska – Radojkova

American University of Europe – AUE, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Divergent Paths: Legislating Language in the US and Canada 

Canada and the United States exhibit markedly contrasting paradigms of language protection, reflecting broader sociocultural orientations toward linguistic diversity and national identity. In Canada, English and French are constitutionally recognized as official languages, with their status reinforced through an extensive legal and institutional framework, as an instrument that collectively guarantees minority language education, access to public administration, and bilingual operation within federal and certain provincial institutions. It includes Official Languages Act, Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, and Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms underscoring the state’s commitment to cultural preservation and linguistic equity. These instruments collectively guarantee minority language education, access to public administration, and bilingual operation within federal and certain provincial institutions. In contrast, the United States lacks a federal constitutional or statutory regime governing language rights. English functions as the de facto national language, while protections for minority or indigenous languages are largely state-dependent or provided through voluntary federal programs, such as the Bilingual Education Act, the Native American Languages Act (1990), as well as limited state or programmatic initiatives, including historical bilingual education policies. In fact, U.S. policies reflect a patchwork approach, highlighting the varying success of legislative tools in sustaining linguistic diversity and fostering equitable access to language rights. Consequently, Canada’s institutionalized bilingualism ensures more coherent and equitable support for linguistic minorities, whereas the U.S. framework remains decentralized and discretionary, resulting in a patchwork of uneven outcomes in language preservation, educational opportunity, and access to linguistic justice.

 

6. Pankaj Kumar

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Animation as a Cultural Bridge: Opportunities for Russian–American Co-Productions in Children’s Animation

Contemporary relations between Russia and the United States remain tense, yet this does not mean that cultural dialogue has come to a complete halt. In fact, periods of political instability often create a stronger need for neutral and positive forms of communication. One such form may be children’s animation. It is universal, easily understood by young viewers around the world, and offers a way to speak about simple but meaningful themes without touching on sensitive issues.

The paper examines the idea of animation as a cultural “bridge” between Russia and the United States. It discusses examples of Russian animated projects that have found success abroad, including Masha and the Bear, The Fixies, and The Snow Queen. These projects have attracted international audiences thanks to their visual clarity, humour, and accessible storytelling. Most of them require little adaptation, which makes them suitable for export.

The paper also explores which storylines and formats could form the basis for future Russian–American co-productions. Promising themes include ecology, science, intercultural friendship, and children’s everyday experiences. Potential forms of cooperation range from joint animated series and short films to educational videos that could be distributed online or used in schools.

The presentation does not overlook existing difficulties, from copyright issues to differences in educational approaches. However, practice shows that animation often remains outside political boundaries. When a project is aimed at children, it has a much higher chance of being positively received on both sides.

Thus, animation can be viewed not only as an artistic product but also as a tool of “soft diplomacy,” which becomes especially valuable in times of crisis. Joint animated projects may help foster a new level of understanding between Russian and American societies.