Slavic Languages and Societies Commons^™

Review: Pervyi Krug: Russian Full Circle, Snezhana Zheltoukhova

Russian Language Journal

Первый круг: Russian Full Circle is the first edition of a beginning Russian textbook that represents a contemporary communicative approach with an emphasis on grammatical and pragmatic competences. Additionally, it offers an open-source ancillary web site. The goals and objectives of the course are clear, challenging and feasible. The materials can be used in a traditional year-long language course or in an intensive summer language program.

Review: Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch Of The East In Russian Fairy Tales, Lisa M. Di Bartolomeo

Russian Language Journal

Villains are in, as we see in our Disneyfied multiplexes and musical theater productions, and what better villain to highlight than one who is functionally ambiguous? Given that Baba Yaga has been featured in a Hellboy comic (Mignola, Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others, Dark Horse, 2004) as well as a Scooby Doo episode (“The House of the Nightmare Witch,” Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, episode 202, airdate July 31, 2012, written by Adam Beechen, directed by Victor Cook), it should come as no surprise that she has finally demanded her own gloriously illustrated book.

Review: Fundamentals Of The Structure And History Of Russian: A Usage-Based Approach, David J. Birnbaum

Russian Language Journal

Fundamentals distinguishes itself from other English-language textbooks about the structure of Russian by being usage-based, which means that the authors eschew underlying abstract forms and ordered rules and instead anchor their synchronic description of Russian phonetics, phonology, and morphology in correspondences and choices among surface forms. (ix, 56ff.) The assertion that “a usage based description […] renders a better picture of [phonetic and orthographic] reality than the generative-based description” (56; bracketed text added) is self-evidently true, and it is hard not to appreciate the difference the authors draw between generative production and what they archly call degeneration in the case …

Remarkable Russian Women In Pictures, Prose And Poetry, Marcelline Hutton

Zea E-Books Collection

Many Russian women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries tried to find happy marriages, authentic religious life, liberal education, and fulfilling work as artists, doctors, teachers, and political activists. Some very remarkable ones found these things in varying degrees, while others sought unsuccessfully but no less desperately to transcend the generations-old restrictions imposed by church, state, village, class, and gender.

Like a Slavic “Downton Abbey,” this book tells the stories, not just of their outward lives, but of their hearts and minds, their voices and dreams, their amazing accomplishments against overwhelming odds, and their roles as feminists and …

Results Of Research Of English Words Recently Borrowed Into Modern Russian, Brian K. Stimmler, David K. Hart

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My original intent was to research Russian dialects by means of English words recently borrowed into the Russian language. I was going to visit various cities and villages of Russia, ascertain to what degree key words had penetrated the local dialect, and record the pronunciation of these words. I suspected that some historical phonological rules (i.e. palatalization, assimilation, de-voicing, etc.) were no longer in effect. I was also interested in the semantic variation that was sure to be evident in the different regions of Russia.

Discovering Russian Research: Digitizing Local And Family Historical Documents, Kathryn Pope Blomberg, Thom Edlund

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a student of Family History Research with Russian language skills, I have become very interested in learning the process of research for the areas that have been controlled by either the Czars or the USSR. Thus, I decided to go on an internship to a Russian speaking country to compliment my studies in Imperial Russian and Soviet genealogical research. Although I am a novice or maybe especially since I am a novice I felt this would be very beneficial to my studies. My faculty mentor Thom Edlund and I developed a project that would enable me to further my …

Language For Special Purposes At Byu — Business Russian, David V. Shurtleff, Dr. David K. Hart

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Business language courses were taught at American universities as early as the 1920’s but did not gain widespread acceptance until the 1980’s. A major reason for the growth of Language for Special Purposes (LSP) was the report of the President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies, which focused on the decline of language skills in the U.S. and stressed the need for professionally linked foreign language courses. Linguistic skills, the report stated, are a plus when combined with professional knowledge in fields such as engineering and business.1

Summary Of Activities, Melinda Richards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a music/Honors Russian major, I had hoped to write an honors thesis that would combine both of these interests. I also wanted to spend some time living and studying in Russia to augment the year and a half that I spent in the Ukraine on a mission.

The Voice Of An Empress: The Dramatic Works Of Catherine The Great, Caitlyn Tetmeyer, Dr. Cindy Brewer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the year 1762, an extraordinary German princess was crowned empress of Russia. She had entered Russia with no knowledge of the language, no acquaintance with the man she would be forced to marry, and no prescience that she would be required to embrace the Orthodox faith before ascending the throne. Despite this, she became Russia’s beloved “Little Mother,” and she is now remembered as one of the most important women in the history of the world. Catherine the Great, the Czarin of Russia, left lasting impacts in more ways than one.

Russian Familial Roles: An Oral History Perspective, Jennifer Oscanyan, Dr. Gary L. Browning

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the past marriage has been a prerequisite to having children. However, with recent increases in divorce and live-in situations, the traditional family is being challenged. Is the family similarly challenged in Russia? How do Russian men and women view each other’s familial roles? How do parents and children view each other’s roles? Have these views always culturally existed or what outside force has nurtured them?

Transforming Image Of Christ In Russian Art, Mariya Manzhos, Dr. Raisa Solovieva

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When Russia converted to Christianity in A.D. 988, it accepted the religious traditions of Byzantine culture. Through one of these religious traditions, the developing art form of icons, the image of Christ entered the social and cultural lifestyles of the ancient Russians. In the icons Christ appears as a somber, mystical and primitively painted figure. His image acquired historical, philosophical, and ethical significance in a series of 19th century paintings by A.A. Ivanov, I.N. Kramskoy, V.D. Polenov, N.N. Ge, and others. Notably, as I researched the transformation of Christ’s image in Russian art, one tendency was apparent: Christ is never …

A Comparison Of Lexical Borrowings Into Finnish From Swedish And Russian, Esko Timi Petteri Felin, Laura Catharine Smith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The research for this project was initially conducted under the assumption that Finnish lexical borrowings from Swedish would considerably differ from its Russian counterparts. However, as more data was collected from various semantic fields, it became evident that the borrowings presented general borrowing patterns across the board not only in Swedish and Russian but also in other Germanic and Slavic languages. In the course of data pooling and analysis the conclusion for this research paper was the following: there are only a few if no differences in the manner, in which Finnish borrows words since the predominant patterns suggest that …

The Effects Of Cultural Views And Culture Shock On Success In Study Abroad Programs, Nichole Trone, Dr. Jennifer Bown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Upon getting to St. Petersburg, Russia, I realized that this project was not something I would just be conducting and observing; I would be participating it in as fully as any other student would. I somehow thought that I would be exempt from experiencing the effects of culture shock as I had already spent a considerable time in Eastern Europe. Well, I am glad to say that I learned just as much from my own experiences and perceptions as I did from observing others, probably even more, to be honest. Each person’s experience is varied according to many unique factors …

Men, Women, And Russian Requests: The Influence Of Gender On The Pragmatic Competence Of Second Language Learners, Elizabeth Hassell, Jennifer Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Dr. Jennifer Bown and I wished to assess how gender affects the pragmatic competence of students learning Russian. By analyzing the differences between men and women’s ability to form appropriate requests in their second language, we hoped to assist other researchers in developing better language-teaching techniques.

Russian Teacher Development Project Summary, Carrie S. Hewitt, Dr. Gary Browning

Journal of Undergraduate Research

On June 23, 1996 I returned from Spring term study abroad program in St. Petersburg, Russia where I lived the language, experienced the colorful culture and learned to love the Russian people. The purpose of my creative research project was to build upon a developing professional knowledge base, acquire authentic teaching materials and creative ideas—all critical to the art of professional language teaching. Throughout my time in Russia I chronicled both the positive and the negative experiences. I used my journal entries to record new teaching ideas, express frustrations and ambiguities found in Russia, as well as detail the priceless …

Russian Cultural Anthropology After The Collapse Of Communism, Albert Baiburin, Catriona Kelly And Nikolai Vakhtin, Eds. (Review), Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby

Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of "Retracing Images: Visual Culture After Yugoslavia" Edited By D. Šuber And S. Karamanić, Sibelan E.S. Forrester

Russian Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Introduction: From "Nauchnaia Fantastika" To Post-Soviet Dystopia, Sibelan E.S. Forrester, Y. Howell

Russian Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Russian Attitudes Toward Us Foreign Policy: From The Cold War To Today, Kelsey Simons, Dr. Tony Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In matters of international politics today, Russia is the wildcard. Its history of power on the international stage, along with an impressive military and large sphere of influence give it a commanding presence, even as it still struggles to find its identity after a swift political and economic change following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is increasingly important to pay attention to Russia, and therefore it is equally important to know the standing the US has in that country. There is no doubt that the US has had a major impact on Russia in the last twenty years. …

Dostoevsky And Design, Matisse Hales, Dr. Mark Purves

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of our project was to create a special edition of BYU’s Germanic & Slavic Department journal, Perspectives, containing creative work by undergraduate students inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky.