Georgy Arbatov Institute for the U.S. and Canada Studies,  

Russian Academy of Sciences (ISKRAN) 

The Society of American Culture Studies 

Abstracts 

The L International conference of American Culture Researchers  

«Sculpting the Future to Build the Present: American Culture and Democracy»  

December 4-8, 2024    

  

Opening Plenary Session 

December 4, Wednesday  2024     6.30 pm MSK 

 

1. RAS Correspondent Member Valery Garbuzov 

Georgy Arbatov Institute for the U.S. and Canada Studies,Russian Academy of Sciences (ISKRAN), Russia 

Democracy and Autocracy: Dichotomy of the Modern World 

 

1. Professor Olga Panova 

Philology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University 

Gorky Institute of World Literature RAS, Moscow, Russia 

Bewteen West and East: W.E.B. Du Bois on Democracy in Contemporary World 

Dr. William E.B. Du Bois’ reflections on democracy were not purely academic, but were closely intertwined with his activities as a writer, teacher, civil rights activist and public figure. W.E.B. Du Bois had a a keen interest in democratic practices in contemporary world; his view of American democracy “from behind the veil” encouraged him to search and compare different models existing not only in the West (USA, Britain, Germany, France), but also in the East (USSR, China) and in Africa. Many of Du Bois’ major works were inspired by travels: his personal experience played a key role in his intellectual and creative activities. The paper dwells at some length on Du Bois’ travels – his trips around the world, five visits to the Soviet Union, trips to China, Africa, and Germany – and their influence on his ideas about democracy as well as his attitudes to the existing democratic practices. The paper is based on Du Bois’ published works (including autobiographical texts and correspondence), and unpublished materials from his archive – manuscripts, drafts, sketches, notes; among them his unpublished books The World Search for Democracy (draft manuscript, 1937), Russia and America: An Interpretation (1950). 

 

1. RSACS Academic Secretary Larisa Mikhaylova 

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

The Fiftieth Conference of American Culture Researchers: Memories and Perspectives 

 

Section 1. USA Journalism   

Coordinator Dr. Andrey Ruskin 

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) 

  December 5, Thursday   10.00 am – 1.00 pm MSK 

  

1. Sofia Bukhantseva

The Moscow International University, Russia 

The Evolution of Political Commentary on the Example of Hunter Thompson’s works Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 and Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie 

The figure of Hunter Thompson is certainly iconic for American culture. First of all, Thompson is known as the founder of gonzo journalism, a genre that is far from objective, but not devoid of a critical, and sometimes even satirical, view of the problem. Thompson’s authorial style found expression in works devoted mainly to the coverage of the presidential election campaigns of 1972 and 1992. In the works “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72” and “Better than Sex”, the journalist and writer reveals the underside of the life of politicians. As Thompson himself writes: “the main secret of political journalism is the ability to translate all this into a normal language.” Indeed, gonzo’s language best reflects the complexity and versatility of the political struggle for the presidency. In addition, the figure of the author shades historical characters, thereby helping to show them as realistic as possible. It is also important to note the following typological features of gonzo journalism: eclecticism and a large number of deviations far from the main line of the narrative. These characteristic features are found in many of the writer’s works. In these novels, they work on a common idea, namely, they show the chronology of the candidates’ fight for the presidency. It can be said that political commentary in the works of Hunter Thompson is evolving: an even more distinct expression of the author’s position appears. His thoughts come to the fore, whereas in the first political novel the main role was played by descriptions (through the prism of the author’s view) of the actions of the direct participants in the events. The caustic and biting language remains unchanged, which is a characteristic feature of all the journalist’s works. Thus, it can be concluded that Hunter Thompson throughout his career showed the backstage of “political theater” through the prism of a purely personal perception. 

 

2. Alexander Chernavsky

The Moscow Pedagogical State University (MPGU), Russia   

The Crisis of Self-Censorship and the Problem of Ideological Polarization in Contemporary American Journalism  

An obvious example of ideologically polarised echo chambers is the dilemma of the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US media. A number of studies have shown that conservative media outlets were significantly more likely to publish stories questioning the effectiveness of masks and vaccination, while liberal outlets took the opposite position. At the same time, there was almost no cross-citation of experts from the opposite camp of opinion. A concrete example of the current fragmentation of the information space is the coverage of the presidential elections in 2020 and 2024. A successful example of an alternative business model is ProPublica, a non-profit publication funded by grants and donations. In recent years, ProPublica has won several Pulitzer Prizes for investigative journalism, demonstrating that it is possible to maintain high professional standards outside the traditional for-profit model. Another example is The Texas Tribune, which successfully uses a hybrid funding model that combines subscriptions, sponsorships and grants. This allows the publication to retain editorial independence and produce quality journalism that is focused on the public interest rather than the ideological preferences of its sponsors. The crisis of self-censorship and ideological polarisation in American journalism requires a systematic approach to solving. These examples demonstrate both the depth of the problem and potential ways to overcome it. The successful cases of ProPublica and The Texas Tribune show that alternative models of journalism are possible and can be effective. 

 

3. Dmitry Donskoy

The Moscow International University, Russia 

The Role of Sports Journalism Language in US Political Discourse  

For a more complete understanding of American political discourse, it is necessary to understand the language developed by sports journalism.  The development of this language was carried out by leading representatives of journalism and literature, starting from the second half of the 19th century.  The American political establishment grew up absorbing this language from childhood. In order to correctly understand American political discourse, it is necessary to have an understanding of the sports map of the USA. The language of sports journalism is not only linguistic and syntactic constructions, but also an understanding of the history of sports. Sports competitions literally from the very beginning became a large part of the country’s culture. 

 

4. Marina Fedorina

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Digital Transformation of the Local Media in the United States and Current Trends in the American Regional Journalism 

The presented research examines the digital transformation of local journalism in the USA, focusing on the adoption of social media platforms as primary news sources, development of innovative digital content formats, and integration of audience-centric journalism practices to enhance local news engagement. Local journalism is essential for democracy, delivering trusted information on local issues that directly affect communities. Given the decline of traditional newsrooms, local media are pivotal for maintaining informed civic participation and trust. Besides, local journalism is essential for providing communities with relevant, trustworthy information. Studies show that in the absence of robust local journalism, communities face “news deserts” where misinformation and disengagement persist. The shift to the use of digital tools is crucial as younger audiences increasingly turn to social media for news, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram (prohibited in Russia) now serving as primary news sources for over half of Americans under 30. Therefore, digital innovation is key to maintaining engagement and trust in these evolving media landscapes. This research aims to identify digital strategies that enable local newsrooms to attract, engage, and retain diverse audiences. The goals include: • analyzing how platforms like TikTok and Instagram can be leveraged for local news; • determining effective content formats like short-form videos, data visualizations, and podcasts; • exploring audience-centric practices that incorporate community feedback into news reporting.  The conducted research reveals that, first of all, successful engagement on social media requires local newsrooms to adapt content to visual and interactive formats, such as short-form video and dynamic visuals, to meet platform-specific demands. Furthermore, audience-centric journalism – prioritizing feedback and addressing community-specific concerns – is a key driver of engagement and trust, particularly in younger audiences. Additionally, digital innovations, such as newsletters and interactive data presentations, also provide efficient tools for engaging audiences and building loyalty as well as upholding trust. Thus, digital tools and audience-driven practices offer local newsrooms opportunities to maintain relevance and trust, reinforcing local journalism’s critical role as a reliable community resource. 

 

5. Vladislav Fedorov

The Financial University, Moscow, Russia    

Black Lives Matter as a Factor in the Political Polarization of American Society 

The activities of the Black Lives Mater movement were covered in different ways in the American media, which led to criticism for manifestations of extreme liberalism. The BLM movement emerged in 2013 after the murder of 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin. In response to the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, the hashtag #AllLivesMatter appeared, emphasizing the importance of all lives. In May 2020, the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked larger protests with widespread media coverage. The movement was supported by: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Disney, Sony and other companies that published statements in support of the African American community.  

The influence of the Black Lives Matter NGO has grown significantly in the 21st century in the United States. This happened against the background of the growing polarization of American society, in which the proportion of representatives of ethnic minorities is 30%. The representation of blacks and Latinos in the middle class has increased significantly, and black billionaires have appeared in the business elite, Spanish has become an equal competitor with English. In August 2024, the BLM unexpectedly expressed dissatisfaction with the secret behind-the-scenes negotiations of the leadership of the Democratic Party on the nomination of Kamala Harris for the post of president of the United States without a broad public discussion of alternative candidates. Representatives of the BLM called for organizing primaries and giving the opportunity for the nomination of other candidates. This precedent has become a wake-up
call for the sentiments of black voters, who have traditionally supported Democratic candidates and their values of tolerance and commitment to diversity. White voters and candidates (WASP), who previously dominated elections undividedly, are gradually being replaced by ethnic minorities, whose share will grow in the future.  

All the leading political forces in the United States are actively campaigning among non-white voters, and their unconditional support for the Democrats is becoming unobvious. 

 

6. Violetta Gerasina

The State Academic University for the Humanities (GAUGN), Russia 

The Media Image of Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election 

The presentation examines the transformation of Donald Trump’s media image during the 2024 presidential race based on the analysis of television, Internet and print media, as well as D. Trump’s social networks. The media image of presidential candidates plays an important role in the course of elections, attracting support and alienating various groups of the electorate, therefore, the analysis and study of the features of media strategies and the representation of images of politicians by the media seems relevant and useful for determining the impact of the role of the media on electoral and political processes. 

 

7. Fedor Serdotetsky

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Tools for Promoting Channels of American Publications and Opinion Leaders on Telegram 

Currently, creators of media content, including traditional publications such as The New York Times, for example, create products that may not relate directly to the media and that are posted on social networks. Progress in the field of digital technologies allowed new media to evolve into online communication platforms, which later also became platforms for posting content makers’ materials. Moreover, we are talking about both Russian and foreign social networks. Thanks to social networks, bloggers have an amazing and unique opportunity to distribute their content to a huge audience without being tied to a specific location. Moreover, social media has given content creators special tools to shape public opinion.  

The authors of the current media research believe that bloggers who are opinion leaders, as well as American publications (The USA Today, The New York Times, etc.) creating content in the Telegram cross-platform messenger, on the one hand, use classic tools for forming public opinion, and on the other – typical only for blogging on social networks, including those tools that are available exclusively in Telegram, whose unique properties (for example, a closed type of channels without a unifying feed) give more opportunities for promotion and monetization. 

One of the key ideas of the study is that the tools used exclusively due to the features of social platforms belong to the tools of SMM (social media marketing). SMM technologies are used by marketers to promote goods and services, while these same technologies are perfect for spreading ideas, values and beliefs, that is, for forming public opinion. 

The results of the media research proved that SMM tools in Telegram are used by both classical media and bloggers who are opinion leaders. At the same time, even classic tools work effectively only in conjunction with SMM elements. According to the authors, Telegram’s interactive functions allow journalists and bloggers to act in accordance with P. Lazarsfeld’s two-stage communication model: subscribers receive information in the form interpreted by bloggers. And Telegram’s high interactivity enhances SMM tools. 

 

8. Nikolai Zykov

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia  

Reflection of Democratic Values in the Materials of the Voice of America 

The topic of democratic values is regularly covered by the oldest US international broadcaster. Its main task is to familiarize listeners with issues of social structure, social institutions, and the functioning of various branches of government. Americans are sensitive to issues of democratic structure of society, culture, and government in their country. And now the broadcaster’s website pays considerable attention to it. Both informational and analytical materials have been published on this topic. The VOA Russian department also regularly covers issues of political life of people from Russia, Russian-speaking Americans, for example, their participation in election campaigns at various levels. In recent years, information projects on social life, economics, and culture have been successfully developing. One of the most interesting materials was a story about a museum in Plymouth, where people from Great Britain and other European countries found a new homeland. The topic of democratic values is one of the main topics about American life. Materials on this topic have become very popular with the audience. 

 

9. Alexander Ayton

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Research University), Russia 

Comparative frame analysis of Jewish and American news media articles reporting on 2024 US presidential candidates’ views on Israel 

The framing of US presidential candidates in Jewish and American news media was compared. Articles for analysis were selected from two sources. The first source was English-language Jewish news media which are aimed at American readers such as Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and Haaretz. The second source was American news media such as CNN, and New York Post. The selected articles were published during the 2024 US presidential election campaign and reported on Trump and Harris’ comments on Israel, Gaza, and Iran. The articles’ biases and level of implied support for one or the other candidate was considered. 

 

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

Coordinator Dr. Boris Maksimov 

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) 

 December 6, Friday 5.00 pm-8.00 pm MSK 

  

1. Irene Khruleva

History Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Democratic interpretation of the covenant doctrine by representatives of the radical movement of New England Puritanism of the 17th century 

 Analyzing the views of the radical Puritans of the 17th century, we can trace how a new political-legal way of thinking arises in the depths of the religious worldview, gradually separating from it. In formulating their political vision, Puritan theologians Roger Williams and Thomas Hooker (founders of Rhode Island and Connecticut) quietly removed God from the social covenant.   However, the radicalism of Williams’ political and legal concept compared to Hooker’s more moderate position was manifested primarily in a comprehensively argued idea about the need to separate the church from the institutions of secular power. Williams’ political and legal concept was based on four fundamental provisions: first, the denial of the doctrine of the divine origin of state power; secondly, a statement about the need for separation of church and state; thirdly, the development of the theory of social contract and popular sovereignty; fourthly, a study of the fundamental principles and mechanism of functioning of a democratic state. 

 

2. Dimitry Shcherbakov

HSE University, Moscow, Russia 

 “The Angel of Death stands with a drawn Sword over my sinful Family…”: the Category of Age and the Perception of Death in 17th Century New England 

 Since the publication of Philip Aries’ works in the early 1970s, the problem of death has become an important component of New England studies. At the same time, the dispute initiated by David Stannard and Gordon Giddes still remains unresolved. Stannard, using the concept of the ethos-worldview of Clifford Geertz, advocates that Puritans were afraid of death, while Stannard actively develops the vision of “Puritan optimism” started by Perry Miller, and argues that Puritans welcomed death with joy.  After analyzing the diaries and letters of New England’s Puritans in the 17th century, as well as essays of religious content, we came to the conclusion that this dispute makes no sense, since such radical changes in attitudes to death are primarily caused by changes in age statuses.  The peculiarity of the attitude towards children and their parenting, caused by the fact that children were at risk of early mortality, was to cause children to fear death so that they would embark on the path of repentance as soon as possible. Such an approach strongly influenced the behavior of young people who spent a lot of time reflecting on their own mortality. Having their own families and being subjected to new gender responsibilities, Puritans stopped thinking about their own death and worried about their children and spouses. The elderly, like children, were at risk of dying at any moment.  For that reason, a special mortal culture was formed around these groups, based primarily on special literature and the late medieval tradition of ars moriendi. 

 

3. Yuri Polyakov, Tatyana Pavlova

Komi RAS Research Center, Syktyvkar, Russia 

Discussing the influence of North American legal culture on French Revolutionary Constitutionalism at the end of the 18th century 

Historians recognize the fact of the influence of American legal ideas of the War of Independence’s period on the legal acts of revolutionary France. In historical science, there are studies devoted to the export of certain ideas of American legal culture to a number of countries around the world, including France. At the same time, there is no comprehensive understanding of their influence on the theory and practice of constitutional construction in France in the 80s-90s of the 18th century. To this end, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of sources on the topic, notable among them:  1) the works of political figures of France and the USA at the end of the 18th century: Marquis de Condorcet (“On the influence of the American Revolution on Europe”, 1786), Thomas Paine, etc.; 2) constitutional acts of the mentioned countries during the specified period (Declaration of Human and Civil Rights of 1789, Constitution of the French Republic of 1791, 1795). In the course of the study, idea complexes were identified, that have been reflected in the main French documents of the revolutionary period.  

 

4. Aishat Ostanbekova

St-Petersburg State University, Russia 

All Roads lead to Rome: the Prevalence of Roman Heritage in the Culture of the Early American Republic 

My thesis is that the early American republic’s daily life and culture were shaped by the ancient legacy, and more by the Roman legacy than by Greek one. The generation of the founding fathers was brought up in the spirit of the Enlightenment which highly appreciated antiquity. Americans mentioned ancient historical figures in personal correspondence and publications, named slaves and pets after heroes of mythology and ancient politicians, styled architecture after Greek and Roman buildings, intensely studied Cicero’ speeches to obtain oratorical skill, used Greek and Roman toponyms…the list can go on. Nevertheless, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of Greek culture, Americans and especially their political leaders tended to prefer the Roman heritage, at least when it came to politics. Many founding fathers styled themselves after Roman figures, and Roman political imagery was crucial for the Continental army’s moral during the Independence war. For instance, Joseph Addison’s play “Cato, a Tragedy” was performed in Valley Forge to boost the morale of the soldiers, and it was from this play that Patrick Henry paraphrased his famous demand “Give me liberty or give me death,” and Nathan Hale took his supposed last words “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” In the view of the founding fathers, Greek polises were too disorderly and restless, they also understood that Roman governance system was better suited for a country of the scale of the United States. The Roman influence lived on in American political thought, jurisprudence, architecture, etc. Americans inherited both the heroes – like Cicero whose thoughts influenced the Declaration of Independence – and villains – like Catiline – from the Romans, and Ancient Rome’s legacy was largely responsible for America in its current state.  

 

5. Narine Shakhnazaryan

Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus 

The origins of the policy of double standards (T. More’s Utopia and Pantisocraty by R. Southey) 

 T.More – the outstanding English Renaissance (‘oxford humanism’) politician and writer proposed in his “Utopia” the ideal project of an island state that pursues opposite strategies in domestic and foreign policy, based on the principle of double standards. Foreign countries should be used only for the benefit of Britain (by goodwill (bribe), subordination (coup d’etat) or military takeover). Three centuries later English Romantic poets – R. Southey (the future laureate of Britain Empire) and S.T. Coleridge (the author of “organic unity” theory) created the plan of “Pantisocracy” (prototype – Plato’s republic) for realization in New World. However, in accordance with the principle of double standards Southey proposed to use slave labour , which was categorically rejected by Coleridge (‘who desires slavery is himself a slave’). The problem of double standards practice remains unresolved in the modern American policy till now. 

 

6. Boris Maximov

Journalism Department. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Slavery as a Mental Pathology in E. A. Poe’s ‘Gothic’ Tales 

In abolitionist literature, slavery was rejected mainly because it violated the norms of humanity and justice, while at the same time abolitionists tended to idealise slaves. For E. A. Poe, who was rather indifferent to moral and ethical issues, the mental bond, or rather, the interdependence of master and slave was crucial, which inevitably acquires pathological features and deforms both sides. The slave is forced to mimic his master, he loses his identity and becomes completely dependent on an external model (like the mental patients in The System of Doctor Tarr or the orangutan in Murder in the Rue Morgue, that copied his master’s habits). The master’s situation, in Poe’s thought, is no less pernicious. In the environment he becomes accustomed to seeing a projection of his own self (the house of Usher is synonymous with the Usher family, in Prince Prospero’s Abbey everything is shaped by the prince and conforms to his tastes, in ‘The Oval Portrait’ the artist’s wife becomes a pictorial artefact), up to the identity of affects and desires (insisted upon by the (slave)owners in ‘The Black Cat’ and ‘The Hop-Frog’).  A conflict-free environment, reflecting the master’s Ego, fuels his passions and desires, so the latter threatens to lose the self-control on which, in turn, his domination was based. On the other hand, any discrepancy induces in him an attack of rage or panic, resolved by violence (The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, Metzengerstein, Berenice) and/or an act of escapism (Usher, Premature Burial). Finally, the slave is transformed from a ‘shadow,’ a copy, into a mirror reflecting the deformation of the master beyond his will (‘The Black Cat,’ ‘William Wilson,’ ‘The Masque of the Red Death,’ ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’ ‘The Raven,’ ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ ‘Hop-Frog”). 

 

7. Natalia Kuznetsova

Journalism Department. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

The Methods of Team Management in H. Melville’s Moby-Dick, or, The Whale 

In the 50s of the XIX century, the period of industrialization, mass production, widespread trade activities in the United States, Melville questions the problem of organizing large (labor) collectives. How may people of different ages, nationalities, and temperaments work productively and cooperatively? In the novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale on the example of the whaling ship “Pequod”, as well as counter ships, I will explore the relationship between the leader and the team, determine the model of industrial relations (authoritarian or democratic), and also indicate various ways of rewards and sanctions aimed at optimizing the working process. 

 

8. Veronika Rodina

Financial Academy, Moscow Russia 

The Evolution of the concept of the “American Dream” as a Soft Power tool from the 17th century to the present 

My paper will be devoted to the formation of the “American ideal” or “American dream”. It aims  to understand why the United States of America developed such a “soft power” tool as the “American dream”, and how the historical prerequisites for the development of American identity, including the colonial period, relate to this tool. The concept of the “American Dream” has been reflected in the works of a huge number of American writers – such as Theodore Dreiser, Horatio Alger and many others. Based on their work, I will analyze what exactly attracts people to this vision.  Further, the paper will examine the relationship between the “American Dream” and the concept of “soft power” (drawing on the well-known work of American political scientist Joseph Nye). Particular attention will be paid to the contradictions between the ideals of freedom, equality and democracy proclaimed at the founding of the United States and the reality of racial inequality, social discrimination and the lingering consequences of the colonial past.  Key moments in American history, such as colonization, the Civil War and the civil rights movements, are analyzed, that illustrate deep cultural ruptures and contradictions. The paper emphasizes the influence of these historical events on the culture of modern society and its ideas about justice and inclusiveness.  

 

9. Aisha Shakhjakhan

RUDN University, Moscow, Russia 

Legal Culture of the USA:  History of Development  

The United States was one of the first countries to create a presidential republic with a bicameral parliament and federalism in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it today. The paper analyzes aspects of the legal culture of the United States, traces the evolution of the American legal culture from the Declaration of Independence till now and defines the foundations of federalism. A conclusion is made about the influence of legal culture on the culture and art of the United States 

 

 

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

Coordinator Prof. Dr. Elena Kornilova 

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

 December 8, Sunday, 10.00 – 16.00 (MSK) 

 

  1.Tatyana Kamarovska 

Belarusian Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus 

Democracy vs dictatorship: G. Vidal’s Novel Lincoln 

Gore Vidal’s novel Lincoln (1984)c ontinues to explore the question of how far the Constitution and the state structure of the United States can ensure the functioning of democracy, and whether there is the danger of the establishment of the totalitarian regime in the country. These questions are forever troubling both the writer and his other American colleagues.  To analyze the relationship between individual rights and the needs of the state at one or another historically turning point, to understand the problem of a strong leader who became the head of the state ship that leaked – what should his political course be, does he have the right to violate constitutional, democratic norms of life in order to save the state? – Vidal chooses the historical hero, the most popular and beloved in the United States, known for his democracy, famous as the liberator of blacks – President Lincoln.  This novel is considered in the paper as Vidal’s study of the relationship between the democratic structure of the state and totalitarian methods of government in a certain historical period. 

 2. Irina Kudryavtseva

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus 

Democratization of the genre system of American literature: flash fiction 

 The paper deals with the phenomenon of flash fiction in contemporary American literature, its specificity in terms of literary presence, poetics, reception. The democratic nature of flash fiction is emphasized as it can be written and published by any internet user. This leads to writing losing its elitist status, however, it also creates a problem of the aesthetic value of flash fiction texts. As a material for this study the book Flash Fiction America: 73 Very Short Stories (2023) has been used to demonstrate the diversity of themes, approaches, narrative strategies, as well as the multicultural character of the contemporary American society. 

 

3. Natalya Kopytko

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus 

From the USA to NAS-23:  

The Metamorphoses of American Democracy in J. C. Oates’s Novel Hazards of Time Travel 

 The protagonists’ time travel is widely employed by many contemporary writers. Such technique can well represent the characters’ loneliness, their isolation and impossibility to control their lives. The 17-year-old Adriane Strohl, the protagonist of Joyce Carol Oates’s novel Hazards of Time Travel (2018), finds herself in exactly this type of situation. While narrating about the vicissitudes of her fate the author plunges the reader into the gloomy future of America: in 2039 the USA is transformed into NAS-23 (the North American States). This technocratic society is marked by the total surveillance, people have to conceal their gifts, to merge with the crowd not to endanger themselves or their kin. The government in NAS-23 terrorizes and oppresses the citizens: the lawbreakers face the risk of being “vaporized” or becoming exiles as Adriane does: her valedictorian school speech presented in the form of questions is considered a treason, thus she is arrested and “teletransported” in 1959. The protagonist’s conflict with her immediate surrounding and the laws of the society may be viewed as the thematic center of the novel. Adriane who is sent back in time 80 years before her actual lifetime is to study at the University of Wainscotia, Wisconsin, and to perform the role of a student whose name now is Mary Ellen Enright. She has a microchip implanted in her head that deletes all her past memories and the Disciplinary Committee constantly watches her. Thus, by making an extensive use of expressive potential of time travel fiction and dystopian novels, J. C. Oates describes the metamorphoses of American democracy, reflects on the possible reasons of the way American society develops, compares the past and the near future to emphasize the idea that in the late 1950s the relations between people used to be more open and sincere. 

 

4. Irene Guseva

Philology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

A Big Country and So Different:  

a novel by Joyce Carol Oates Night, Sleep, Death. The Stars. 

In her  novel  Night, Sleep, Death. The Stars. (2020)  Joyce Carol Oates creates a wide panorama of contemporary American life: American schools, American roads, American suburbs, American fairs, American police, American family, American way of life, American appetites. 

At the beginning of the novel we have the scene which introduces the conflict central in the novel. Can the state officials kill a person for no reason and avoid punishment? Whitey the father of five children was driving his car when he saw police officers beating a young Indian in the car before him. When he tried to interfere the policemen  used Tasers on both of them – for reasons of “officer safety”. The young Indian Azim Murthy did not lose consciousness or lapse into a coma because he was twenty seven, but John Earle McСlaren, sixty-seven, did. When in hospital he regained consciousness, but only for some time,  and at the end of the week he died. His wife and five children were desolate. The eldest son Tom tried to find the way to punish the policemen who killed their father but with no success. 

Variety of other kinds of violence is decribed in the novel as well. Sofia, the daughter of John Earl McСlaren, when riding the car in the city is stopped by the policemen who tried to rape her . School violence is practiced at school where Loren, the other daughter of Whitey, is the director, in various ways. One cannot help but wonder at the reason for existence of such a veriety in the lives of ordinary Americans. 

 

5. Danila Krasnov

HSE University, Moscow Russia 

The Impact of the Neoconservative Movement on American Culture 1960-1980 

 The neoconservative movement, emerging in the late 1960s, developed in reaction to cultural and political shifts in the U.S., such as the counterculture, sexual revolution, and Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.” Key figures like Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, and Daniel Bell expressed concern over the erosion of traditional values—family, morality, and patriotism—amid growing secularism and government intervention. Their primary concern was to preserve national identity against these transformative forces, aiming to restore the cultural foundations they perceived as being lost.   

Key conclusions: 

1. Critique of liberalism and the welfare state:  Neoconservatives like Kristol and Bell condemned the expansion of the welfare state, arguing it fostered dependence on government and eroded key social institutions, such as family and religion. They viewed Johnson’s “Great Society” as contributing to moral decay and bureaucratic inefficiency. These ideas influenced Reagan’s administration, which implemented significant cuts to social programs and embraced deregulation, championing limited governmental intervention in economic and social matters. 
2. Opposition to counterculture and new morality:  Neoconservatives were staunch critics of the cultural shifts of the 1960s, including the sexual revolution, feminism, and the hippie movement, which they saw as undermining traditional family values. Writings by Podhoretz and Kristol criticized these cultural trends as morally destabilizing. Their views deeply influenced Reagan’s cultural policies, such as the promotion of “family values,” opposition to abortion, and the war on drugs, aimed at restoring cultural conservatism.  
3. Revival of patriotism and national values:  Promoting American exceptionalism and patriotism, neoconservatives argued that the U.S. should assert its global leadership in defending Western values against communism. Figures like Jeane Kirkpatrick maintained that a strong foreign policy was essential for maintaining U.S. global dominance. Reagan’s policies reflected these ideals by emphasizing military strength and moral leadership in the Cold War, thus reinvigorating patriotic sentiments within American culture.

 

6. Tatyana Belova

Philology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia  

Pictorial Mode Delineating the Overcoming of the Race Conflict  

in W. Faulkner’s Novel Intruder in the Dust  

  The essence of the race conflict described in the novel is as follows. The elderly black farmer Lucas Beauchamp accused of murdering a white man is saved from lynching by two black and white adolescent friends and a seventy-year-old aristocratic spinster Miss Habersham. Having exhumed the corps of a white man from the grave at night they could unravel a criminal mystery with a subsequent assistance of the local sheriff, a lawyer Gavin Stevens and a few volunteers of the local Southern community. However, the description of the race conflict becomes on a large scale still more complicated with an introduction by the author of a much more profound conflict situation, i.e. the clash of the falling into a decay the South land aristocracy’s interests and those of the “white gamblers” invading to Yoknapatawpha county from the North. These are criminal elements forming their own mafioso clans in the local community as, for instance, Gowrie brothers.  Disable to make a compromise Lucas is shown in the novel as a good example of the black folk wisdom who has armed himself with great patience. Thus he keeps to be obstinate and unbending under these terrible circumstances and the events that are outside his control and those he constantly resists and stands up with all his dignity which never abandons him. The reader’s attention in the sphere of the humanistic purposefulness of the novel is redoubled due to the effect of its artistic principles as the modern poetics is amalgamated with realistic one.  Thus, W. Faulkner’s novel Intruder in the Dust is rather meaningful and distinctly very original containing a highly concentrated historic atmosphere of the American South. And due to the mastery of narration it explores the humanistic problems of great significance bearing a certain  moral pressure upon the reader.  

 

7. Tatyana Alenkina

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Research University), Russia 

The Genre of American Political Thriller  

(on the example of the novel by Stephen King The Dead Zone ) 

Being one of the most popular genres of American literature, the thriller can be considered as a detective story that incorporates the elements of political, legal, psychological, supernatural, and historical discourse. Due to its diversity and genre hybridization, it is difficult to classify the thriller within a single scientific framework. The article examines a political thriller that was especially popular in America in the 1960s and 1970s. Its development was facilitated by events such as the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, the escalation of the Vietnam War, and the Watergate Scandal that broke out in 1972-1974. The purpose of the article is to analyze the genre characteristics of an American political thriller based on Stephen King’s novel “The Dead Zone” (1979). Specifically, we will analyze the narrative structure and stylistic elements of the text. As a result of the analysis, we have come to the following conclusions. First, the protagonist of the novel, John Smith, is both a victim and a criminal. The attempted assassination of Greg Stillson, a congressman from New Hampshire who has every chance of becoming president, is the archetypal plot of a political thriller. Greg Stillson is an unworthy, cunning, and cruel man, ready to unleash the Third World War, and his murder is seen as a mission to save the American nation and the whole mankind. Second, the story John Smith’s journey through a car accident, his four-year coma, and his supernatural ability to see things others can not, adds emotional depth and dynamic nature to the narration. John’s help in catching a dangerous maniac or saving young people from fire in a café evokes sympathy and admiration for the hero. Third, the daily life of the average American is presented against the backdrop of historical events and political figures. The fictional character, Greg Stillson has some features that are inspired by real historical figures. For example, Greg’s prototype might be Richard Nixon or Louisiana senator Huey Long, who was assassinated in 1935. In a 2020 radio interview, King mentioned Donald Trump who bears a resemblance to the character G. Stillson in his novel “The Dead Zone”. In King’s own words, the novel is a narrative about two important concepts – the political structure and the mood of America. 

 

8. Anastasia Koroleva

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

Search for National Identity. Fight Scenes of George Wesley Bellows 

The work is devoted to the research of the cycle of fighting works, which represent a kind of continuous series that runs through the entire work of the major American realist artist, a representative of the so-called “Ashcan School” George Wesley Bellows (1882 – 1925). 

The author appeals to the genesis of the sport theme in the history of European fine art and examines Bellow’s works in this background as a completely unique phenomenon that could only arise on American soil. The main objective of the report is to study the process of formation of specifically American art and its acquisition of its own national identity in the first quarter of the 20-th century using the examples of the paintings Club Night, Stag at Sharkey’s,Both Members of This Club; and Dempsey and Firpo. Using specific art historical methodology, one can trace significant stylistic differences in them, and show how the artist creates a symbol of national culture from a fairly traditional realistic painting, reflecting purely American realities and a specific worldview conditioned by the special conditions of life in the New World. Another important task is to identify a whole series of influences and parallels between the works of the patriarch of American painting and the works of contemporary European artists, showing how American art is gaining a completely authoritative and independent position, becoming a full-fledged participant in the global artistic process. 

  

9. Alexandra Rogovtseva

RSHU, Moscow,Russia 

American Visionary Art: From Countercultural Roots to Technological Breakthroughs 

Contemporary visionary culture is a topic of ongoing discussions, seen as a collection of cultural artifacts understood by a limited group. It has transitioned from counterculture to mainstream culture over three waves of popularity, adapting to postmodern and metamodern contexts where viewer perception shapes meaning. Artists and directors utilize expressive means to imbue their works with content and significance, drawing inspiration from visionary shamans who infused their creations with mystical meanings. The author highlights discourse analysis as a valuable method for studying visual culture, emphasizing the interpretation of visual phenomena to reveal meanings and trends in American culture. Visual visionary experience is portrayed as a complex system of actions beyond just the optical aspect, contributing to social distinctions. The author aims to analyze contemporary art forms like cinema, animation, and fine art to understand the significance of symbols in visionary culture and how they are expressed. 

 

10. Natalia Petrovskaya

ISKRAN ,Moscow, Russia 

Reflections of Social Inequality In American Cinema 

 American cinema, as a mirror of social and cultural evolution, reflects the underlying contradictions and dynamics of social inequality throughout its history. This is particularly acute in autobiographical films, which, through personal stories, convey the experiences and hardships of specific individuals facing various forms of discrimination and inequality – whether gender, racial, ethnic, or economic.   

Key findings: 1. Supporting awareness and change. Autobiographical films about inequality become a tool for creating a more aware and empathic society by raising issues that are often ignored in everyday life. 2. Criticism of social structure. Through autobiographical films, viewers are given the opportunity to look critically at the system and understand how bias and inequality hinder social progress. 3. Individual stories as a mirror of social inequality. Autobiographical films focus on the personal trials of the characters, showing how social inequality affects their fates, and demonstrating that the struggle for equality is not an abstract phenomenon but a reality that shapes people’s destinies. 4. The impact of cinema on public opinion. These films not only reveal personal stories, but also create a cultural space for viewers to rethink their views and form new views on equality, which contributes to social transformation. 5. Motivation to overcome hardship. Despite tragic or difficult stories, many films emphasize the willpower and determination of the characters, which motivates viewers to take an active stance against injustice and to grow personally. 

 

 11. Mikhail Zhuravlev

HSE University, Moscow, Russia 

Transformation of the hero’s image in the 2004 film Troy 

The modern representation of the hero in American cinema is very different from the antique ideals presented in classical myths. The reinterpretation of the image of the hero in films about antiquity is one of the most relevant topics of research on the reception of this period in the twenty-first century. In this case, it is particularly interesting to consider the case of one of the most ambitious projects on this topic, 2004’s Troy and the figures of Achilles and Hector in it. The director of the film, Wolfgang Petersen, combines 3 approaches – the desire to preserve the source material, his own authorial view and orientation to the mass audience. Thanks to this, the confrontation between Achilles and Hector in the film turned out to be both classic for modern culture and quite new. In essence, the traits of the American hero were shared between the two adversaries. Achilles received strength, desire for glory and independence, while Hector received aversion to violence and reliance on family. At the same time, given the rather harsh criticism of US policy that Petersen was able to inject into the Trojan War film (for example, through the figure of Agamemnon and his actions, the director criticizes the introduction of troops into Iraq in 2003), both characters are presented as representatives of European rather than American culture. This is unusual for cinema about antiquity, because in the 21st century Hollywood cinema on this theme has become more about modern American heroes in an antique setting. In ‘Troy’ the only representative of another culture is Agamemnon, the sole villain, whose image has been transformed as much as possible (in a negative way) in comparison with ‘The Iliad’. He, in turn, is opposed by representatives of the more ‘correct’ for Petersen European culture. 

 

12. Artem Rumyantsev

Presidential Academy, Moscow, Russia 

Hollywood and Democracy: The Political Influence of Cinema on Public Consciousness 

 

As a major hub of the film industry, Hollywood shapes Americans’ perceptions of political and social issues, such as human rights, freedom, and democratic values. This report examines how cinema plays a role in shaping civic identity and democratic understanding, as well as the ways films both support and critique existing democratic institutions. 

1. Hollywood films reflect key political events, promoting democratic ideas and encouraging civic engagement in political life: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, directed by Robert Mulligan), All the President’s Men (1976, directed by Alan Pakula).

To Kill a Mockingbird portrays the fight for racial rights and civil liberties, showing how the judicial system can serve as a tool for advancing democratic values. 

All the President’s Men highlights the importance of civic oversight and the press in ensuring government accountability, emphasizing the need to combat corruption to strengthen democracy. 

2. Patriotic films reinforce national identity, emphasizing the values of freedom, equality, and individual rights as essential elements of American identity: Forrest Gump (1994, directed by Robert Zemeckis). Forrest Gump illustrates significant moments in American history, from the Vietnam War to the Civil Rights Movement, through the story of an ordinary man, reinforcing national identity and ideals of freedom and equality.
3. Political and science fiction dramas, as well as dystopias, critique power, drawing attention to corruption and threats to democratic values while emphasizing the importance of civic vigilance: The Matrix (1999, directed by Lana Wachowski (born Lawrence Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born Andrew Paul Wachowski)), Star Wars (1977–2005, directed by George Lucas). The Matrix raises issues of manipulation, control, and loss of freedom, serving as a reminder of the importance of resisting authoritarianism and protecting personal rights in a globalized world. Star Wars critiques political systems through the depiction of the oligarchy of the Galactic Republic, where elite rule undermines genuine democracy, disguising it behind the façade of “freedom”
4. Hollywood promotes democratic and freedom-oriented values on the international stage, influencing perceptions of the American political system and enhancing U.S. cultural influence.

The Matrix and Star Wars address global issues of freedom and control, reinforcing the image of the United States as a country that values individual rights and critical attitudes toward authority. 

 

 

13. Yegor Shapovalov

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

The Role of the Narrator in a Documentary Somewhere in Detroit: Underground Resistance, Submerge, Techno and the Detroit Way, 2024 

The documentary Road to Detroit covers the history of Detroit techno scene. Musicians involved in the film are at the same time producers and creators of multimedia environment, which includes artist incubator, museum exhibition and record store. The results of their creative experiment are also presented in a promotional long-read article (https://articles.roland.com/the-detroit-way/). This movie exemplifies close relation between marketing tools, technical methods and narrative structure.  

The role of the narrator was characterized in the context of modern American film studies (J.Kahana, B.Nichols, A.Danto). In addition, documentary films from different generations were reviewed in order to explore Detroit’s cultural legacy from historical perspective. Based on this analysis the following conclusion has been reached: even despite simplification of narrative structure and figurative system, modern digital techniques allow to create a multifaceted representation of narrator’s personal contribution. 

 

14. Yelena Polyudova

Russian University of Transport, Moscow, Russia 

General Streams of Art Education in the USA in 20th-21st Centuries 

 

The study presents the main directions of the Art Education field in the United States of America during recent decades at the turn of the century. The author analyzes various aspects and elements of art pedagogy in the country. The regulations, policies, and the protocols in Art Education and school curricula, as well as the system of evaluation of students’ artistic works. The study also considers specific examples of the educational process organization in art teaching in American schools, such as management of artistic events, system of work with art museums, creation of final artistic portfolio. The work provides an overview of changing trends in Art Education not only from an organizational and evaluative point of view, but also from the perspective of the Art Education philosophy of developing students’ aesthetic experience. 

 

15. Yelena Shabashova

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Research University), Russia 

Academic Culture of Students: examples from the USA Universities 

How do University students study? What are their values, norms, customs and traditions, ways of interaction and communication? Do American students participate in joint decision-making on the issues of life and studies (including research) at University? What is their influence on decision-making being done by the university administration and by their peers?   These questions that border university culture and democracy are timely for universities round the globe likewise.    Under culture of studies (including research) we understand academic culture (further: AC), namely: – students authorities,   – involvement of students in the work of commissions, committees, boards on maintaining AC,   – engagement of students in groups, clubs, communities, teams, boards, networks teaching AC to peers,  – participation of students in various social events to support AC both at the home University level and other sites, – contribution of university’s alumni Association to support of current students who display adherence and achievements in AC etc.   Surf and research of corresponding information easily available on the sites of US Universities demonstrated that there are few examples on the topic of our current interest however they are vivid, convincing, clearly popular among students.  These samples advantageously offer insights into the fact that to follow AC is in the focus of faculty and administration of Universities and of students themselves including alumni who keep in touch with their alma mater.     This experience may be effectively extended to Universities of other countries as well. 

 

16. Milena Daguyeva

Lomonosov Moscow State Universuty, Russia 

Teaching American History at School as a Way to Implement Cultural Policy 

School education serves as one of the means of transmitting the values of a nation’s culture. One key theme in the American school curriculum for US History is the topic of the Civil War. This article examines the US History learning standards, which are developed and implemented at the regional level by each individual state. The absence of a unified curriculum standard allows for greater flexibility in implementing local cultural policies within the educational process, leading to significant variations in the US History course curriculum. The study attempts to trace the connection between the historical affiliation of states with the Union or the Confederacy during the Civil War and the specific interpretations of the causes of the Civil War, coverage of ethnic issues, slavery, and the civil rights movement in the contemporary learning standards of each of the two aforementioned groups of states. 

 

Section 4. Ethnic Aspects of American Culture 

 Coordinator Dr.Oksana Danchevskaya 

(Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia) 

 December 6, Friday, 10.00 am – 4.30 pm (MSK) 

 

 1. Tatyana Burmetyeva 

History Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

“Because I am a poor Indian”: the problems of the indigenous population of North America in the middle of the 18th century according to Samson Occom 

Samson Occom (1723-1792) is a unique personality for his time, combining both typical Indian features and traditional Christian values for the “white world”. A native Mohegan Indian, despite his tribe’s strong ties to pagan beliefs, he spent most of his life as a Christian preaching the gospel among the Indians of New England. The Presbyterian priest left behind a large layer of written sources, including those dealing with contemporary problems and ways of survival of the indigenous population of the future United States in the colonial world. Samson Occom himself saw in the missionary activity and education of the Indians a way to salvation for them not only in a purely Christian sense, but also as a strategy to preserve their rights and lands. By the time of Samson Occom’s active work, certain lines of development of relations between colonists and the indigenous population had already strengthened in North America, and the problems that Occom points out in his works already had a long history. However, Occom became one of the first representatives of Indian society to publicly declare them and appeal to both Europeans and Indians. 

 

2. Maria Chirich 

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus 

The Nature of Ethnic Conflict in Louise Erdrich’s Novel “Tracks” 

In Louise Erdrich’s novel “Tracks” (1988), ethnic conflict is portrayed as a complex intertwining of social, cultural, and spiritual factors that illustrate the strained relations between Indigenous peoples and white population. The author tells about the life of members of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) community in North Dakota, dedicated to the period from 1912 to 1924, a time of significant changes and trials for the community. This novel serves as an important link in Erdrich’s extensive exploration of the interconnected lives of several families living on the Chippewa Reservation, adding depth and backstory to the characters and themes explored in her other novels, such as “Love Medicine”. The female characters such as Fleur and Pauline embody different approaches to resisting external pressure, ranging from actively preserving traditions to reluctantly adapting. Their relationship with Nature not only serves as a form of self-identification but also as a mode of resistance to the colonial forces that seek to sever these connections. Fleur is a mysterious and powerful woman who embodies the indomitable spirit of the Anishinaabe people. Her connection to the earth, her spiritual abilities, and her struggle with both the natural elements and the encroaching white culture are symbols of the novel’s broader themes. Fleur’s character connects the exploration of gender, power and resistance in the novel, emphasizing the role of women as bearers of culture and resilience. On the other hand, Pauline’s story is a story of inner turmoil and transformation. Her obsession with sin, suffering, and how she eventually became a nun reflect the assimilation of colonial views. Her journey is a vivid illustration of the consequences of cultural disorganization and the destructive power of oppression by the white population. Particular attention in the presentation is given to the spiritual component of the conflict, revealed through ecological motifs and rituals linking the characters to their ancestors and environment. Erdrich demonstrates how disrupting these connections leads to cultural decline and the loss of both individual and collective identity. Thus, the natural component becomes a symbol of the Indigenous people’s inseparable connection to their past and spiritual traditions, highlighting the depth and complexity of the ethnic confrontation that penetrates the work. The presentation emphasizes the significance of ethnic conflict for understanding the novel “Traces” and illuminates its role as a tool for analyzing the consequences of colonization, loss of identity, and the struggle for cultural survival. This analysis allows us to explore deeper aspects of the novel that are relevant to contemporary studies of ethnic conflicts and the preservation of cultural heritage. 

 

3. Maria Lazareva 

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Transformation of the spiritual culture of the Plains Indians from the late 19th century to the present (based on memoirs and ethnic mass media) 

The aim of this research is to identify the peculiarities of the transformation of the spiritual culture of the Plains Indians from the end of the 19th century to the present day on the basis of ethnic media and memories of the Sioux tribes representatives. Components such as various ritual and ceremonial practices, spiritual values, transformation of attitudes towards native languages, as well as such specific elements as the sacred pipe, Wakan-Tanka, bison, the numbers seven and four were analyzed. Having considered two periods of transformation of the spiritual culture of the Plains Indians, from the end of the 19th to the second half of the 20th century and from the second half of the 20th century to the present day, we have identified the main features. The imposition of Christianity forced the Indians to modify their culture, led to the emergence of new religious movements. The settlement of tribes on reservations made it impossible to carry out many rituals. The US government’s prohibition on the organization of certain ceremonies has erased from the memory of peoples the features of sacred rituals. Boarding schools have also left a huge mark on culture. Alcohol and drug addiction have a devastating effect on spiritual culture. The monetization of its elements throws the Indians away from any sacred meaning. There has been a shift in Indian culture from the collectivistic mindset to the individualistic one. 

 

 4. Oksana Danchevskaya 

Moscow State Pedagogical University, Russia 

American Indian Myths about the Creation of Man 

The vibrant and original culture of American Indians is an integral part of the general American culture, but in the mass consciousness it is most often represented only by a set of stereotypes that do not allow one to feel its full depth and versatility. It is the mythology of the people that helps to understand their worldview, and myths about the creation of man not only immerse one in the culture of Native Americans, but also contribute to the formation of some of their inherent features of national character and mentality. The author suggests getting to know the myths about the creation of man of different American Indian tribes and discussing their role, functions and influence on Indian culture. 

 5. Inna Shchepacheva 

Kazan Federal University, Russia 

Slavery and Its Apprehension in Jesmyn Ward’s Creativity 

Despite the fact that more than 150 years have passed since the abolition of slavery in the United States, contemporary African American authors continue to depict this cultural trauma, which still remains a means of self-identification within the African-American community and determines how African Americans perceive themselves and their place in the society. The research material is the creativity of a famous writer, representative of the third generation of African American literature Jesmyn Ward and her latest published novel Let Us Descend (2023), untranslated into Russian. The report examines how the writer, relying on the genre of slave narratives, the practice of turning to the traditions of magical realism, as well as intertextual references to examples of world literature, attempts to depict the course of historical events associated with slavery in the southern United States in the 19th century. 

 

6. Yulia Kleyman 

Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, Russia 

African Americans at the Federal Theatre Project 

Racial equality has become one of the arguments for Congress to accuse the Federal Theatre Project of having ties to the Communist Party. As one congressman stated, “Racial equality is an essential part of communist lessons and practices.” Discussions about the role of the FTP in the abolitionist movement, the participation of African Americans in the work of the Negro Projects, and the presentation of Black residents of the United States on stage began with the creation of the Project and continue to this day. On the one hand, within the framework of the FTP, nine “Negro projects” were opened in large cities, under the leadership of which there were approximately the same number of branches in small towns. On the other hand, they were led predominantly by whites. The talk will examine various strategies for including African Americans in the Federal Theatre Project and the consequences of these attempts. 

 

7. Alexander Alkhimov 

HSE University Saint-Petersburg, Russia 

The influence of McCarthyism on the civil rights struggle in the South 1946-1954 

The influence of McCarthyism on the civil rights struggle in the South has been well-developed in historiography, but it has several flaws. In particular, the discursive aspect of the period from 1946 to 1954, before the Brown v. Board of Education decision, has not received sufficient attention. This talk pays considerable attention to the impact of McCarthyism on the general discourse of all major political actors at the time. It is shown that, although segregationists enjoyed considerable influence at the time due to their use of anti-communist rhetoric, their opponents did not accept the segregationist version of anti-communism and also criticized the insufficient efforts of federal authorities to desegregate society. 

 

8. Kirill Ignatov 

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Reflection as a stylistic dominant in the play “Topdog / Underdog” by Suzan-Lori Parks 

Suzan-Lori Parks (born 1963) is a renowned representative of postmodern US drama. In 2002, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog. With only two characters and minimal props, this postmodern drama continues to be very popular on both professional and amateur stages in the United States. The one-act play consists of six scenes. There are only two characters on stage throughout the play, two African-American brothers in their thirties: the elder Lincoln and the younger Booth. As the plot of the play evolves, Booth is trying to sharpen his skills at the so called three-card game, which is a form of cheating (known in Russian as “thimbles” and in English as “three-card monte” or “shell game”). Previously, the elder brother Lincoln himself used to be a gambler, but abandoned this business when a friend of his was killed and his girlfriend kicked him out of the house. Now he works in a shopping mall arcade, impersonating President Lincoln, and lives with his brother Booth. The names of the characters refer to the assassination of the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln by an ardent opponent of the abolitionists, John Wilkes Booth, at Ford’s Theater in Washington. The creation of such obvious intertextual connections is characteristic of Parks’s work, and the viewer is prepared in advance for the fact that at the end of the action, as it was on April 14, 1865, Booth will shoot Lincoln. The talk focuses on the key stylistic device employed by Parks to get across an artistic message, reflection/representation, which shows itself in different guises on different levels of the play. Appearing in three forms – as mirror reflection (left-right), optical reflection (small-large) and photographic reflection (positive-negative), the reflections in the play bring to the stage a modern view of the historical values of American culture in the context of African American issues, connecting the historical president Lincoln and his antipode with two brothers, modern black residents of New York. 

 

9. Polina Shabrova 

Center for North American Studies IMEMO RAS, Russia 

Removal of Confederate monuments in the United States: symbols of the past in contemporary battles for racial justice 

The present study is an investigation of the socio-political conflicts that have arisen in the United States surrounding the dismantling of monuments to Confederate leaders. In particular, the focus is on the monument to General Robert Edward Lee in Richmond, Virginia. The question of whether to preserve or remove such monuments has become particularly urgent in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. The issue is the conflict between different ideological, racial, and political groups with opposing views on the symbolic significance of these monuments. The study identifies six key types of conflict, including inter-party disagreements, power and public confrontation, and ideological and value interpretations of symbols of the past. Those in favor of dismantling the monuments argue that they glorify racism and slavery, whereas their opponents contend that they are an integral part of historical heritage and local patriotism. The issue is further complicated by the fact that these conflicts are complex social processes that affect the identity of different groups and create new points of tension. The primary conclusion of the report is that conflicts over monuments are deep, multilayered, and cannot be resolved by removal alone. Even after the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in 2021, the contradictions have not disappeared, but have only moved into a latent stage, which could potentially lead to new outbreaks of social tension. 

 

10. Tatiana Ivanova 

University of Science and Technology MISIS, Russia 

A Plague Saint and Doctor Death: The Spread and Transformation of the Santa Muerte Cult in the USA and Mexico 

Traditional religions today face challenges from the rise of various cults rooted in humanity’s pagan past. Among these, the cult of Santa Muerte (Spanish for “Holy Death”), a blend of Christianity and indigenous American beliefs, is gaining significant traction in North America, boasting approximately 12 million followers. The COVID-19 pandemic has notably accelerated the popularity of the Santa Muerte cult. This surge can be attributed not only to people’s tendency to seek solace in religious practices during times of crisis but also to Santa Muerte’s role as a patron saint for marginalized groups who often lack support from the state or social institutions. Her association with death makes her a focal point for those seeking to prolong life during such uncertain times. Additionally, the pandemic has introduced new attributes to her imagery, such as the color purple, symbolizing healing, which has become increasingly common in depictions of Santa Muerte. Some researchers even suggest that she has joined the ranks of traditional plague saints, like Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch, fulfilling similar societal roles during the pandemic, particularly when medical assistance was scarce.  Contrary to popular belief, Santa Muerte is not only worshipped in Mexico but also in the United States and beyond. The expansion of the cult across North America is largely driven by migrants, although individuals from diverse backgrounds have also embraced its teachings. In recent years, Santa Muerte has emerged as a symbol of inclusion in North America; her image as a genderless skeleton resonates not only with themes of death and violence but also with issues of discrimination. 

 

11. Marina Chernykh 

Institute for US and Canadian Studies RAS, Russia 

The correlation between the “Melting Pot” concept and the culture resilience of Hispanics 

In the first quarter of the 21st century, the United States has faced dramatic changes in its racial-ethnic composition. In 2000, for the first time in the U.S. history, immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America and Spain exceeded the population of African Americans, the traditionally dominant racial-ethnic minority group. In 2023, the Hispanics made up more than 65 million or 19.5% of the total U.S. population. They are one of the youngest and fastest growing racial-ethnic groups in the United States. White Americans still make up the majority of the American nation (58,4%), but their population has been systematically declining, and has been for many years. By 2060, approximately one in three Americans will be descended from Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America and Spain. Hispanic Americans are the first large group of immigrants and their descendants in the United States to remain culturally resilient. This raises the question of how the concept of the “melting pot,” which is alive and relevant at least to the Republican Party, correlates with the Hispanic Americans’ cultural resilience. To what extent are they able to integrate into traditionally Protestant Anglo-Saxon society through the “melting pot” system? What are the prospects for complete assimilation for this rapidly growing segment of the American population? Or Hispanics will form a certain “subnation” within the American nation, as S. Huntington was worried about? The distinctive feature of Hispanic Americans is that they represent an extremely diverse group. They go through varying degrees of assimilation. In relation to some subgroups, the “melting pot” works, and not at full capacity, but in relation to others, it does not work. The depth of their assimilation depends on a number of factors, including country of birth, generation, use of Spanish at home, socioeconomic status, and many others. 

 

12. Landysh Yuzmukhametova 

Kazan Federal University, Russia 

Contemporary multicultural American literature: the novel Secret Son by L. Lalami 

Contemporary American literature is rich in multicultural authors who raise issues of global migration, racism and xenophobia in modern American society, as well as the problem of terrorism and socio-political challenges in developing countries. In our report, this topic is revealed on the example of the work of the famous American writer of Moroccan origin L. Lalami, in particular, we analyze her novel Secret Son in order to single out  its influence on the development of American multicultural literature and the world literary process as a whole. To achieve the goal, we used cultural, historical, psychoanalytic and structural methods. Scientific novelty is determined by an in-depth study of the refractions of multiculturalism in the work of L. Lalami at the present stage of their interaction. As a result of the study, it was established that L. Lalami’s novel Secret Son focuses on contemplating about the causes of international terrorism, the problems of Arab immigrants, which they faced especially sharply after the events of September 11. The novel Secret Son tells the story of the fate of Yusuf Al-Malik, a resident of the Casablan slums, the illegitimate son of Berberian midwife Rashida Uchak from the famous Moroccan businessman Arab Nabil Armani. Throughout his childhood, mother hides his origin from Yusuf, inventing different stories about his father and claiming that he died. Having matured, Yusuf manages to find out the truth from his mother goes to his father, who at first rejoices in the appearance of his son, but soon turns away from him under pressure from the family. For Yusuf, this becomes a huge blow: an unemployed young man, with no future prospects, falls into a group of local Islamists and agrees to become the killer of Benabud, a local progressive journalist and editor-in-chief of the liberal Casablanca Magazine.  Social problems of modern society – poverty, corruption, low wages, a strong stratification of society and the suppression of freedom of speech – are proclaimed the root of evil. Along with social problems, the author touches on the psychological problems of potential terrorists. An unhealthy, unprincipled, immoral society in which the father does not recognize his son, as a result, becomes the cause of disasters throughout the society. The novel underlines the importance of preserving the unique identity of once colonized peoples, reflects on the differences in the mentality of Western and Eastern people, exposes racist, xenophobic attitudes towards Muslim Arabs in modern American society. 

 

13. Dmitry Zubin 

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

The position of Irish Americans on the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) 

The report examines the attitude of Irish Americans towards the warring parties during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923). First, the political situation in Ireland is briefly described, as well as the split among Irish Americans, and its causes are identified. Next, the positions of various groups of Irish Americans regarding the events in Ireland and the factors of their strong involvement in what is happening on the island are analyzed. At the end of the report, conclusions are drawn about how the differences were influenced by different views on American politics at that time. The reason for the very close interest in the events in Ireland, which lies in the national identity of the Irish Americans, is also formulated. 

 

14. Nikita Senyushkin 

State Academic University for the Humanities, Russia 

The French Spirit: How French immigrants have changed the cultural landscape of the United States 

The study is devoted to identifying the impact of French immigrants on the culture of the United States. At the outset, it is worth noting that it is quite intriguing to identify the causes behind the relatively low level of immigration from France to the United States, given the fact that the French discovered much of North America. Despite this, however, the French and the culture they brought with them have left a deep mark on American society. Mainly, the study aims to identify specific examples of the influence of French culture on various aspects of American life such as cooking, fashion, design, and art. In addition, an important part of the study is to determine how the French heritage continues to live on in contemporary American culture. Gastronomic preferences and fashion trends, art and entertainment originating in France are all integral aspects of the contemporary American cultural landscape. The relevance of the study stems from the need for a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of American culture shaped by various immigration waves. Analyzing the French contribution sheds light on the not always obvious but significant cultural ties between France and the USA. Thus, the study shows that even with the relatively small number of French immigrants, their cultural heritage has become an important part of the American identity, enriching it with diversity and complexity. 

 

15. Shakhrom Samiev 

The State University of Management, Russia 

Multiculturalism and Interethnic Interaction in U.S. Cities 

Since its founding, the United States has drawn people from around the world, creating a unique ethnic diversity in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. These multicultural dynamics have enriched cultural exchange, economic growth, and social integration but also pose challenges, including social segregation, economic inequality, and language barriers. The report outlines positive aspects of multiculturalism, such as cultural diversity and economic contribution, alongside negative aspects, including social isolation and inequality. It also highlights policies and initiatives supporting multiculturalism, like anti-discrimination laws, cultural exchange programs, and language support, and emphasizes the role of education in fostering interethnic understanding. In conclusion, the report stresses the importance of inclusive policies and community engagement in building a more cohesive and multicultural society in the United States. 

 

 

 

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 7, Saturday 10.00 am – 1.00 pm (MSK) 

  

1. Shvedova N.A. 

ISKRAN ,Moscow, Russia 

Aftertaste of the 2024 US Presidential Campaign 

Everything “secret” sooner or later becomes “obvious”. Through the jubilation over the triumphant victory in the 2024 presidential election campaign of Republican D. Trump, the answer to one long-standing secret has broken through. There are reports about “them” who have ceased to be “secret voters”. They are no longer secret voters of D. Trump: they openly wear MAGA hats “Make America Great Again” on the heads of visitors to cafes, a holiday on social networks, flags with portraits of D. Trump running like sea waves: supporters of the elected president in cities and “deep blue” (the color of the Democrats) states “no longer keep it a secret”. The triumph, unexpected for many, including D. Trump himself, is important because in 2024, more voters voted for Republican D. Trump in almost every state and in most major cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, than supported him in 2016 and 2020. 

 “Secret” voting for D. Trump is not only a phenomenon of the last elections, it has been a phenomenon over the past few election cycles, according to American researchers. A study conducted by Columbia Business School showed that among those who kept their choice secret before the 2016 elections, two out of three preferred D. Trump.  

However, there is another point of view, which claims that supporting D. Trump is associated with certain “reputational costs.” Americans, first of all, shroud their votes in secrecy because of concerns about their reputation, conflicts with family and friends, and the fact that they do not feel at home in their neighborhood or city. “Trump supporters are still stigmatized… I’m not sure that will continue,” says Jonathan Alpert, a Manhattan-based psychotherapist, noting that they hid their support for the former president before the election.  

Some influential people who hid their political leanings are now becoming full-fledged MAGA users. The 2024 presidential election is undoubtedly a national landmark historical event, since it was the first attempt to elect to the highest office of the country – the presidency – not just a white woman, but the first black American and the first Asian woman who could become president. Donald Trump won the presidential election in large part because he received an 8-point advantage among “swing voters” – those who did not rule out that they would eventually vote for D. Trump or K.Harris. In general, knowledge of the evolution of the role of American women in the socio-political processes of the state, embodied in the activities of specific political figures, allows us to better understand the essence and driving forces of the US democratic model. 

 

 

2. Anna Martynova 

Sakhalin State University, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia 

Neopatriarchy and Neo-capitalism:  

How Ecofeminism Masks Two Phenomena Using The Example of the USA 

 In recent decades, many States and citizens have expressed concern about the environmental and gender agenda. Capitalism is blamed for environmental pollution, as well as for the exploitation of women, which, in turn, mimics the new policies of states. As a state with the most pronounced capitalist system, the United States allows us to most clearly consider this process using the example of ecofeminist organizations, individual activists and bloggers, as well as the transformation of product advertising. During the content analysis of advertising and media activities of eco-activists and ecofeminists, as well as the application of comparative analysis of their strategies, it was revealed that the modern ecofeminist movement and the environmental agenda of advertising represent a neo-patriarchal and neo-capitalist system based on the idea of selling a sacrificial image of women and the environment, depriving both actors of their subjectivity. 

 

3. Alina Patric

St.-Petersburg State University, Russia 

Pop-culture Usage in Kamala Harris’ Election Campaign 

The study analyzes the strategy employed to engage young voters, particularly Millennials and Generation Z, and to build an image through embracing cultural phenomena and trends that resonate with contemporary American voters within the campaign of the U.S. Democratic Party candidate, Kamala Harris. Harris exemplifies the integration of pop culture into a political campaign by actively leveraging musical and visual references, memes, and collaborations with well-known figures to draw attention to her candidacy. This approach not only strengthens her connection with young voters but also reinforces her alignment with the current cultural context.  Specifically, Harris’s campaign stands out by utilizing trending audio tracks of popular American artists, which enhances the perception of her image as attuned to modern youth culture. Certain phrases from Harris have even turned into memes, evolving into powerful campaign symbols on the Internet. For example, the phrase “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree” went viral, with users creating their own content based on it, thus increasing the overall digital presence of the candidate. Collaborations with popular artists and influencers further generate additional cultural capital, enabling the campaign to reach a broad audience, even beyond Generation Z.   The findings of the study indicate that employing pop culture not only captures the attention of young voters but also shapes Harris’s image as a candidate who understands the interests and values of the new generation. Moreover, it argues that her strategy is not merely about following current trends, but a deliberate effort to embed pop-cultural codes into political rhetoric and campaign communications. The success or failure of this strategy will become evident after the elections, but it is already clear that Kamala Harris’s approach to engaging with the youth represents an innovative model for political campaigns in the digital age. 

 

4. Lyudmila Popkova

Korolev Samara National Research University, Russia 

“Riot girls” Culture: American Gender Protest of 1990s 

 In the mid-1990s, a youth women’s culture was formed in the United States, which identified itself as a new project of emancipation. The emergence of female punk music groups and communities created around self-made magazines («zines») marked the movement of «riot girls». In the era of conservatism in the 1980s, the press reported the end of American feminism and the restoration of traditional canons of femininity, lost in the turbulent era of the 1960s. At the same time, popular culture equally enthusiastically broadcast images of a sexualized femininity, liberated from Puritan morality. 

What were gender themes of the new culture? Women’s groups highlight issues related to the private sphere, where change is slower than in the areas of employment and politics. “Zines” became a space for understanding and articulating the personal life experiences of young women. In contrast to popular culture, new magazines gave voice to young women themselves. Teenagers were most eager to share their traumatic life experiences, experiences of domestic violence, incest, the consequences of sexual violence, trauma from bullying among peers based on racial prejudice, problems with appearance. Philosophy of punk-culture was best suited to resist conventional norms of femininity, especially relevant during the period of growing up. An opportunity to share intimate experiences, speak in one’s «own voice», and confidential communication created a special culture of the «women’s world». In the culture of «riot girls» of the 1990s, personal self-realization becomes a new way of forming female solidarity and transforming the gender culture of American society. 

 

5. Yulia Gerasimova

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) 

Image of the First Female TV Journalist Mary Richards in Mary Tyler Moore Show as a Symbol of Feminism   

Mary Tyler Moore, an American actress and producer, is regarded as a “symbol of feminism” who, through her television appearances, inspired generations of women to pursue ambitious goals. In the television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), Moore portrayed Mary Richards, a 30-year-old news producer who prioritizes professional advancement over familial aspirations. The character’s self-sufficiency and optimism resonated with audiences, rendering this comedic portrayal a focal point for young Americans. The representation of a successful journalist confronting gender stereotypes in the workplace, as depicted on screen, became a significant cultural phenomenon; The Mary Tyler Moore Show gathered 29 Emmy Awards and attracted a global fan base.  

 Contemporary American media outlets continue to discuss the series’ impact on the mindset of American women. For instance, Vanity Fair published laudatory critiques from American columnists in 2017, titled “How The Mary Tyler Moore Show Inspired a Generation of Female Journalists.” In 2015, The Washington Post correspondent Alice Rosenberg described the show as “America’s feminist legacy.” 

To analyze how U.S. media constructs the image of actress Mary Tyler Moore and the character she portrayed, a linguostylistic analysis was conducted on media texts from online versions of traditional U.S. media, including the New York Times, ESPN, Washington Blade, and Vanity Fair, spanning the years 2015 to 2024. The analysis revealed that all examined American media outlets create an exclusively positive representation of Moore and her character. The terms most frequently utilized to describe The Mary Tyler Moore Show include “inspiring,” “revolutionary,” and “feminist,” as expressed by celebrities (Ed Asner, Larry King, Jessica Chastain), columnists and regular readers.  

  

6. Tatjana Srceva-Pavlovska

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

Using Humor as a Cover-Up: Misogyny and Sexism in Benjamin Franklin’s Old Mistresses’ Apologue and Donald Trump’s Public Statements 

 Humor, although often marked as a benign and unifying force, can also serve as means to channel deeply entrenched social prejudices. This paper investigates how misogyny can be disguised through humor in both historical and modern contexts, with focus on two statesmen, Benjamin Franklin and his satirical piece, Old Mistresses Apologue (1745), and select public statements by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Both politicians exploit humor to reinforce gender stereotypes, in contexts and manners unique to their eras. Franklin’s letter in a form of a witty advice to a young man to consider older women as lovers, ostensibly advocates for them as preferable sexual partners. However, its underlying assumptions reduce women to their sexual utility, revealing an underlying misogynistic perspective masked by satire. 

Similarly, Trump’s public statements—often laced with humor or sarcasm—depict women in roles that diminish their agency, worth, or intelligence, using levity to minimize the potential backlash. By dissecting these examples, the paper demonstrates how humor in these contexts serves as a rhetorical tool that reinforces sexist views, while allowing perpetrators to deflect criticism under the guise of jest. The research paper explores the psychological and cultural mechanisms that enable this dynamic, showing how both Franklin and Trump use humor to mask and normalize misogyny, highlighting the broader implications of such rhetorical strategies. The analysis ultimately highlights the need for greater critical scrutiny of humor’s role in perpetuating harmful social attitudes, prompting reflection on how contemporary discourse can unwittingly mirror historical biases. 

 

7. Eva Makarova

ISKRAN \ GAUGN, Moscow, Russia 

The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Ratification in the USA 

Gender discrimination remains a problem for all countries of the world. It hinders the formation of a developed society and the realization of the human potential of the state. Women continue to face problems of discrimination in wages, education and so on. The problem does not lose its relevance and remains topical today, both in developed democracies and in developing countries.  The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter – the Convention) is a key evidence of the recognition of this problem by the world community and the need to address it on a global scale. Its adoption by almost all UN member states (98%) testifies to the readiness of society to revise patriarchal views and to change the situation at the legislative level. 

 

8. Maria Zolotukhina

RSUH, Moscow, Russia 

The Culture of Estate Sales: Old Habits and New Opportunities 

 American mainstream culture has always been known for its keen interest in material goods and the acquisition (and accumulation) of personal items to fill one of the main symbols of the American dream – one’s home. However when the owner is no longer around or capable of keeping his or her place, the question arises – what happens to its contents. Just like the house itself is rarely inherited, the “things” – unlike in reasonably recent past are also typically not taken by the remaining generations. Thus – the estate (a fancy word with many connotations) goes for sale (online and offline)- be it due to Dislocation, Death, Debt or Divorce (the four Ds). 

If one is to look through the seller’s eyes there are financial concerns to be addressed, the inability to take in (or lack of desire to do so) a large number of things due to lack of space or aesthetic reasons, except, perhaps, a few keepsakes. Among the buyers – on the other end – there are those passionately pursuing the antiques and vintage items who prefer to see them on person. Or those who share hear their moral justifications – instead of being thrown away you can give an item a new life and a new meaning thus cherishing the memory of its former owner and their relationship. You come to find things for good prices, save money and “It’s a wonderful way to spend a morning or afternoon. Even if you don’t buy anything, you get a glimpse into the way someone lived, which is always fascinating”. 

Therefore attending estate sales is a form of leisure and consumption signifying the intersection of different attitudes towards personal space and keepsakes, privacy and voyerism, saving money and preserving memories, etc. 

Finally there is a certain code of behavior enforced by the professionals organizing and hosting the estate sales suggesting many of the ethical issues remain unresolved – “People can be vultures, and a little heart goes a long way”. 

 

9. Natalia Serzhant 

Belarusian State Pedagogical University,  Minsk 

New Concepts of a Family Novel Genre in the works by J. Franzen 

The recognized leader of modern realistic prose in the United States, J. Franzen, devotes most of his works to the comprehension and assessment of the life of the country and the heroes of the historical period. The writer explores reality using the example of family relationships, preservation or loss of traditional family values. 

The report examines how the traditional model of the family novel genre is embodied in the writer’s works with the help of new narrative techniques, formal experiments and unconventional issues (ecological, political, gender). All of these gives rise to new concepts of the genre. 

Thus, in the writer’s early novels The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion it can be noted that, on the one hand, the author continues the tradition of classical realistic narration, and on the other hand, the author provides examples of an updated stylistic structure through the use of symbols, allusions, compositional retrospection, genre synthesis, complicating the narrative strategies of the genre.  In the novels The Corrections, Freedom and Purity new concepts of the genre are declared at the level of the main themes, raising the problems of a nuclear family, child-free lifestyle, world politics, terrorism. The genre nature of the novel Purity is based on the artistic embodiment of traditional elements typical for the family novel genre, it also represents new forms of narrative models of bildungsroman, political novel, journalistic investigation, romantic and erotic novel, detective, and uses other stylistic techniques. 

Therefore, by studying the specifics of the genre in the works by J. Franzen, a conclusion can be made that a new form of family novel emerged.  

 

 

Section 6. Fantastic in the Arts 

Coordinator Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova 

(Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) 

 December 7, Saturday, 2.15 pm – 5.30 pm (MSK) 

 

1. Larisa Mikhaylova 

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here (1935) and Project-2025: Populism against Democracy 

In the course of the 2024 presidential campaign  a document compiled by members of the “Heritage Foundation” repeatedly surfaced for the prospected beginning of  Trump government, which this ultra-conservative organization supports. Progressive critics point to a number of measures envisaged there to strengthen the corporate state apparatus as opposed to relying on specialists in various fields of the economy. Particularly great indignation in American society was caused by the abolition of the Ministry of Education, as well as of all regulatory agencies, the abolition of all multicultural programs, and the withdrawal from international organizations aimed at combating climate change. The rhetoric of the document in some places literally resembles the “korpo” state described in the novel It Can’t Happen Here (1935) by the American writer Sinclair Lewis, into which the United States turns after the victory of the populist leader Berzelius (Buzz) Windrip. 

 Unlike 1984 and Brave New World, S. Lewis’s dystopia is much less often mentioned in the analysis of dictatorial trends in the modern world due to the clearly defined conditions for the emergence and promotion of a leader like Windrip, who ascended as a defender of the League of Forgotten Men in American conditions. But the more obvious for that matter is similarity in the tactics of Donald Trump and this dictator. We read in “The Fifteen Points of Victory for the Forgotten Men.”  where the power in the first paragraph is concentrated in the board of the Federal Central Bank subordinate to the president, where Congress and trade unions are abolished: “12. All women now employed shall, as rapidly as possible, except in such peculiarly feminine spheres of activity as nursing and beauty parlors, be assisted to return to their incomparably sacred duties as home-makers and as mothers of strong, honorable future Citizens of the Commonwealth. “(p. 71). Which is clearly echoed by Trump’s election-eve pledge: “I will be the champion of all women, whether they want it or not.” The report will provide a more detailed comparison of Project 2025 and Windrip’s Fifteen Points. 

 A study of the steps that lead Windrip to victory in the democratic elections in the novel, compared with Trump’s tactics (reliance on evangelical preachers, promises to “drain the swamp,” incitement against immigrants) show Lewis’s insight regarding the dangers to democracy in the United States of America. 

 

2. Ksenia Vikhrova 

Stiglitz Academy  of Art, St.Petersburg, Russia 

Politics and metaphysics in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle 

  Philip K. Dick is widely regarded as one of the most influential American science fiction writers of the 20th century. His texts thematize a constellation of problems related to the nature of reality and the peculiarities of human perception, and refract politics into metaphysics. “The Man in the High Castle” (1962), the novel that won Dick the Hugo Award, reveals the author’s vision of an alternate history in which the Axis countries emerge victorious in World War II and the United States is divided between the occupying regimes of Germany and Japan. The idea that the United States could become a fascist country has been problematized many times in fiction, with critics comparing Dick’s novel to Sinclair Lewis’s earlier text “It Can’t Happen Here” and Philip Roth’s later “The Plot Against America”. These works can be interpreted as political allegories, references to the events of the time in which they were created. The purpose of the study is to analyze the poetics of Dick’s novel and to identify elements of socio-political criticism and metaphysical views of the author in the text. A distinctive feature of “The Man in the High Castle” is the recursive narrative technique: in a country captured by the Nazis, a mysterious writer Hawthorn Abendsen creates a novel “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy” about the loss of the Axis countries by means of divination on the Chinese philosophical text “I Ching”. This story (quite like “I Ching”) runs through the entire text, but it is not the only one: like Dick’s other works, “The Man in the High Castle” is woven from many plot lines. The foregrounded accounts of events in the lives of individual characters – a Japanese general undercover, two jewelry mates, a pacifist philosopher, an antiques dealer, an unemployed adventurous American woman – belong to different formulaic genres and are combined into a philosophical novel about the role of chance in history and the fact that historical truth cannot be contained in a single monologic narrative. 

 

3.  Ekaterina Abramova 

HSE University, Moscow, Russia 

Techniques of Satirical Depiction of Fictional Countries in American Popular Culture (on the Example of Lower Slobbovia from the Comics Li`l Abner by Al Capp) 

  The report provides a brief history of the emergence of the concept of “fictional states” and their functioning in modern mass culture. Focusing on the best examples of dystopian works of the past, American writers, directors and cartoonists create their own worlds, filling them with conceptual meanings. Based on the most important principle of the binary opposition “ours” – “other” in depicting foreign realities, we present the means that allowed Al Capp to make his comics an example of brilliant American satire of the mid-20th century. 

 

4.  Yulia Khoroshevskaya 

Rostov State Transport University, Russia 

Non-utopian Future in O. Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy: Hybridity as a Condition for Survival 

 Science fiction is a genre that, while depicting a utopian or apocalyptic future, at the same time exposes problems of the present and the past. For Darko Suvin, SF is a literature of cognitive estrangement, where all sorts of forms of alien Others are a mirror that not only reflects but, more importantly, transforms reality. Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy (1987–1989) depicts Earth after a nuclear holocaust that has left not only humanity but all large animals virtually extinct. An alien civilization calling itself the Oankali has arrived on Earth to help humans survive the aftermath of the disaster. The aliens believe that they are superior to humans and therefore attempt to improve humanity by mixing its genetic structure with their own. They believe that such a change will rid people of their self-destructive tendencies. The encounter with the Other, even if it does not lead to conquest or the mixing of different cultures, nevertheless has a fundamental impact on these cultures, significantly changing them. In Butler’s trilogy, people change, losing their culture, beliefs, homeland, and even physical form. But at the same time, the Oankali also change as a result of their use of human genetic material. And this cultural-genetic mixing leads to the emergence of hybrid forms of life, culture and worldview. 

 

5.  Yuliya Viarbitskaya 

Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus 

Time travel and the change of axiological paradigms in the works of Diana Gabaldon 

The paper analyzes three novels (“The Drums of Autumn”, “The Fiery Cross”, “A Breath of Snow and Ashes”) from the “Outlander” series by the American writer Diana Gabaldon, focusing on the axiological centers of the characters’ personalities and the changing value paradigms of the American society reflected in the plot. “Outlander” is a time travel narrative where the main character Claire, a 20th century nurse, finds herself in Scotland and then 18th century America, and her daughter Brianna explores the family secrets associated with these journeys. In the novels America is shown through Claire’s eyes (for her the most important value is family) and at the same time great importance is given to how America is seen by the inhabitants: Claire’s husband, Jamie, a Scottish revolutionary (America as a land of opportunity and freedom); his aunt Jocasta, a plantation owner (she represents the other side of the American reality – the world of slavery and economic exploitation); Fergus, a French peasant (for him the most important value is land and his experience shows how European immigrants perceived the American reality). In the novels, the author demonstrates the clash of traditional values with new ideas of freedom and equality, which allows us to trace the evolution of the American society. 

 

 

6. Artem Nikulin 

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Political Technology in the AI Version: Reflection of the Fake Information Role in The Video Game MGS2: Sons Of Liberty (2001) 

 In the 2020s, the first practical results of neural networks appeared, which generated new interest in the AI models presented in science fiction. As well as new concerns – in particular, the use in the field of information manipulation and the dissemination of fake news. However, this is exactly what the writers of the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty pointed out back in 2001 – the themes of manipulation of public consciousness and information control are key to the plot.  The report, based on the analysis of key episodes and gameplay, through which the author’s main ideas are presented, the history of the development of MGS 2, interviews with the creators of the game (in particular, with Hideo Kojima), as well as cases from modern media, examines the motivation for AI intervention in social processes. The final dialogue between the main character Raiden and the AI developed by the shadow organization “Patriots” is closely analyzed, where the topic of information filtering and the transmission of “memes” is covered. Additional materials are the book “Kojima Genius” by Terry Wolfe and the series of videos “The Most Profound Moment in Gaming History” by YouTube user Max Derrat, which prompted the study. It revealed that MGS 2, through images and dialogues, demonstrated the future and the danger of the digital era in which we live even now. AI powers are widely used by corporations and individuals (in particular, politicians) to manipulate mass consciousness – up to and including influencing presidential elections. The interference of such algorithms in democratic processes should push society to develop new measures to counteract such AI-enhanced influence in practice. 

 

 

7. Elena Sidorova 

Turgenev Orel State University, Russia 

Functional Features of Cyberpunk and Post-cyberpunk in Neal Town Stephenson’s Novels 

Cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk in art, culture and literature are the quintessence and fusion of science fiction, retrofuturism, fantasy and antiutopia. The archetype of these subgenres and their functioning in American art and literature is a combination of features characteristic of antiutopia, that is, a reflection of the reality in which humanity is forced to survive in the fight against hostile artificial intelligence. Neil Stevenson’s works are considered not only an example of cyberpunk, but also a deconstruction of this genre. One of the most representative and iconic is the novel Avalanche, which presents the image of a pessimistic future. In the book, the United States is divided by gangs, churches, mafia and corporations into separate territories. Many people spend most of their time in a place called the “meta universe” where they interact through avatars. The world described in the book is anarchy. The author seems to be asking rhetorical questions. How do airports continue to operate without a strong central government? How do nuclear arsenals remain safe? Why are the United States, with only a rudimentary federal government left, still considered to be “The First World” by the characters of the book? Is this novel relevant in the modern world? Written in 1993, but predicting many of the trends we see today — information overload and anarchy, alternative currencies and a new digital world – this novel is certainly relevant as well as the whole genre of cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk. 

 

8.  Alexander Sluczkij  

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia 

American Science Fiction and Cultural Crisis: Ways of Expression and Solutions  

(on the Example of William Gibson’s Novel Neuromancer) 

 The twentieth century in world culture is inextricably linked with the phenomenon of globalization, and problems of cultural individuality and self- determination inevitably arise. Such problems give rise to a number of socio-philosophical issues: However, the view of such problems in fantastic literature differs from the “traditional realistic”, because it includes in its field of vision aspects of scientific and technological progress and is inextricably linked to the comprehension of the current state of society. 

Within the framework of the work it is proposed to consider the specifics of the cultural crisis reflected in American fiction on the example of the novel Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson from the point of view of the features of science fiction or fantasy surrealism as two complementary components. During the analysis of the work of fiction it was revealed that the cause of cultural crisis in the American novel is globalization, which is reflected to a greater extent in the image of urban space. Urbanized landscapes of the American city are an eclectic combination of features of different nations and reflect surrealistic images and the principle of “High tech, low life”. Also, the problems arising due to globalization are also related to the so-called “virtual reality”, which blurs the line between the surrounding reality and the inner thoughts of a person, which leads to the destruction of personal boundaries and calls into question the existence of the concept of “freedom”. The image of the state, whose function is performed byprivat e corporations, also plays an important role in assessing the cultural crisis, which is also consistent with the problems of globalization and democracy. The author’s fantastic aspect allows us to talk about the global problem of modern society inside the novel – modern technologies do not solve, but aggravate the state of dissatisfaction of mankind, destroys its traditional picture of the world.This is reflected directly on the image of urban space as the main place of dwelling of modern man. The poetics of decadence within the framework of this theme is expressed in the text in terms of expression of thought, at the level of means of artistic expression and “premonition of the end”. 

  

9.  Olga Volodina 

RSHU, Moscow, Russia 

 With Liberty and Justice For All: Liberation of the Robot in the American SFCinema of the 21st century 

 The question of whether to consider a robot as an object or a subject has been paramount in the sci fi genre of the XX and XXI centuries, however the American cinema’s desire to present another view of the point tends to be even more keen and acute. American cinema tends to see robots primarily as a narrative device that can acсurately represent the problems of racial and social division that are rampant in current society. “The liberation of the robot” is a plot device with a mission: either to bring to light the society’s inequality and the existence of the modern day untouchables or to narrow the distance between different classes and strata and lower the inclusivity barriers.   There are a few tools to demonstrate the inequality: robots are used in menial (I, Robot, 2004), degrading (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001) or dangerous (Outside the Wire, 2021) industries, and in any of this scenarios are seen as a subhumans. The revolt of the robot is usually a direct consequence of not being seen as equal (Prometheus, 2012; Avengers: The Age of Ultron, 2015). The idea of the robot representation in most of the films is seen as necessity to bringing them up to par with humans: by either demonstrating that robots have feelings too (Wall-E, 2007), granting them citizen rights or establishing a shared human-robot society (The Creator, 2023). A robot that acquires civil rights and liberty, first of all a liberty to decide that to do, either by act of man or their inaction, usually decides to emulate human behavior – either in a human society (The Mitchells vs the Machines, 2021) or outside of it (The Wild Robot, 2024). 

  

 

Section 7. Canadian Aspect of American Culture

Coordinator Dr. Konstantin Romanov 

(Department of Foreign Languages and Regional Studies,  Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) 

 December 5, Thursday, 2.30 pm – 5.00 pm (MSK) 

 

1. Yury Akimov 

Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

“Au Pays des Souverainistes”: Quebec politics in Songs 

The paper is devoted to the reflection of political problems of Quebec, the only French-speaking Canadian province in songs. It is noted that back in the 1960-70s, québécois artists and songwriters created texts that had a clearly expressed social resonance, containing excursions into French Canadian history, reflecting dissatisfaction with the current political situation in the province and the desire for change. Songs by Gilles Vigneault and Claude Gauthier are given as examples. The main attention is paid to the work of Dominique Beauchamp (Doucerebelle). Her songs dedicated to the 2012 Quebec student protests, so called”Maple Spring (Printemps érable), as well as to the Quebec sovereigntist movement in general, and other socially significant events are considered. 

 2. Ivan Nokhrin 

Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia

“True Northeners” in a “Peaceable Kingdom”: 20th-Century Canadian Historians and the Search for National Identity 

The paper is about the discussions in Canadian historical science of the mid-20th century on the specificity of the historical path of the Canadian nation. During this time, Canadian society was experiencing a transition from post-imperial national symbols embodied in the theory of the Laurentian frontier to the symbolism of multiculturalism. In an attempt to separate themselves from discredited theories associated with imperialism, Canadian historians rethought the image of the nation and found a new source of dignity in the idea of a “peaceful kingdom”. Thus, a new view of the history of the Canadian nation was created under the influence of new national symbols. 

 

3. Kristina Minkova 

Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Soviet-Canadian Cultural Relations During the Second World War 

The establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Canada, as well as the Soviet Union’s contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany, led to a significant increase in interest in the Soviet country and its people within Canadian society. This interest was successfully met by both sides. Soviet films were shown in Canadian cinemas and were in high demand. Meetings and cultural evenings were held, and libraries of Soviet books were compiled. Canadian authorities also contributed to the dissemination of information about the Soviet Union: in 1942, the film “Inside Fighting Russia” was released, followed in 1944 by a more comprehensive film about the Soviet Union, “Our Northern Neighbour.” For understandable reasons, information about Canada was not as widely disseminated in the USSR; however, we can still observe a growth of interest there as well. For instance, several popular science books about Canadian history and nature appeared during the Second World War. 

 

4. Konstantin Romanov 

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 

The 2022 Canadian Trucker Protests: Reinterpreting the Concepts of Freedom and Democracy 

In early 2022, Canada experienced large-scale protests known as the “Freedom Convoy.” These protests arose from discontent with the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for truck drivers and other restrictions. The protests were primarily initiated by truck drivers themselves, along with members of far-right groups. The actions lasted for several weeks and led to the implementation of a state of emergency – the first in decades. This forced authorities to take severe measures to bring an end to the active phase of the protests. A significant characteristic of these protest actions was their discursive framing. It is important to note the biased, overwhelmingly negative coverage in the media, as well as the rhetoric of the authorities, who sought to portray the protesters not only as violators of public order but also as individuals operating outside accepted moral norms. From the perspective of the protesters, we observed not only demands for the lifting of restrictions but also a call for fundamental change in Canadian policy as a whole, including the formation of a new legitimate discourse. This report will formulate and justify the thesis that the formation of this discourse occurred through a reinterpretation of the concepts of “freedom” and “democracy.” 

 

5. Gorbunova Olga 

Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia 

Canadian Arctic Policy: features and key priorities 

This report explores Canada’s approach to Arctic policy in the light of global climate change and international challenges against the background of U.S. policy, which views the Arctic primarily as a space to strengthen its military power and ensure strategic interests. Canada’s approach is notable for its clear focus on the environment, sustainable development and the rights of indigenous peoples. This makes the country’s priorities in the field of Arctic policy distinctive.  The main aspects of Canadian Arctic policy are sustainable development, environmental protection and the rights of indigenous peoples. Canada strives to balance economic interests and environmental sustainability by actively involving indigenous peoples in the decision-making process. So, in 2024, the Prime Minister D. Trudeau spoke about new measures designed to improve the lives of the indigenous population, the key measures were the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which allows you to get a loan of up to $ 5 billion. for the development of projects in the field of natural resources and energy in its territory, as well as the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s Housing Initiative, designed to reduce the cost of urban development. In addition, Canada focuses on multilateral cooperation to address common challenges such as climate change and maritime security, emphasizing the importance of diplomacy and joint action. For example, in 2024, Canada joined the international research initiative of the NordForsk organization, aimed at identifying and meeting the specific needs of the Arctic region in order to achieve sustainable development. The Canadian Research Coordinating Committee will allocate up to $20 million for this initiative, which will be managed through the New Frontiers in Research Foundation. The Foundation is engaged in financing promising, but risky, research by Canadian scientists for improving Canada’s competitiveness in the global economy. Another such research by the foundation was The Northern Research Leadership and Equity, also conducted in 2024, which is dedicated to solving complex tasks in transforming the scientific research system of the North. Thus, Canada’s approach to Arctic policy can be seen as a model of peaceful coexistence and environmental responsibility in a vulnerable and strategically important region. 

 

Round Table “50 Years of RSACS December Conferences” 

Coordinator Professor Olga Nesmelova (Kazan Federal University, Russia 

 December 7, Saturday, 6 pm – 8 pm  (MSK) 

 

Tatyana Kamarovska 

Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus 

The First Americanist conference in 1975 and the Role of the Society of American Culture Studies in the development of American studies in the USSR and Post-Soviet states 

 

Olga Nesmelova 

Kazan Federal University, Russia 

Tamara Denisova and her role in the formation of the concept of postmodernism in Russian American studies 

The importance of Tamara Denisova for Russian literary American studies is difficult to overestimate. Throughout all fifty years of our conferences, she was an indisputable authority in the study of the USA modern literary process, nearly permanent section moderator, and the author of numerous works on the problems of American literature. In the early 1990s, when the term postmodernism had just begun to penetrate into Russian literary studies, T.N. Denisova decisively rejected the evaluative categories traditional for the Soviet literary school and, relying on the works of I. Hassan and L. Fidler, began to study the aesthetic program of postmodernism. Questions about the theoretical basis of postmodernism, aesthetic principles, and its representatives in US literature became the subject of discussions at American studies conferences in 1990-1993. 

 

Yury Stulov 

Independent Researcher, Minsk, Belarus 

Ethnic literatures through the December conference lens 

 The famous December conference at Moscow State University has changed: at times it expanded, then contracted over the fifty years of its existence, but for all that, it gave researchers the opportunity to gather once a year, present their findings and see the direction of research for Soviet and Russian American studies and aroused interest of colleagues from other countries. 

The ethnic section did not emerge immediately. This happened thanks to the great efforts of A.V. Vashchenko to become later one of the most numerous and interesting events. Many would-be leading scientists and researchers tested their ground here: L.P. Bashmakova, O.E. Danchevskaya, T.G. Golenpolski, A. Lavrukhin, I.V. Morozova, O.Yu. Panova, M.M. Shimchishin, T. Tsintsadze, I.M. Udler, N.A. Vysotskaya – and it may be said that the foundations of modern African American studies, American Indian culture and literature, Chinese-American literature, etc. In the Soviet Union and post-Soviet countries were laid through the discussions at the 

December RSACS conferences. 

The presentation will make an attempt to overview the experience of the December conferences in the light of the development of US ethnic studies in the USSR, Russia and neighboring countries, which is important for understanding the process of knowing the Other through oneself, and to show the contribution of scientists from Russia, Belarus and neighboring countries to world science. 

 

Larisa Mikhaylova 

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia 

Gender Studies Research and Fantastic in the Arts Section 1992-2024 

For more than 30 years we are gathering to discuss multidisciplinary in their essence aspects of gender and science fiction studies. 

At first papers were only in philology, but even in this sphere the need arose to look at  wider societal aspects through the lens of cultural studies and political studies. Also among the first, we started to delve into film and art studies. The core group of presenters consisted of Tatyana Komarovskaya,  Lyubov Pervushina from Belarus, Tatyana Voronchenko from Chita, Firdes Dimitrova from Belgorod, Marina Knyazeva and Tatyana Zabelina from Moscow. 

Then we moved deeper into history with the help of such researchers as Larisa Baibakova, Tatyana Alentyeva and Maria Filimonova,  

And in 2006 we added one more coordinator who anchored our research in exact data on social and demographic stratification within feminist studies, on political analysis – Nadezhda Shvedova, who became our unwavering defender. And we are now approximately 30 people strong, 

As for studies of the Fantastic, the section was based on solid research within the  International Science Fiction Research Association framework, and attracted both seasoned scholars, such as Vladimir Prozorov, Elvira Osipova, but predominantly young ones. It was a pleasure to observe how grew the talent of Natalia Krinitskaya from Poltava who studied philosophical images of Ursula Le Guin, and of several other researchers from Kharkov where was a center of Ukrainian research and creation of science fiction. Some researchers – as Evgenia Ozerova and Pavla Ripinskaya – became also writers.  

In the presentation I will try to share the most memorable moments of our ”run’ so far. 

 

Imprints: Image of Russia and Image of America 

In Memoriam of Professor Yassen Zassoursky 

 

Coordinator RSACS Academic Secretary Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova 

 December 8, Sunday, 6 pm – 8 pm  (MSK) 

 

Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, Ph.D. 

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies 

Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies 

Indiana University, Bloomington, USA  

Beyond Us Versus Them: Using Repetition as a Tool for Understanding the Image of Russia in the American Mind 

In 1956, in his address before the First Annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged human beings “to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” And he pronounced the new world to be one of “geographical togetherness” and “understanding goodwill.” But today there is much conflict worldwide from the war between Israel and Palestine to the war between Ukraine and Russia. What has gone wrong since Dr. King Jr.’s uplifting message and the fall of the Berlin wall? Why, after a brief rapprochement between Russia and the United States have things faltered? And can we find some consequential explanations for the perceptual images of Russia in American culture that truly matter? If yes, what are they? 

While there are myriads of factors that may explain the canon of images of Russia in the imagination of North Americans, I argue that the expert trope, repetition, plays a commanding lead in explaining Americans’ attitudes toward Russia. I single out repetition because of its symbolic features and because of its capacity to organize and categorize how humans see the world. Repetition is also directional; and it may be clustered into categories, moving one toward or away from human subjects or nation-states. Examining the repetitive lexical items of the top leaders in the Democratic and the Republican parties should reveal how politicians perceive Russia and what the organizing trope of repetition evokes, including, by implication, in the American mind. 

Crucially, studying repetition has much to recommend because it can be symptomatic of underlying relational causes and conflict, as well as suggestions about what is significant in geopolitical decision-making. In this case, helping human beings understand what to guard against in a search for peace and tranquility between the two powerful nation-states—Russia and the United States. Lastly, I offer empathy, fused with mindfulness and perspective taking, as a tool for promoting peace between Russia and the United States—a way out of confining geopolitical spaces and places. 

 

Olga Litvinova 

Voronezh State Technical University, Russia 

 American Culture as Seen by Bilingual Non-Americans and Americans 

While working on her research project on bilingualism during her Fulbright in the U.S. in 2017/18, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with around 50 individuals (mostly non-native speakers and American students and professors) to find out how they saw the American culture. An academic environment proved to be productive as it offered access to ethnically diverse populations — especially as every participant was based either in the New York or New Jersey.  

The majority of the participants mentioned the seeming familiarity with the American culture, which, on the surface, made everyone (regardless of their national, cultural, linguistic or religious background) feel welcome in their communities.  

Another interesting discovery was that from a closer look representatives of a wide range of cultures mostly felt the American culture was a lot more nuanced than the mass media had had them believe. What almost universally was found to be striking was American individualism in classrooms and lack of hierarchy that made some interactions feel strange. When it comes to the attitude of Americans, around a half of the participants found them accommodating and genuinely curious about their home cultures, while quite a few respondents had some negative or ambivalent experiences caused by their accent or physical appearance.  

First-generation Americans (especially from Latin America) mentioned their own and their family members’ struggles in negotiating their cultural, linguistic and national identities in the U.S. All the American nationals revealed an outrightly negative attitude to how immigrants were treated, which had to do with the strict immigration policies under the Trump administration.  

What we can learn from this study is that one has to gain a more nuanced understanding of the American culture to avoid making any biased judgments on it. 

 

Ekaterina Gudilina 

St.-Petersburg State University, Russia 

Presidential Discourse as the Basis for Constructing the Image of the Other (using the example of the Presidential Addresses to the Federal Assembly and the State of the Union Addresses) 

The construction of the image of the Other is distinguished by the multimodality of sources relevant for analysis. To identify the uniqueness of the formation of the image of Russia from the standpoint of the United States, the image of the United States from the standpoint of Russia, as well as to analyze their mutual influence, it is proposed to consider presidential discursive practices. The Presidential Addresses to the Federal Assembly are considered as a structural element of the political discourse of the Russian Federation; for the United States, the State of the Union Addresses will be considered as a similar form of communication between the President and the Congress. Thematic analysis and categorization analysis based on the corpus of texts of Addresses allow us to isolate specific text blocks where the President directly or indirectly expresses himself about the policies and actions of another state and its President, as well as identify possible degrees of alienation (the other — the alien — the enemy). In addition, the analysis traces the correlation of statements that carry primarily an emotional charge and statements based on rational argumentation. The study examines the hypothesis according to which the role of the United States as a state that constantly offers new trends and follows and supports diverse, often contradictory, trends in socio-cultural development, actualizes active feedback from Russia, since many of these trends do not correspond to the value and moral guidelines of the Russian society. It also analyzes the features of rhetorical constructions and thematic repertoire that influence the formation of the image of the Other in the political context. 

The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant No 24-28-01309), https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01309/  

 

Irvin Weil 

Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA 

Family Story 

 

 Alena Vanova 

Independent researcher, Moscow, Russia 

How Do We Sculpt the Future: Stereotypes And Archetypes? 

For answering the question “How do we sculpt the future?”, I take a method/model “Heroes-Values-Rituals-Symbols” suggested in the book Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Dr. Geert Hofstede and his coauthors. As subjects of my study, I name examples of iconic fictional characters of American culture such as Superman (1938), Mickey Mouse (1928), The Joker (1940) and some others which I randomly choose from “100 most iconic fictional characters” list naming the year of their public appearance. Then, I connect them with the values that they represent, as well as their rituals and symbols. Looking at the examples as archetypical models, I connect them with modern real-life celebrities. I also ask additional questions: Why do people/mass audiences choose them? How is mass culture (with its heroes, values, rituals and symbols) synchronized with social and political ideas such as capitalism. democracy, freedom and justice? I present my conclusions about the correlations with the fictional characters and sculpturing the future (decision-making). Answering the “how” part, I refer to some mass-communication techniques such as usage of different media, repetition and others. I also draw conclusions about how this affects Russian culture. 

 

Vladimir Pavlov 

MGIMO, Moscow, Russia 

Narratives and Trust: “Assembly Line” for the US Foreign-Policy Ideas 

A distinctive feature of the US foreign policy behavior is a permanent production of new ideas and projects to the outside world, ranging from ‘The End of History’ to the ‘rules-based order.’ Washington’s cascade of ideas does not weaken, and US’ allies and some other actors continue to demonstrate acceptance of yet another speculative project. In order to explain this irrational situation, the results of a content analysis of the State of the Union addresses and the U.S. National Security Strategies are presented to provide for main narratives of the U.S. presidential administrations. This analysis shows an instrumental nature of using most of the categories, values-based policy, and putting forward proposals convenient for Washington. In order to resolve the issue of acceptance of US ideas, we also turn to psychology of international relations. The report under consideration represents the results of a study presented in full in “Polis: Political Studies” (2024-4) research journal and supported by the Russian Science Foundation. 

 

Olga Zatsepina  

President, Russian American Cultural Heritage Center, New York, USA 

People’s diplomacy in practice: Saving and disseminating Russian language, history and Russian heritage in the US 

 

Today international relations are not merely shaped by activities of international and state bodies: public diplomacy or “soft power” is necessary. People’s diplomacy; informal contacts between ordinary people, cultural figures and public organizations, is designed to improve relations between countries through a better understanding of the culture and traditions of others. 

Founded in 2003, the Russian-American Cultural Heritage Center (RACH-C) is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Russian culture, history, and the Russian language in the United States. In 2012 Russian-American History Month was established in New York State on the initiative of RACH-C which created and maintains a section about “Russian American History Month” on its website. During that Month (April) it hosts events and receptions dedicated to the Month. 

RACH-C has carried out a study of the history of Russians in the USA. As a result, the book “Russians in the US. Public Organizations of Russian Emigration in the XX-XXI centuries” was published. For the first time in the history of studying Russian emigration to the United States, this book examines the systems of Russian public organizations created in America in the 20th and early 21st centuries by representatives of all migration waves. 

The presentation at the round table will discuss the most important activities of RACH-C concerning public diplomacy in America over the last 21 years. The background of the successful functioning of a public organization in the state of New York in the context of a crisis in bilateral relations between Russia and the United States will be considered. Examples of activities and plans for further work to preserve Russian history and culture in the United States will be discussed. 

 

Alexandra Surkova 

Gorky RAS Institute of World Literature, Moscow, Russia 

The Story of the Non-Publication in the USSR of American Prose about the War: The Case of John Hersey 

An important part of literary and propaganda work in building cultural relations between the United States and the Soviet Union during World War II was the popularization, translation, and publication of American literature in the USSR. With such a sharp “U-turn” toward the glorification of American literature during the war, Soviet literary officials were in no hurry to publish contemporary works by U.S. writers. The paper will pay special attention to the figure of John Hersey (1914-1993), an American writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, a guest of the Soviet Union in 1944-1945. He entered literary history primarily as the author of Hiroshima. The publication of Hersey’s most famous documentary work was preceded by years of journalistic and writing work, including in the Soviet Union. Hersey arrived in Moscow in the summer of 1944 as a correspondent for Time and Life magazines. Despite his impressive experience of direct participation in major military operations (Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, the North Atlantic), the reports he made about the USSR revealed more the cultural side of Russian life than the military. At this time in Hersey’s homeland, his novel “The Bell for Adano” was a huge success. In the Soviet Union, too, the book did not go unnoticed: a group of Soviet writers decided to discuss it in the presence of the author. Despite the availability of a ready translation and favorable treatment of Hersey, “The Bell for Adano” was never published in the USSR. In May 1946, Hersey traveled to Japan, where he spent six weeks and interviewed dozens of atomic bomb survivors. The result of his work was the article Hiroshima. In the Soviet Union of the postwar years, the report went virtually unnoticed. The ignoring of such an important documentary text by Soviet literary institutions was due to a reluctance to demonstrate to the general public the severity of the consequences from U.S. weapons strikes, and Hersey’s book could have been seen as a potential propaganda threat. The American writer, who until two years ago had been a welcome guest in Moscow, disappeared from the Soviet information space for almost 20 years. 

 

Sherif Hassan Ged  

Secretary General of the Egyptian Russian Friendship Society, Cairo, Egypt  

The Role of Cultural Interaction in Forming the Image of the State: Contemporary Russian Experience and Future Prospects  

The modern world is filled with cultural diversity. The culture, customs, language, traditions and religions of different countries strongly affect not only their economy and politics and, but also peoples’ everyday life. Cultural diversity and intercultural interaction experiences helps to better understanding of others, develop tolerance and ensure peaceful coexistence of people from different cultures (UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, UNESCO, 2002).  

The Arab Republic of Egypt is among the friendly states to the Russian Federation. The delegates and representatives from Egypt often participate in important events held by Russia in order to form and maintain its image both at home and abroad. The Assembly of the Russian World, the BRICS Summit and the BRICS Forum “Traditional Values” in Russia and the International Russophile Movement Conference in South Africa are some great examples of these events.  

The presentation at the round table will highlight important events that promote cultural dialogue between Russia and Egypt and help in forming the image of Russia abroad. The role of public organizations in Russia and in Egypt that are key to development of strong bilateral relations will be addressed. The events of the Egyptian-Russian Friendship Society, the Egyptian Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Universities in Egypt and the Russian House in Cairo will be discussed. 

 

 

Francesca de Bardin 

Writer, Lecturer, Russian Society “Znanie” 

Former board member, New York Board of Trade 

Co-founder, French American Friendship Foundation, USA 

Images of Russia by an American Living in Moscow 

 Today the world is facing many challenges. By all means among them are the tense relations between the United States and Russia. The U.S. has imposed sanctions against Russia and Russia, in turn, has placed the U.S. on a list of “unfriendly countries”. My new book “Moscow Diary by an American Living in Moscow” is a rebuttal to the intense anti-Russian rhetoric I witnessed and became impossible for me to ignore. 

In my new book I wish to share how profoundly I have been touched by the kindness, humanity and generosity of the Russian people I met every day. “Moscow Diary by an American Living in Moscow” was just published in English, worldwide, on Amazon.com and in Russian by Ridero.ru. 

“Moscow Diary” isn’t a history book, guide book, or discourse on culture. It’s about my experiences and observations as a retired American living in Moscow. It’s a very personal story, one in which I share challenges and surprises, mixed with some history, humor, thoughts on things to see, and personal insights. I share surprising facts about life in Moscow that have been hidden until now. For example, Russia is a “We” oriented nation, unlike western countries that are “I” oriented. That difference is profound and affects every aspect of Russian life. 

With my presentation at the round table I hope to encourage more objectivity and respect between the people of United States and Russia and a genuine desire to better understand, respect and value our differences and many similarities. It’s my hope that the entertaining, informative, inspiring, and touching stories from my recent book will add to people’s diplomacy efforts aimed at improving international relations in crisis.