«American Culture: From Making a Nation to Transnationalism»
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, December 5-12, 2014

Section 1. Journalism
(Coordinators Prof. Yasen Zassoursky and Dr. Mikhail Makeyenko Lomonosov Moscow State University, Journalism Department, Russia kandidate2002@mail.ru)

Starting with Round Table «American PR and Advertizing as a Part of Global Culture»
Coordinator Dr. Irene Arkhangelskaya (Nizhny Novgorod State University, Russia)

1.Natalya Kuznetsova
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, Russia
Evgeniya Karpenko
Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Russia
Use of modern communication technologies in the political life of society in Russia and USA

Currently, communication is studied on the basis of the theory of the information society, which looks at the media as an important source of stimulus and social development. However, important for the realization of democratic goals of modern society is the gradual expansion of the boundaries of political communication space. The authors consider the peculiarities of the development of political communication in the United States and Russia, as well as the use of communicative technologies in contemporary political life.

2. Vladimir Kalmykov, Marina Dmitrieva
Dobroliubov State Linguistic University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
American Components in Russian Advertisements

The use of components of American advertisements in the process of creation of Russian language advertisements is the result of international contacts in economic, social and cultural aspects of life in a society of market economy. American elements in Russian advertisements are determined by cognitive reasons, the necessity to achieve an emotional effect, a proper type to express connotations, the selection of the object for advertisement and a special social status of English language borrowings. American elements in the context of Russian advertisements is implemented on the linguistic and extra-linguistic levels. Their functional peculiarities consist of the intensification of the impact of the advertisement text on the target audience and its stimulation to commit a required action.

3. Irina Arkhangelskaya,
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
The History of «Mac 1984» commercial in the context of the American Postmodernist Culture

The outstanding Apple’s TV ad in the context of the US postmodern culture is under consideration in the article. Many commercials of Apple Macintosh of 1980s are full of postmodern motives, but the most vivid example of that is the «Mac 1984» created by TBWA. Its author is the famous film director Ridley Scott who in his own way interpreted the idea of George Orwell’s novel «1984», using irony, double code, иронию, двойной код, subtext. Parody modus of presenting material did not bring down the affectedness with which Apple challenged its competitor IBM, the dark world of totalitarian dictatorship in Orwell’s «1984» being compared with monopoly on computer market.
The history of an attempt of Apple’s top-management to ban the commercial’s broadcasting during Superbowl on CBS on January 1984 as well as later recognition of «Mac 1984» as the best TV ad of the XX century by professional community helped to build the company’s mythology, develop the corporate legend, and all of these are also integrated parts of postmodern culture.

4. Natalia Baranova
Lobachevsky State University Of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Political Advertising in the United States and in Russia

The political advertizing is determined by modern realities and depends on society’s interest in adequate socio-cultural, institutional and professional education of its leaders and common citizens. Contemporary political advertizing technologies assist in regulating political processes, political management, stability of political system, and political space.
During election campaigns methods and technologies of political advertizing in America were elaborated and improved. In Russia technologies of political advertizing in most cases copy American models though there are features typical for Russian tradition which reflect the country’s values, mentality, and life style.
The results of comparative, structurally functional analysis of the US and Russian political advertising during the 1990s will be presented, special attention being paid to image building and forming the key message.

5. Daria Sokolova
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
War Photographs in XIX–XX Centuries and their Perception by American Society

Photos taken during the armed conflict evoke public resonance. Some pictures are able to influence the course of conflict by pushing governments to take certain decisions. In the thesis the author is analyzing how pictures taken by American photographers during wartime influence public opinion: from «Harvest of Death» by Timothy O’Sullivan (1863) to Lucian Perkins’s shot depicting a boy looking out of the bus on the way to Grozny (1995).

6. Nikolai Zykov
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Latest trends in American culture in the covering of the Voice of America

One of the main tasks of the international broadcaster Voice of America is the promotion of American culture. At the present stage of rapid development of information and communication technologies, new opportunities appear to convey to the audience of American music, including the latest trends, patterns of fine arts, movies, conduct video travel on the country, and more, using the new formats. Despite the serious disagreement in the political sphere, which is characterized in the current time period, culture creates the foundation for continued public dialogue between the USA and Russia.

7. Sofiya Tarasevich
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Interracial Relationships in the American society within reflection on social topics in Tom Wolfe’s Works

Both in fiction and in non-fiction Tom Wolfe addresses a number of social problems: interracial relationships, unemployment, emigration, social inequality [racial conflict in Radical Chich & Mau-Mauning the Flack Catchers (1970), social inequality in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), problem of emigration in Back to Blood (2012)]. Featuring interracial relationships in the American society Tom Wolfe describes the life of national minorities, using the main features of the new journalistic genre he created – “new journalism”, which will be analyzed in the presentation.

Section 2. American Culture of 18th-19th Centuries
(Coordinator Prof. Elvira Osipova (St. Petersburg State University, Russia) elvira@overlink.ru),

1. Elvira Osipova
St.Petersburg State University, Russia
Re-reading Emerson:
The writer’s views on culture and their impact on American consciousness

American culture has as its integral part Emerson’s ideas – political, philosophical, and ethical. Formulated in a crucial period of American history, they determined, in a way, the character of American civilization. “Self-reliance”, historical optimism, belief in social progress, and in limitless possibilities of Man, religious nonconformism – all these ideas were expressed in his essays, orations, and lectures. They inspired his contemporaries, and, as it turns out, they seem to have relevance for us, today. A significant, though overlooked, part of his legacy was his views on culture. This was the theme of his later essays (particularly “Culture”), as well as – in not so obvious way – of his earlier lectures and orations (“Young American”, “Transcendentalist”, “The Method of Nature”). The paper will address the significance of these ideas for American mind.

2. Alexander Tserkovsky
M. Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus
“New Adam” in the Writings of New England Puritans

Among the founding tenets of American culture one may find the idea of the all-powerful personality, one who is able to transform the world, to act creatively, to achieve high social status. An image of “New Adam” began to take shape in the earliest stages of American literature. The focus of the present paper is analysis of two key writings, William Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation (1856) and Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) or The Ecclesiastical History of New England from Its First Planting.

3. Daria Chernyavskaya
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Washington Irving between the New and the Old World: European fantasy plots in American adaptation

Young America which had just gained independence had an ambiguous attitude to Europe. On the one hand, first generations of Americans lacking in their own centuries-old cultural, and in particular literary tradition, had to borrow a lot from Europe; on the other hand, the young nation was anxious to maintain its right for originality and authenticity. Washington Irving managed to connect European and American literatures often by borrowing European plots and characters, transforming and transferring them to the American soil. The paper sets out to explore the influence of European literary tradition (in particular, German and Spanish literature and folklore) over Irving’s works, the transformation and Americanization of European heritage.

4. Alexandra Urakova
Gorky Instititute of World Literature RAS, RSUH, Russia
The Making of the Nation, Charity, and Melville’s The Confidence-Man

In his last, ironic novel The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857), Herman Melville metaphorically describes American nation as passengers going on a steamboat trip on Mississippi on the April Fool’s Day. One of the recurrent motives of the novel is charity conceived almost as a national idea: confidence men appeal to benevolence of the passengers as if it were a universal, shared feeling. The paper proposes to analyze this aspect of Melville’s novel in the context of the antebellum discourse of benevolence.

5. T.V. Alentieva
Kursk State University, Russia
Genre Art in American painting of the first half of the 20th century

Russian critics argue that the genre art evolved in the U.S. in the mid-nineteenth century. However, in reality, it began to develop much earlier. American War of Independence and the formation of the early Republic gave a powerful impetus to the interest of artists in daily lives of the American people. Jacksonian Democracy had great influence on the creative process. Among the artists of the first half and middle of the 19th century there were John Lewis Krimmel, William Francis Edmonds, William Sidney Mount, George Caleb Bingham and Richard Caton Woodville. The paper examines their creative achievements in connection with the development of genre art painting.

6. A. L. Savchenko,
Voronezh State University, Russia
Culture and Mores in the South of USA: M. Mitchell vs H. Beecher-Stowe

It’s well known that the South of USA greatly diffused from the North in the 19 century. Before, during and after the Civil war its inhabitants had their own cultural and moral principles which were determined by the institution of slavery. H. Beecher-Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) makes the reader understand that slavery is a great tragedy for the slaves and their owners. M. Mitchell in her novel Gone with the Wind (1936) skillfully describes their idle and untroubled life of the plantators, absence of high moral qualities before the war, but she doesn’t show their cruelty as H. Beecher-Stowe does. The writer idealizes confederates’ psychology and their faithfulness to their Cause after the defeat of Confederation.

7. Tatiana Mokhova
Journalism Department
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Comical Elements in the mid-nineteenth century American Journalism (in the work of Mark Twain)

In the mid-nineteenth century, the formula of an inverted pyramid was essential for American journalists whose main aim was information. The editors, though, were aware of people’s demand for entertainment. American newspapers of that time contained many hoaxes. The pseudonym “Mark Twain” meant humorous and crafty publications whereas his serious reports were bylined “Samuel Clemens”. In his hoaxes, he combined the function of entertainment with social criticism. It is important to analyze their features and the effect on readers.

8. Olga Listopadova
Ivanovo State University, Russia
The Image of Istanbul in the Nineteenth-Century American Prose

Istanbul is a city with a rich history that inspired many writers. It often formed the background of their books. Of particular interest are Herman Melville’s and Mark Twain’s perceptions of the city. The paper will focus on Herman Melville’s impressions of Istanbul as expressed in his journals (1856-1857), and Mark Twain’s view of the city in The Innocents Abroad (1869). Methodological foundations for the research are E. Said’s ideas outlined in his Orientalism (1978).

Section 3. Literature and Culture of the 20th-21st Centuries
Coordinator Prof. Natalia Vysotska (Kiev National Linguistic University, Ukraine literatavysotska@gmail.com)

1.V. A. Shchukina,
Zhukovsky and Gagarin Air Force Academy, Voronezh, Russia
War in the American Culture: from S. Crane to K. Powers

Attempts of perception of war were made from the moment of state origin in the USA. It was typical for the American culture because of the military necessity to assert the New World’s independence and to occupy Indian’s territories. However a significant war novel emerged only in the end of the 19th century. It is Stephen Crane’s (1871-1900) masterpiece The Red Badge of Courage (1895). The author describes “An Episode of the American Civil War”, but he omits the historical details. Crane represents war as the inhuman power which can change Henry Fleming’s youthful consciousness. The 20th century American writers appeal to the two World Wars in the existentialist way (Norman Mailer, James Jones) and in the manner of the Absurd (Joseph Heller). In the first case war is represented as “borderline situation” between life and death, in the second case – as a ruinous piece of nonsense. The 21st century American writers focused on the modern USA’s wars in the east. For example, Kevin Powers’ debut novel The Yellow Birds (2012) bounds up with the recent Iraq war (2003-2011). Nevertheless the author represents neither military politics nor historical fighting. Like Crane, Powers describes war influence on young private John Bartle’s “tabula rasa” consciousness. The paper comprises following conclusion: war has been primarily treated as a timeless phenomenon rather than a historical event in the American culture.

2. Natalia Serzhant
BPSU, Minsk, Belarus
The Ethics of a Russian Classic in the John Gardner’s Art

It is widely known about the impact of Leo Tolstoy on the ideas expressed by John Gardner in
his programmatic book On Moral Fiction,1978. Like the Russian classic, Gardner proceeded
from the idea of the special role of literature in the life of human society, of its moralizing function. The specifics of a critical view of American writer on art and literature in the context of
the cultural situation of the late 70-ies of the 20th century, as well as some parallels ideological and thematic plan Gardner novels and works of LeoTolstoy are considered in the presentation.

3. Olga Antsyferova
Ivanovo State University, Ivanovo, Russia
The Secret History (1992) by Donna Tartt: Between Cultures and Between Genres

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is studied as an example of genre synthesis (academic novel and noir novel). Functioning of antique cultural codes in the modern academic novel is analyzed as a form of transcultural intercommunication and an instrument of social critique.

4. Pavel Silaev
Smolensk State University, Russia
Graphical stylistic devices in works by Jonathan Safran Foer as an example of turning a modern American novel into a multi-code text

The report is devoted to the analysis of Jonathan Safran Foer’ methods of using graphical stylistic devices in his works (simple graphons − multi-code text − hypertext) as new opportunities of getting the main author’s message in a modern American novel and showing abundance of diversity of multicultural interaction, typical of modern American culture.

5. Tatiana Alenkina
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia
Creative Nonfiction as the Fourth Genre in the U.S.A. in the End of the 20th-the Beginning of the 21st Century

At the end of the 20th-the beginning of the 21st century the flow of information that has captured a man is so strong that there is a constant battle for the reader. It is reflected in the reshaping the literary landscape of the most popular genres, where creative nonfiction has played a leading role. Creative nonfiction is non-fiction but with some artistic features, where research goes along the narrative. In this paper the works of American specialists on Academic Writing are analyzed (M.Rose, S.Montgomery), as well as science popularizations as a separate genre combining the features of academic style and fiction.

Section 3. American Drama 
Coordinator Dr. Maya Koreneva (maya.koreneva@gmail.com)
Round Table: Shakespeare and American Culture

1. Natalia Vysotska
Kiev National Linguistic University, Ukraine
Shakespeare’s Unknown Play in Transatlantic Context (Arthur Phillips’ The Tragedy of Arthur)

In his latest novel The Tragedy of Arthur (2011) Arthur Phillips, often referred to as one of the finest contemporary writers in the US, involves his readers in a sophisticated play centered round the cult figure of Shakespeare. Phillips’ book welcomed by renowned Shakespeare scholars as “exceptional” (James Shapiro) and “enthralling” (Stanley Wells) is a worthy contribution to American Shakespeareana whose rich tradition dates back the 18thless than the text of “Shakespeare’s unknown tragedy” published in its entirety (five acts plus academic commentaries); it is a brilliant stylization imitating Elizabethan dramatic conventions and language. As to the main (prosaic) portion of the novel, it is presented as “Introduction” to the play recounting its story which is simultaneously the story of the protagonist Arthur Phillips’ coming-of-age as individual and writer. The paper sets out to explore the strategies deployed by the author to address sensitive issues haunting present-day humanities, including institutionalization of the canon, mechanisms of literary cult functioning, blurred boundaries between the “authentic” and the “fake” in the IT era, the limits of autofictionality, etc. The urgency of these problems combined with popular bildungsroman matrix and generous Shakespearean intertext make Phillips’ daring tour de force highly meaningful and esthetically attractive.

2. Yu. V. Stulov
Shakespeare’s The Tempest as Interpreted in Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman

The paper will discuss the 1991 Pulitzer prize novel “Philadelphia Fire” by John Edgar Wideman, which contains a significant part revisiting Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” and offering a new interpretation of its main characters from the position of postcolonial theory.

3. N. V. Zakharov
Moscow, Russia
The Cambridge World Shakespeare Encyclopedia online

The paper examines the project The Cambridge World Shakespeare Encyclopedia as a glaring example of the potential of digital humanities application in educational process, research and creative efforts. The author highlights a considerable importance of such projects for the development of the Shakespearean sphere phenomenon.

4. Boris N. Gaydin
Moscow University for the Humanities, Russia
The Shakespearean Sphere in Contemporary Music of the USA

The paper describes some examples of William Shakespeare’s influence on contemporary American music of various genres and styles (for instance, Duke Ellington, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jack Clement, Johnny Cash, Blue Öyster Cult, The Wipers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, The Killers, Eminem, etc.).
The USA is one of the largest and most mature markets of musical industry in the world. Singers, composers, songwriters, etc. from the USA have produced many songs, albums, musicals, operas, videos, etc. with “Shakespearean traits”. The research aims to discover why Shakespeare’s works and his personality are still attracting attention of new generations of American composers and songwriters, to reveal the specific character of the incorporation of “Shakespeare’s text” into original musical pieces. We also try to find out if there are any differences in the receptions of Shakespeare’s legacy in the context of contemporary musical genres and musical pieces of the previous ages.

5. Vladimir S. Makarov
Moscow University for the Humanities, Russia
Kill Shakespeare or “the Superman’s Tragedie”:
Shakespeare in US comic books

Comic books are overwhelmingly perceived as a hallmark of Americanized mass culture. In this paper, I would like to treat them as experiments in rearranging the narrative “yarn” of a classical texts and setting up a new space and timeframe which reutilizes those from previous texts, verbal or visual. Looking at both the comic adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays and “original remixes” such as “Kill Shakespeare” or “To Be or Not to Be”, it is important to note that they transcend the limits of the “national” and “mass culture”, forming a part of a global “Shakespeare sphere”.

6. Eugenia Sinepushkina
MSU Journalism Department, Russia
Shakespeare’s Heroes Reintroduction into Marvel Comics

Section 4. Ethnic Components in American Culture 
Coordinators Dr. Louisa Bashmakova louisa_p@kubsu.ru And Dr. Andrew Wiget Andrew.Wiget@gmail.com),

1. O.Y. Danchevskaya
Moscow State Pedagogical University, Moscow, Russia
Symbolism of Numbers of North American Indians

Since ancient times people have endowed numbers with a special sacred meaning. The most significant for the indigenous population of North America are numbers three, four and seven, which play an important role in almost everything by what American Indians live and what they do today: in their mythology, rituals and ceremonies, chants, literature, architecture, fine arts, household, etc. American Indian numerical symbols have also entered American culture, but for a proper understanding of their meaning one should be able to decrypt them…

2. Olga Panova
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
“The Making of Black Americans”: the Debates on the Negro Problem during the Period of the American Revolution and Early Abolitionism

The decades of American Revolutionary War were marked with the ample debates on the role of the African race in America and the place the Africans are likely to take in the American society. The problems of slavery, interracial relations were being discussed; one tried to figure out what could be the future for the Africans in the New World (if any) and whether peaceful coexistence of the white and black races within one national state would be possible. In the course of the discussion there emerged the main terms, arguments, topoi and rhetorical devices that continued to be in demand during the first half of the 19th century up to the Civil War.

3. I. M. Udler
Chelyabinsk State University, Russia
African American Journalism on the 19th Century Race Problem

The idea of migration of the free blacks from the United States to Liberia (colonization) was suggested by the African Colonization Society in 1816 as a possible solution to race problem. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and after that he worked out the scheme of voluntary repatriation of the freed slaves in South America. The idea and plan for colonization were hotly debated in the American society and were bitterly attacked in the African American press (Freedom’s Journal, The Colored American, North Star, The Frederick Douglass Paper, Douglass’ Monthly). Frederick Douglass criticized colonization especially comprehensively and deeply. He linked the problem of colonization with the problem of racial and national identification. Blacks are the integral part of the all American nation, “composite American nationality”, association of white and black races. The United States is “our common country”. For black “America his permanent home, and all Americans his fellow-countrymen”. In colonialism Douglass has found racism and nationalism and opposed integration, “a unity of which the great principles of liberty and equality … are the corner-stone”. The questions of removing blacks to Africa, racial and national identification, assimilation, and integration are topical problems of the 21st Century about the Colonization as a Solution for century.

4. Yulia Sapozhnikova
Smolensk State University, Russia
The Use of the Elements of Magical Realism in Neoslave Narratives

Many authors of neoslave narratives strive to show the collective consciousness of African Americans that is characterized by their faith in magical and marvelous. For this purpose black writers use some elements of magical realism. The fusion of impossible and usual in their texts is manifest in an unusual relationship between the dead and the alive, it’s also achieved by the special view on time and space and by the description of nature as something magical and shrouded in mystery.

5. Irwin Weil
Norhwestern University, USA
One Man’s View of a Changing America: From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds

My own experience as a youngster in the 1930’s and ’40’s: connected with the sport of baseball, a real definition of American nation building  at that time: enthusiasm for one’s own town team was in many ways an expression of patriotism for a country  still very much in the making.
My own experience as loving attachment to Russian Language, Culture, and Music has become one example of growing American transnationalism in the latter part of the last century and the beginning of the present one.

6 . Andrey Davydov
MSU Department of Foreign Languages and Regional Studies, Russia
New Eastern European Immigrants in American Racial Theories, 1914-1924

The growing wave of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century alarmed American intellectuals. Conservative authors of racial theories, such as L. Stoddard and M. Grant, wrote skeptically about the new immigrants. This paper highlights several recurring themes in descriptions of Eastern Europeans, including their low results on intelligence tests or their unusual ability to adapt to harsh urban environments. It attempts to disentangle the rhetoric used in ‘scientific racism’ against Eastern Europeans to shape images of particular ethnic groups: Poles, Russians, Czechs, and Ashkenazi Jews. Finally, the paper considers the role played by ‘whiteness’ and ‘white solidarity’ in tempering the negative perception of Eastern European immigrants.

7. Galina Bestolkova
Lomonosov Moscow State University
The Internet as a Basis for Developing of a New Global Communication Sphere (based on Hispanic Internet media of the USA)

Internet in a relatively short period of time has become a new channel for receiving and transmitting information. Nowadays Internet spreads its influence into all aspects of modern society’s life changing not only the usual ways of communication, but also norms of communication and language that had been established for centuries, and even the concept of time and distance.
According to the latest sociological research the percentage of Hispanics in the United States who use the Internet at least occasionally exceeded 78% and mobile Internet usage is so popular that many Latinos began to abandon the use of land-based telephone lines. Thus, the growth of involvement among Hispanics within the United States in Internet is obvious.

8. Irina Korotkina
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia
Rhetoric and Composition: Does culture really matter?

Advances in teaching rhetoric and composition in the U.S. in the last 30 years contributed to the quality of not only university education, but also international academic communication. These issues are gaining a momentum in today’s Russia due to the urge for international publications by Russian academics and researchers. Despite all the effort, however, many papers are rejected by academic journals because of their language. The faults which impede acceptability originate not from grammar or syntax, but the way Russian authors are used to write. Excessive nominalization, wordiness and the lack of focus and organization are typical mistakes which are sometimes persistently considered by the authors as part of the Russian academic writing tradition. The key issue therefore is to help academics and researchers across the country overcome this bias and learn to write in accordance with the existing tradition, which is mostly American. The presentation will deal with some cultural diversities and impediments faced by teachers of writing in Russia.

Section 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture
Coordinator Dr. Nadezhda Shvedova nshvedova@mailfrom.ru and Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova larmih@gmail.com

1. Marina Kizima,
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University), Russia
America and Americans in Margaret Fuller’s Dispatches from Europe

In their entirety Margaret Fuller’s dispatches from Europe published in 1846 – 1850 in the New York Tribune are one of her most important works. During the trip to Europe Fuller’s horizons expanded significantly: she met distinguished people, analyzed the social, economic and cultural life of European countries, took part directly in the revolutionary events in Italy and covered them for American readers. The image of America and Americans constitutes an integral part of Fuller’s dispatches, for one of her goals as a publicist was a reflection on the prospects of the emerging American nation, the course of history, and the significance of the dialogue between the New World and the Old World.

2. Galina Lapshina
MSU Journalism Department, Russia
Women in America – a series of articles in the Russian magazine Delo (1872)

A series of articles by S. Shashkov Women in America, published in a democratic magazine Delo, reflected the interest of the Russian public to the solution in the United States of issues of emancipation, which at that time were actual in Russia: first of all women’s right to higher education, to work. The author of the articles examined in details the situation in America and emphasized that the emancipation of women there were a logical result of the basic principles of the US Constitution.

3. Larisa Baibakova
Department of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Roots of Transnational Feminism: J. Addams Contribution to the International Peace Movement

The paper deals with the participation of prominent American social activist J. Addams in the formation of international pacifist movement. Special attention is given to the analysis of her contribution to the development of the doctrinal foundations and organizational principles of the first pacifist organizations, in particular the Woman’s Peace Party and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. As the most consistent theoretician and practitioner of pacifism, she was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1931.

4. Nadezhda Shvedova
The Institute for the USA and Canadian Studies RAS(ISKRAN), Russia, Moscow
Women’s voters in the United States as a factor of gender political culture. (Mid-term elections 2014)

At present time it is impossible to understand American politics without attention to gender factor and taking into account of gender mainstreaming, especially in the electoral process. What factors shape the gendered nature of the electorate and the election results? What is the dynamics of women’s influence in election campaigns? What obstacles still face women as voters, as candidates in elections at various levels, as incumbent politicians and statesmen? What is the effect of gender in combination with racial, ethnic and generational characteristics? How does this relate to the birth of emerging electoral coalitions in a situation of demographic change? Analysis of mid-term elections in 2014 will allow to understand to some degree circle of the issues raised.

5. Larisa Mikhaylova
MSU Journalism Department, Russia
Transgender Identity in American Culture as Discussed at Wiscon (Madison, WI)

Transgender part in LGBT community is the less discussed as compared to other parts which leads to popular misconceptions of the reasons causing the necessity to alter ones gender identification. The most widely spread is calling trans-people transvestites. Feminist conference Wiscon proved to be a comfortable venue for discussing various aspects of trans-men and trans-women identification and attitudes of the society to them. In 2013 there were 5 panels dedicated to various aspects of transgender cultural aspects which demonstrates growing need to understand them on the one hand and growing inclination of self-analysis on the part of transgender people. In the presentation there will be given an overview of the reasons leading to transition and of the most trustworthy information sources.

6. Tatyana Kamarovskaya
Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus
The Greenland Saga: The Historical Novel The Greenlanders by J. Smiley

J. Smiley’s Scandinavian roots led her to the creation of the historical novel The Greenlanders written in the manner of the historical chronicles in which she recreates life of  the Greenlanders of the 14th century. The historical setting of the novel acquires a philosophical dimension: minute and vivid description of the way of life and morals of the farmers gives the author a possibility to analyze the correlation of the eternal forces of life: hatred, the source of which is lust for riches, and love making former enemies forgive each other and repent. Thus Smiley historically correctly shows the crisis of the medieval outlook and the coming of the Renaissance epoch with its system of values.

7. Polina G. Molchanova
Moscow State University, Russia
Centers against Domestic Violence in the USA and a Model of а Bill against Domestic Violence for Russia

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, 8 March 2007:
“Violence against women and girls continues to be a global epidemic that wounds, tortures, and slays – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and girls’ equality, security, dignity, self-esteem, and their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms. Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity and age. Women are subjected to violence in a wide range of situations, including family, community, state custody, and armed conflict and its aftermath. Violence constitutes a continuum across the lifespan of women, from before birth to old age. It cuts across both the public and the private spheres.”
According to UNIFEM Studies of domestic violence conducted in 2001-2002 and supported by the UNDP and UNFPA in the framework of a regional information campaign for women’s rights “Life without Violence” 92.6% (!) of women in Russian Federation, surveyed in 2002, confirm the existence of the problem of domestic violence. About 20% of them also experienced physical violence, and more than 60% – other forms of domestic violence. It is only recorded statistics! However, despite the existence of centers and articles about this, problem is not only growing but became almost a new tradition, because many Russian people just put up with trouble.
In the presentation the experience of the United States in the fight against this phenomenon will be analyzed and an attempt to present an effective cure by proposing a model to solve this problem in Russia done.

Section 6. Fantastic in the Arts  
Coordinator Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova (MSU Journalism Department,Russia larmih@gmail.com)

1. Larisa Mikhaylova
MSU Journalism Department,Russia
Transnationalism as a Result of Conscious Cultural Choice in American Science Fiction of 1980-2010s

2. Aleksandr Konstantinov
Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
English-language TV Series as the Phenomenon of Transnationalism

More and more successful British television series are coming to American. TV screens in the Era of transnationalism and so-called «golden age» of television. Some of them are being directly exported, some are being remade. The paper sets out to explore the types of U.S. TV series remakes and why the principle of «if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it» doesn’t always work.

3. Anna Sitnik
Jourmalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Editorial policy of the magazine of Science Fiction World  (Chendu, China) and Transnationalism of Chinese fandom

“China Association of Science and Technology”, an organization which largely influenced the development of fiction and periodicals in China was founded in 1958. In the 1960s the Association has taken under his wing, «Science Illustrated Magazine» / 科学 画报, published since 1933. In 1991, it was renamed the Science Fiction World / 科幻 世界. This magazine soon became the largest, most widely read, not only in China but throughout the world of science fiction. Monthly circulation of the magazine is now 300 thousand copies.
Fandom in China had a short-life outside of Chinese Internet space. Forums, blogs, fan sites, social networking, and video hosting websites of various communities of fans of science fiction, around the journal of fiction, or a well-known researcher of fantasy, science fiction author help the Chinese fandom to develop and attract more new researchers. Initially, in-depth discussion of works conducted mainly in Chinese, but lately sites become bilingual and discussion is developing wider and braver. Its analysis will be presented.

Section 7. Canadian Dimension of American Culture
Coordinator Dr. Yelena Ovcharenko (Moscow, Russia felicella@inbox.ru)

1. Irina Arkhangelskaya,
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
H.A. Innis’ «The Bias of Communication» as an Attempt to Create Global Media Theory

The book of the outstanding Canadian economist, professor of University of Toronto H.A. Innis (1894 – 1952) «The Bias of Communication» (1951) is under consideration in the report. The Canadian researcher is sure that the type of mass communications may tell a lot about the country’s culture and politics at a certain period of time. H.A. Innis’ ideas influenced media theorist Marshall McLuhan and became the integral part of Toronto school communications theory, the word «imperial» later was substituted by famous McLuhan’s cliché «global village».

2. Elena Ovcharenko
Russian Association for Canadian Studies (RACS), Moscow, Russia
Icelandic Influence  in Canadian Culture

The roots of the Cultural Relations between Canada and Iceland go back to the 10th century – the ancient Icelandic Sagas were the first reliable source of information about Canadian Early History. The Modern Canada is the second Icelandic Population Area after the native land, and the New Iceland (province of Manitoba) from 18th century becames the Cultural Center for the Icelanders of the New World. Icelandic Canadians living in Manitoba near the lake Winnipeg preserve carefully their proper traditions and mother language. Talking of New Iceland we can use the “Icelandic Trace” in Canadian Culture to see what direction the Canadian Cultural Mozaic might be developing.

3. Maya Petrukhina
Moscow State Diplomatic Academy, Russia
Intertextuality in British and Canadian Novels about First World War (T.Findley The Wars and S.Hill Strange Meeting)

The paper examines many similar motifs and descriptions of different war episodes as well as basic characteristics and features of heroes of the two First World War novels written during the 70 s last century. Portrayal of some war episodes of the period background and study of the main characters in their face off with the enemy bear so much resemblance that one can speak about the novels’ intertextuality. It primarily concerns the sphere of home life problems which forced the young guys from their well-to-do families go to the war. Soldier- officer relations and interaction are also very much alike. And lastly similar motives which made the heroes not only realize the war causality but bear their moral responsibility before oncoming generations. Despite certain difference in the writers’ artistic method T.Findley and S.Hill are at one in their desire (through different means) to get it home to the reader their perception of war sources and its ensuing consequences.

4. G.S. Dorzhieva
Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude, Russia
The Toponimic Problems of Synonymy and Homonymy (on the material of the toponymy of Quebec)

The article deals with the secondary toponyms formed on the basis of another proper name (primary or non-primary).The system of images shown in the toponimical synonymy and homonymy represents the ethnocultural experience and traditions if the Quebec lingual society.

5. Evgenia V. Issraelyan
Institute for the USA and Canada Studies, Moscow, Russia
Humanism and Pragmatism in Canadian Foreign Policy

The presentation explores opportunities and constrains for combining humanist intentions and national interests of the states. Canadian experiences confirm that promotion of humanitarian principles to the foreign policy agenda is a complicated and contradictory process, closely associated with economic, political, military and cultural dimensions of the international relations.

6. Irina Sedunova
Graduate School of Journalism,
University of British Columbia,Vancouver, Canada
Becoming a Canadian: problems of the socio-cultural adaptation and integration of temporary foreign workers and government assisted refugees

Temporary foreign workers and government assisted refugees are two very distinctive types of newcomers. Usually they are invited by a local government: either to fill skills or labour shortages in a region, or as a part of a humanitarian campaign.
The author plans to talk about the problems of the socio-cultiral adaptation and integration of such migrants and to show two short documentaries filmed by her and her colleagues: Between Borders (2012) and Making a Living (2014). First film tells a story about Mexican farm workers who got trapped on a farm of British Columbia, and a woman who helped them to go back home. Another film explores the life of Bhutanese refugees in Alberta and British Columbia.

7. Konstantin Romanov
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Nations and Nationalism in Michael Ignatieff’s Blood and Belonging, 1993 and
True Patriot Love, 2009

Michael Ignatieff, a famous Canadian journalist and academic, not long ago was a prominent politician and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The study of nations and nationalism in the late XX century is an important part of his academic and political career. He witnesses a decline of importance of nations in the modern global world, but at the same time sees the growing threat of radical nationalism, based on archaic understanding of belonging that rises in certain countries. He believes that civic nationalism is a single remedy for such menaces.

Round Table Discussion «Contemporary Canadian Political Culture»

1. Iosif Dzialoshinskiy
National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia
Charles Taylor on civil Society – Lessons for Russia

The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has highlighted two main traditions in understanding of civil society. One of them is L-tradition, named by the first letter of the surname of its founder John Locke, considers civil society as an ethical community living according to natural laws. According to another M-tradition which was named in honor of Charles de Montesquieu, civil society is a system of independent associations of citizens, mediating the relationship between the individual and the state and, if needed, to protect the freedom of the individual against the encroachments of power. My presentation analyzes the impact of these traditions on the formation of civil society in Russia with the conclusion that the most popular view to the civil society in Russia is surrogate M-tradition.

2. Yury Akimov
St Petersburg State University, Russia
Francophone Dimension of Canadian Political Culture

Francophone dimension is an attribute of Canadian political culture in spite of steadily decline of the percentage of francophone population in Canada. The Francophone dimension is presented both at home (the official bilingualism, de facto special status of Quebec in the Federation, the recognition of québécois nation etc) and abroad (participation in OIF, promotion of the French language in the World etc). The paper deals with the different aspects of this phenomenon as well as its origin and reasons.

3. Elena Ovcharenko
Russian Association for Canadian Studies, Moscow, Russia
The Information Access in the Canadian Modern Political Culture (the Canadian Freedom Audit 2013/14)

The National Freedom of Information Audit exists for 10 years as the monitoring for the Information Open access in Canada. In the frames of Canadian Freedom Audit–2014 the Canadian journalists sent about 400 requests, however only the Federal Government in Ottawa has shown the negative dynamic during the all decade.

4. Alina Kosova,
Volgograd State University, Russia
John Alexander MacDonald’s role in the action of the Canadian statehood

The emergence of the Dominion of Canada is closely connected with John Alexander Macdonald (1815-1891), the first Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Conservative Party. The way to the Dominion’s organization was long and thorny but the process of its development became more difficult. J.A. MacDonald devoted all his life to the politics, he is a peculiar symbol of the history of the Canadian state. In the article the main aspects of the political activity of J.A. MacDonald during the periods of his power are shown and his role in the Canadian state formation is revealed.

Round Table Discussion “Imprints: Image of Russia and Image of America”»
Coordinator Prof. Yassen Zassoursky (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia)

1. Alexey Feldt
Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Arkhangelsk, Russia
The Image of Soviet Leaders in American Periodicals, 1937 – 1938

The image of Soviet leaders in American press had a strong influence on American public opinion about Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938. In that period U.S. mass media substantially focused on domestic policy of Soviet authorities. The American intellectuals tried to understand the Stalin’s role in Soviet Experiment and the level of Soviet’s stability. The author analyzes conservative, liberal and radical views as well as attempts of American journalists give a realistic assessment of domestic political processes in the U.S.S.R.

2. Anton Milantyev
MSU Journalism Department, Moscow, Russia
Art Buchwald’s Сolumns as a factor of the USA Depiction in the USSR

Art Buchwald’s columns were often used by Soviet ideologists to criticize ” the American way of life”. They used Buchwald’s talent  in their own propagandistic aims. But never Soviet or Russian newspaper editors wished to regard Buchwald’s works as an attempt to make the life in his own country better. Analysis of Buchwald’s influence on domestic policy and the use of his satiric columns in the USSR on the basis of Buchwald’s articles memoirs about him.

3. Tatiana Belova
MSU Department of Philology, Russia
Russian literature in the USA: Reception, Appreciation, the Main Phases of Study

The early literature contacts and pioneer translations of Russian prose and verse (M. Lomonosov, A. Pushkin, M. Zagoskin) took place in the first half of the 19th century, but appeared to be very rare. The situation cardinally changed in the second half of the 19th century, when the main works of L. Tolstoy, I. Turgenev, later F. Dostoevsky, and A. Chekhov were widely translated into English and these writers became very popular in Europe and USA. Also the direct contacts between the writers and the readers were established. Thus I. Turgenev made a valuable contribution to popularizing Russian literature in the USA having made direct contacts with American writers and critics, especially with H. James. In the second half of the 20th century serious critical publications on problems of Russian literature appeared in the USA due to the efforts of Russian émigré (G. Struve, B. Philippov, etc), also Novy Journal and several publishing houses, American and émigré, popularizing Russian literature (i. e. Ardis Publishing and Chekhov Publishing House of the East European Fund, Inc.). By that time in the USA various schools of literary criticism have been formed, e. g. New Criticism happened to be the most influential one. Also AATSEEL society was formed with its annual December conferences where the leading experts on Russian literature from numerous American universities, colleges and Centres discuss the actual problems of Russian writers’ works.

4. Sophia Kharlamova
Tyumen State University, Russia
Perception of American underground culture in Russia: Mr. Gira and his book The Consumer and Other Stories

This report is about the works and personality of American rock musician Michael Gira and the perception of his book The Consumer and Other Stories (USA, 1995) in Russia. Swans is a cult underground band from New York. They have become world famous, had a great influence on musicians of friendly genres and not only came out of the dark and stuffy basement to the club scene, but also successfully toured throughout the world and have performed in Russia as well. Similarly, the founder and permanent member of the group, Mr. Michael Gira, having eventful biography and violent character, has evolved from a “child of the sixties” and crazy New York freak into a decent family man and a wise old preacher of American industrial. This extraordinary and talented person has also written a controversial book The Consumer and Other Stories, which was translated into Russian and has a mystical story of publishing in our country. Today, Swans are becoming increasingly popular in our country.

5. Ada Baskina
Moscow, Russia
Obesity Problem

Today obesity is one of the main US issues. America tries to help fat people: stimulate them loosing weight and create conditions for keeping their self esteem.
Scientists are looking for a “fat gene” and methods blocking weight increase. Dietitians offer dozens of diets. Supermarkets have special departments “For overweight”. On the other hand, psychologists persuade people that obese persons should not be outsiders, that they don’t have to suffer from inferiority complex. In Russia percentage of overweight is on the level of the 80s in the US. But these levels are getting close rapidly. So it is the right time for us to study America’s experience.

Panel Discussion of RAS History of American Literature in 6 volumes
Coordinators Prof. Yassen Zassoursky (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia) and Leading Researcher Dr. Maya Koreneva (Russian Academy of Sciences Gorky Institute of World Literature).

Full set or separate volumes will be available for purchase.