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In this paper, we introduce the project, which is based on Sunghaksipdo (聖學十圖). Known as the Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning, Sunghaksipdo was a heritage created by Toegye, the Korean Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty. While conveying philosophical concepts such as Li (理) and Gyung (敬) and their spiritual values of mindfulness from the heritage to VR, we have focused on reconnecting the original visual diagrams and texts into perceivable VR experiences. We approached this task through the following: (1) by constructing conceptual and philosophical VR space and environments based on the original diagrams, (2) by creating conceptual objects inside VR, and (3) by designing diverse user interactions with such virtual conceptual objects. Particularly the interactions allow the user's embodied experience and performative engagement, which become a way of understanding the meaning of the philosophical message. While explaining these with diverse exemplary cases, we hope to show how new media and interactive VR technologies can be used to realize philosophical concepts and spiritual value. Through this, we hope to discuss how VR could be imagined as a tangible philosophy discovering the plane of immanence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines Gogol’s apology for laughter in “Theatrical Travel After the Presentation of a New Comedy” (1836–1842). Gogol’s paradigmatic words that the only “honest, noble face” in “The Government Inspector” is laughter are considered in the context of the author’s intention. The play about the imaginary auditor appears as a component of two “revisions”: on the one hand, government revision, although obviously profaned in the course of the play, but inevitably implied by its ending; on the other hand, an “audit” of a “vulgar” society through laughter. The satirist writer and the official authorities, who equally carry out the task of persecuting vice, represent one-order phenomena that equally serve the spiritual improvement of society. The opinions of Gogol’s contemporaries regarding the definition of the picture depicted in the play and the genre of “The Government Inspector” itself as “comedy-tragedy” are in agreement. The article summarizes well-known and little-known reviews of the play by Stepan Shevyrev, Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky, Vasily Mezhevich, Konstantin Aksakov, Vissarion Belinsky, Konstantin Masalsky, and Ivan Ilyin, along with the opinions of the author himself.

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The research is dedicated to exploring the little-known spiritual heritage of Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877-1921), related to the religious aspect of the famous Ukrainian compser's life. By recounting the composer's biography and analyzing his life, it is hypothetically suggested that the choral miniature "The Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bar City: "O Highly Praised Mother..." represents one of the composer's early works and may belong to his early period of compositional development. This article underscores the historical significance and the profound spiritual and cultural content of the choral miniature "The Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bar City". It highlights the necessity for a music teacher to grasp the entirety of Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych's life, encompassing the social, political, and spiritual context, to enable modern students to truly fathom the depths of his work. The author concludes that the life and work of Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych are the vital, ancient roots from which the national spirit of Ukrainians continues to grow. Unraveling the multifaceted aspects of the composer's biography is crucial for understanding his achievements' spiritual, artistic, emotional, and intellectual world, a task that future generations of researchers must undertake. By immersing ourselves in the historical realities of the composer's life, we become part of his cultural continuum, engaging in a profound dialogue with his works, whose value we are duty-bound to transmit to future generations. Modern art teachers need comprehensive knowledge about the composer and an understanding of his life's social, political, and spiritual context to understand the meaning of his work. Therefore, the prospects for further research lie in developing ways to popularize the composer's creative heritage in working with students of institutions of general secondary education, institutions of out-of-school education, and institutions of primary art education, as well as in project activities with future music teachers. Keywords: Mykola Leontovych, spiritual heritage, sacred songs, "Bohohlasnyk", Virgin Mary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article raises the fundamental problems of textual criticism of N. V. Gogol’s story “Taras Bulba.” The author of the article provides an analytical review of the translation and publishing practice of representatives of Ukrainian nationalism of the 19th–20th centuries, the features of the publications of Gogol’s story with textological “innovations” by P. A. Kulish, M. O. Lobodovsky, M. Sadovsky (N. K. Tobilevich), I. A. Malkovich. The distinctive feature of the listed cases is the ideological character of the violation of the fundamental scientific principle of choosing the final wording of the text. The preference for the publication of the early edition of Taras Bulba over the later one leads to the fact that Taras Bulba’s famous speech about partnership, the image of the path of the traitor Andriy to enemies, the words of the Cossacks before death about devotion to faith and homeland, Gogol’s prophecy about Russian tsar and the narrator’s exclamation about the irresistible Russian power became “an appendix” without author’s context. The paper clearly shows the need for a comprehensive, complex solution of textual problems and the inadmissibility of ignoring the last writer’s will.

The article will focus on the spiritual heritage of Mukhtar Auezov, whose name is widely known and has become the pride of world literature and culture. It is considered that the historical and cultural heritage of the writer who presented the great Abai to the world is an inexhaustible treasure. New ways of studying the epic novel “The Way of Abai” by the great writer, master artist M. Auezov, who raised the historical and cultural values of the Kazakh nation into the space of universal values and culture, are considered. The level of teaching of Mukhtar Auezov’s epic novel “The way of Abai” in its degree will be discussed. For this purpose, the school studies the research works of domestic and foreign scientists on the problem of teaching the works of M. Auezov. The research works and technology of the domestic methodologist-scientist, academician K. Bitibaeva are considered in the complete teaching of the novel-epic “The way of Abai”. The outstanding works of methodologist-teacher K. Bitibayeva in Abay studies and auezov studies will be shown. Presents K. Bitibaeva's advanced methodology of teaching the epic novel “The way of Abai” through problem analysis and image analysis. The author defines the significance of the technology of the domestic methodologist K. Bitibaeva and suggests applying it in practice at school. Emphasizes the outstanding scientific works of K. Bitibaeva, comprehensively studies her search. It is concluded that teacher technology is used by the community of domestic teachers, as well as its innovativeness prevails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article a comparative analysis of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi and the Yasawi doctrine he founded. His scientific and Sufi legacy also states that the individual plays an important role in the formation of knowledge, enlightenment, understanding of the truth, the development of human spiritual maturity, firm responsibility and patience. These ideas, the constructive ideas of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, such as correctness, honesty, justice, fairness and piety in the complex historical conditions of the Middle Ages, played a fundamental role in raising the spiritual and moral outlook of the Turkic peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Existing literature emphasised the spiritual value of grandparents in a child's faith nurture, but this was not reflected in contemporary understandings or practices of the Christian community. Purpose: The discourses surrounding the perceptions and practices of grandparents themselves, the local church and wider Christian society were investigated; uncovering the dynamics of cross-generational relationships and interactions with a child's spiritual journey. Methods: Data was gathered from Christian media, resourcing organisations, denominational websites and focus group interviews with grandparents and church representatives, to reveal the discourses conveyed by individuals, institutions and the wider Christian community. Critical discourse analysis was used to investigate perceptions and implications. Results: Grandparents unanimously reported collective worth and purpose in their grandparent-grandchild relations. However, church representatives observed barriers and tensions regarding their involvement in faith nurture, citing a culture of privacy surrounding faith. Denominational websites and Christian media indicated that grandparents were not integral to church strategies, being rarely mentioned, resourced or empowered. The dominant discourses were of grandparents being passive agents with background involvement. Resourcing primarily conveyed romanticism and nostalgia rather than addressing contemporary family life. For some, these relationships facilitated discussions about faith, whilst others said their family's faith identity was unspoken. The grandparents were primarily motivated personally and independently of external bodies, often adopting a 'trial and error' mentality, suggesting a highly individual rather than collective approach to faith nurture of grandchildren. The local church rarely championed grandparents in this role, leading to grandparents being passive and feeling excluded. Many lacked confidence and were disengaged with faith nurture. Conclusions and Implications: The value of grandparents needs better communicating, moving them from being minor contributors at the periphery of the team to being more actively and intentionally involved. This requires enhanced understanding at institutional and societal levels of grandparents' role, and improvement in the functionality and efficacy of interactions between grandparents and their grandchildren. Redressing of the power dynamics at play within congregations and society is required to bring grandparents more equally into the equation. A paradigm shift is required at all levels to equip, empower and include grandparents more fully. This would lead to improved Christian faith transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creative history of N. V. Gogol’s article “What is Finally the Essence of Russian Poetry and Its Peculiarity,” the most voluminous chapter of his book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” (1847), and its relation to the poem “Dead Souls” are studied. Three long stages of Gogol’s work on the article, which ended with the burning of manuscripts, and the fourth, which ended with its publication, reveal a close connection with the content of the poem. Evidence of simultaneous maturation of the ideas of the article and the poem in the 1830s is summarized. It is proved that the article was prepared by Gogol for P. A. Pletnev’s journal “Sovremennik.” Unknown data on the second stage of work on the article in 1841–1842 are introduced into scientific circulation, the expansion of concept of the article at the third stage in 1843–1845, which led to its inclusion in the book of letters to friends in 1846, is traced. It is emphasized that, created over more than ten years, the article contains the final reflections of the writer on the importance of literature in the public and state life of Russia and is an irreplaceable auto-commentary to “Dead Souls.”

For the first time, an analytical review of all, without exception, censorship stories of N.V. Gogol’s works is presented. An objective picture of Gogol's relationship with the censorship is being recreated. The findings of the study allow, with good reason, to judge about the interference of censors in the writer's works in a fundamentally different way, in comparison with the ideas offered by literary criticism of the previous period without solid evidence. Based on a thorough analysis, involving numerous archival sources, the common, stereotypical opinions about the extremely negative role of censorship in Gogol’s fate are being revised. The most significant negative result among all censorship interventions in Gogol's works was the activity of the censor of Westernizing views, opposed to the government, a professor at St. Petersburg University, A.V. Nikitenko. It is the numerous reductions of Nikitenko, a friend of V.G. Belinsky, in Gogol's religious and patriotic book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” that the writer called “censorship murder”. No less significant was the intervention of the liberal censor in the texts of “Dead Souls”, “Theatrical Travel after the Presentation of a New Comedy” and other works of the writer. It is concluded that, with the exception of this “intrigue” against Gogol by the censor Nikitenko, on the whole Gogol's texts encountered relatively insignificant difficulties in censorship.

This paper tries to synthesise the evolution and specificity of Latin mythology. Its primitive forms were mostly rural, with minor indigenous deities, and consisted mainly of ritual for practical purposes (invoking protection for agricultural crops, wars and family). An absorption of the rich Greek and Oriental mythological corpus followed. In the imperial age, in Rome, “there are so many gods that it is easier to meet one than it is to find a man” (Petronius Arbiter). A large part of this heterogeneous and complex corpus was inherited by the European Romanic and non-Romanic peoples. All around, written culture has copiously fed on traditional unwritten mythology.

Introduction. In the context of cultural memory the article analyzes the rooting mechanism and subsequent functioning of local religious holidays in the cultural space of Russian rural communities of the XIX–XX centuries. Materials and Methods. The article contains studied and generalized materials found in research that give an idea of the problem under consideration. It also employs the author’s field materials collected during ethnographic trips to the Nizhny Novgorod region. The theoretical basis of the presented research is the problem-chronological and comparative-historical methods. Such methods of field Ethnography as direct observation and interviewing were used during the collection of field materials. Results and Discussion. In modern humanities, the representative properties of the holidays are interpreted in the context of cultural memory, where the holiday acts as its element or primary form. In this approach, the holiday can be considered as “General text”, which, according to Yuri Lotman can be stored and updated in the shared memory of the community, and as the mechanism of this update process, which acts from generation to generation and allows members of this community to exercise their cultural identity. The author considers local religious holidays of the Russian and Finno-Ugric population (Mordovians and Mari people) in Nizhny Novgorod region as one of the traditional forms of preservation, actualization and intergenerational transmission of information, important for the formation of cultural identity. Conclusion. Local religious holidays were the mechanism used for the collective memory of individual rural communities to be comprehended, preserved and transferred through the unified traditional forms of all-Russian spiritual culture. In the cultural memory of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the local religious holidays of the Russian neighbors became the key to the perception of Christian religion and played an important role in the processes of acculturation.

The article is devoted to historical and theoretical problems of relations between an artist and the authorities. The work summarizes old methodological principles for studying Russian censorship in the 19th century and formulates the new ones. A comprehensive study of the censorship histories of N. V. Gogol's works introduces significant adjustments to the idea of the exclusively negative role of censorship in his literary fate, and proves the overall positive interaction with the censorship department. The author analyzes the limitations of the "class approach" inherited from the past era in the understanding and assessment of censorship, which in fact represents a system of regulatory norms and restrictions. The social significance of the institution of censorship as the most important component of culture is emphasized. Despite the well-known shortcomings of the censorship department in the 19th century, which was exclusively covered by the radical criticism, Russian censorship was at the forefront of the struggle against negative processes that developed in the subsequent 20th century. The character of Gogol's satire as a form of public service is studied. The correlation of spiritual and pastoral denunciation with state interests is considered among other censorship issues.

The article examines the reflection and consistent confirmation of the religious and patriotic ideals of the Russian people in the work of Apollon Maykov. The poet’s view of the Russian statehood as a national value is analysed. The deep historicism, topicality and enduring significance of Apollon Maykov’s spiritual heritage are emphasised. The author of the article proves that the image of the Russian state, which was inherent in the spiritual image of the Orthodox people, was originally expected in Apollon Maykov’s poetry, correlated with the organic ability of unconditional personal sacrifice in the name of love, in the name of common needs and interests, in the name of Russia. The fundamental principles of the state-forming concepts of family, fatherland, motherland, and statehood, embodied in Russian literature, are formulated. Special attention is paid to Apollon Maykov’s poems about statesmen (Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible), their difficult life and fate, inseparable from the history of Russia.

Among the controversial issues of Nikolai Gogol's biography, the problem of his last days occupies the most important place. This final stage of the writer's life reveals his poorly understood views on the spiritual methods of healing from the disease. It is established that it was precisely these ideas that determined the character of Nikolai Gogol's attitude to medical care shortly before his death. The article touches on a wide range of problems associated with medical practice in the first half of the 19th century. Attention is drawn to the unsuccessfulness of the long treatment of Nikolai Gogol and his friend, poet Nikolay Yazykov, at the main European resorts, with numerous medical luminaries of that time. The apocryphal of some information revealed in the memoirs about Nikolai Gogol of Aleksey Tarasenkov, army staff doctor, who was present at the end of the writer’s life, is revealed. The unreliability of the medical memoirist’s messages is explained by his pragmatic approach in upholding the corporate interests of the medical class, while neglecting Nikolai Gogol’s original appearance. For the first time, the identities of several authoritative physicians who had treated Nikolai Gogol abroad are established. The content of Nikolai Gogol’s last days is inscribed in the context of his long-standing notions of significance of ailments as benediction from providence; personally, the writer considered illnesses to be warning “road signs”, urging patients to search for the right path, and as an artist, in addition, he strained to improve his writing, and that was his creative and prayer feat.

The direction of Nikolai Gogol's activity as a satire writer, which is one for all genres and periods of his creative work, – to follow, in a critical reflection of reality, the contemporary laws of the Russian Empire and the principles of the Church, government decisions that play the key role in an Orthodox power, – is analysed for the first time. It is stressed that Nikolai Gogol's desire to devote himself to justice, which was born in school years, he had carried through all his life. The writer considered to be upbringing, “legislative” one for contemporaries, his own creative work as well as the legacy of Homer, Gavrila Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin, Alexander Griboyedov; he created every work without exception, according to his own confessions, as a support for the “truthful laws” of the state and the Church. Reminiscences with the “Full Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire” of the first cycle “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” collection “Mirgorod”, “St. Petersburg” stories, “The Government Inspector”, “Dead Souls”, comedy “The Gamblers” and other works by Nikolai Gogol are consistently traced in our work. Government decrees reflected in the works of Nikolai Gogol, include laws on superstition, on drinking, on wine kickbacks and on corchemism, orders on underperformance, decrees on “audit of souls” and “audit of cases”, restraining decrees on bribes, usury, luxury, smuggling, debauchery, card game and all things.

The article presents the announcement of a collective work being prepared at the Department of Russian Classical Literature of Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences dedicated to the study of the heritage of Saint Theophanes the Recluse (Georgy Govorov), which will include the latest materials related to life events and the literary, spiritual heritage of St. Theophanes, the creative history of his creations. As an example, the article provides a fragment of the study of marks made in the margins of the eighth issue of Athonian edition of “The Collection of Letters from St. Theophanes” (1902). This copy belonged to the correspondent of the Right Reverend — nun Theophania (Aleksandra Kugusheva, Belichka) who had taken strict vows; now it is stored in the family archive of her great-nephew Aleksandr Kugushev. Marks in the margins were made by the owner, her brother Il’ya Kugushev and her niece Ol’ga Kugusheva. This is an authoritative and rich source for compiling a real historical commentary on the letters of St. Theophanes and for the attribution of related documents. The marginalia of the Kugushevs clarify hopeless cases for commenting when it is impossible to understand about whom or what the Saint had written. Letters to the Kugushevs are one fifth of the published epistolary heritage of the Right Reverend. The correspondents received answers to their everyday questions that went far beyond the scope of a single everyday situation and possessed the property of universal rules of spiritual life.

The paper is devoted to the study of Nikolai Gogol’s idea of the social and official status of the Mayor, the character of a “head official” in the satirical comedy The Government Inspector. So far Gogol’s view of his character as a raznochinets, a “mean plebeian”, who blemished his rank and position, hasn’t been considered by the scholars. In Gogol’s opinion, Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, who started his career from the lowest position and acquired his rank and title of nobility with “hard service”, nevertheless hasn’t become a true nobleman because of his bribery and corruption. From this perspective, the character of the Mayor helps to better understand the purpose of Gogol’s satire. Both in The Government Inspector and The Gamblers, another Gogol’s play, that has much in common with his most famous comedy, the satire is not aimed at “those in power”, nor the “state machine”, but at all kinds of frauds and swindlers among officials. Critically examining the state administration in Russia, Gogol shows them through the eyes of a high-ranking, responsible official who takes the problem very much to heart. This point of view resonated with that of the Emperor Nicholas I: it took his personal intervention to have the play published and staged. The paper consists of five parts: 1. The Mayor’s career; 2. Character archetypes in The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforivich and The Government Inspector; 3. Characteristic features of an “average official” in Gogol’s works; 4. The Mayor as a liminal character; 5. Gogol’s use of satire. The paper is based on extensive factual material that allows to trace in detail the Mayor’s career and to specify Gogol’s idea of the comedy as a satiric play aimed at obnoxious saboteurs, both nobles and commoners, who subvert the royal power and the state with their unworthy behavior, who are unfit for the positions they occupy and unable to meet the requirements of the supreme authority. The milestones of the Mayor’s career clearly confirm Gogol’s words that “the government consists of us, we climb the career ladder and make up the government”, that “the occupant of the position is to be blamed, and he is our brother”, and that readers and should be able to find with themselves the faults satirized in the comedy. With utmost sincerity and acuteness Gogol advocates healing self and society, extirpation of vices without the hidden agenda of changing political regime. The paper for the first time considers the connection between two scenes (“Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna”. “Khlestakov and Rastakovsky”) published in 1841 and the idea of The Government Inspector.

For the first time, the contemporaries’ debate about “Dead Souls” is seen in the broad context of the formation of the two main ideologies of the Russian society of the 1840s — Slavophilism and Westernism. The story of the birth of the plot, publication and reading perception of Konstantin Aksakov’s famous article “A Few Remarks on the poema “The Wanderings of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol” is thoroughly explored. Nikolai Gogol’s special position in relation to Konstantin Aksakov’s dispute with Vissarion Belinsky is marked, and also Nikolai Gogol’s assessment of Homer’s epic is closely related to that position. What is among the problems that have been for the first time solved, is the definition of the main traits of the author’s understanding of the genre of “Dead Souls”. The article consists of eleven sections: 1. Conflicting opinions on Nikolai Gogol’s novel among Slavophils and Westernisers; 2. The birth of Konstantin Aksakov’s and Vissarion Belinsky’s controversy about “Dead Souls”; 3. Opponents and defenders of Konstantin Aksakov’s brochure; 4. Gogol's comments on Aksakov's brochure: commentators mistake; 5. The cultural and historical context of “Dead Souls” controversy, the background to the dispute between Konstantin Aksakov and Vissarion Belinsky; 6. Paphos claims, the author’s definition of the genre of “Dead Souls” and the formation of the intent of Konstantin Aksakov’s article; 7. The author’s understanding of the genre of “Dead Souls” and Vissarion Belinsky’s interpretation of the novel; 8. Konstantin Aksakov’s underestimation of the religious denunciation of “dead souls”; 9. Nikolai Gogol and Konstantin Aksakov in relation to Homer’s poems; 10. Nikolai Gogol on the origins of his creative work and the appreciation of Nikolai Gogol’s poetics constituent by the Aksakovs; 11. The Aksakovs as “Dead Souls” characters.

In the article small historical towns of the Voronezh region are considered. The studied towns have the status of historic due to the high historical and cultural “content” of their territory. Modern historical towns of the region are important reference centers of settlement system of the Voronezh region, among a sharp disproportion in the development of the regional center and all the other urban settlements and high proportion of rural settlements in the region. The investigated towns are important geo-cultural potential of the Voronezh region, which can provide additional sociallyeconomic effect, as for the development of small urban settlements themselves and for surrounding territories.

In the article for the first time, on the basis of numerous sources, an understanding of the socio-political position of Gogol as a Slavophile state figure is proposed. Being a constant supporter of the unity of the Slavs, Gogol at the same time adhered to deeply “protective” views in relation to Russian statehood. At the forefront of Slavophilism, he put the interests of Russia as a unique state of the only Slavic people who retained their independence and identity in history. N. M. Karamzin, S. S. Uvarov and, partly, the oldest representatives of the Slavophile camp, close friends of the writer M. P. Pogodin and S. P. Shevyrev, in their turn, recommended themselves in the history of social currents as thinkers-statesmen. As a convinced Slavophile, Gogol at the same time was critical to the opposition views of his friends, the Moscow Slavophiles K. S. Aksakov and I. V. Kireevsky, the separatist views of his fellow countryman, the Slavist O. M. Bodyansky. Gogol was also critical to the negative attitude towards the Romanov`s house of Polish Slavophiles led by A. Mickiewicz, and – to an even greater extent – to the position of the domestic radicals-Westerners V. G. Belinsky and A. I. Herzen. To be concluded, Gogol was definitely superior than both the Westernist and many representatives of the Slavophilist movement, because on a number of issues he was superior not only to the Westernists who were far from him, but also to the “Orientalists” who also could not reach the scale and the objectivity of Gogol's artistic vision.

The article reposes a number of fundamental problems of the heritage of A. S. Pushkin and N. V. Gogol. The role and significance of Pushkin's pamphlet against S. S. Uvarov “For the Recuperation of Lucullus” in the general context of the poet’s political views are analyzed. The circumstances of the creation and the nature of the subsequent perception of Pushkin's poem are highlighted. The relation between another political work of the poet, an ode to “Liberty”, and the poem of the same name by A. N. Radishchev, is being reinterpreted in a new way. The fundamental, little-studied difference between the two odes is emphasized. The general controversy between Pushkin and Gogol with the views of Radishchev is considered. Distorted ideas about Pushkin’s important views as a theorist and literary historian were also subjected to fundamental revisions. A long-term historical and literary dispute between the poet and his contemporaries about the supposed “insignificance” of Russian literature is analyzed in detail. It is established that, contrary to the popular opinions of the ideologues of the subsequent epoch, Pushkin did not share Westernistic and Decembrist opinions about the “insignificance of Russian literature” at all, but, on the contrary, Pushkin was a defender of the “monarchical” heritage of Russian literature of the 18th century - the heritage that the liberal-minded writers of the new generation declared, due to the odes of Russian writers to the kings, to be nonexistent. Based on numerous testimonies, it is emphasized that Pushkin, Gogol and Uvarov shared the same socio-political and religious-patriotic views. However, being in the same “paradigm”, all three for various reasons did not find a common language for joint activities in the field of education in Russia. As a result, the journal “Sovremennik” founded by Pushkin, that had, in the light of the high authority of the poet, a wide public potential, did not become a publishing of a national scale, so that the implementation of the program of updating Russia on the basis of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality in those years received tangible support only from one of the editors of the magazine – Gogol. The fatal role in the discrepancy between Pushkin and Uvarov was played by a pamphlet, “For the Recuperation of Lucullus” that was soon condemnated by the poet himself. For the first time, attention was paid to the influence of the conflict between Pushkin and Uvarov on the fate of Gogol. The latest Gogol articles on Russian poetry in "Selected places from correspondence with friends" are presented in the new light. As it turns out, their content is a direct continuation of Pushkin’s long-standing dispute with his contemporaries-radicals about the important role of Russian literature in the development of Russian statehood.

Two important sources of biographical information about Gogol are introduced for scientific use. Both documents has to do with Gogol’s stay in Odessa in the winter of 1850-51, and were published in the beginning of the XXth century in periodicals by the historian L. S. Matseevich, but remained unnoticed by Gogol's biographers. The first one is archpriest Anatoly Fedorovich Korochansky’s letter to Matseevich dated April 10, 1891. Rev. Anatoly Korochansky, a former psalmreader of Princess V.A. Repnina-Volkonskaya’s home church, conveys a number of important details about Gogol’s spiritual strivings and area of interests. Until now, this letter was known to Gogol’s biographers only in from hearsay, and the author’s name was distorted (“Karchevsky” instead of “Korochansky”). Biographical information about the author of the letter is given in he paper. Archpriest A.F. Korochansky’s letter adds to the wide circle of Gogol’s contacts in Odessa during the fall of 1850 — spring of 1851, two more people belonging to clergy - Gogol's old friend St. Innokenty (Borisov), Archbishop of Kherson and Tarvia, and Rev. Michael Dievsky, the priest (later Archpriest) of Princess Repnina-Volkonskaya’s home church in Odessa. The second source of biographical information about Gogol that has to do with his stay in Odessa in 1850-51 is left by N.I. Savich, a graduate of Kharkov University, retired lieutenant, involved in the case of the separatist Ukrainian-Slavic society. Savich’s memories were recorded by Matseyevich in 1889. Being a friend of Rev. Michael Dievsky, Savich attended a dinner, given in honor of Gogol in 1850 by his Odessa admirers. A new evidence of the «Little Russian» (Ukrainian) sources of the images in the Dead Souls is given; an achetype of a character from the second volume of Dead Souls is discovered. The article replenishes recently published seven-volume Annals of N.V. Gogol’s Life and Work.

This paper tries to synthesise the evolution and specificity of Latin mythology. Its primitive forms were mostly rural, with minor indigenous deities, and consisted mainly of ritual for practical purposes (invoking protection for agricultural crops, wars and family). An absorption of the rich Greek and Oriental mythological corpus followed. In the imperial age, in Rome, "there are so many gods that it is easier to meet one than it is to find a man" (Petronius Arbiter). A large part of this heterogeneous and complex corpus was inherited by the European Romanic and non-Romanic peoples. All around, written culture has copiously fed on traditional unwritten mythology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that it attempts to analyze the artistic features, genre identity and the issues addressed in one of the most significant and monumental works of Clive Staples Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia written in the late period of the writer's work (1950–1956). In this regard, the purpose of this article is to consider the fantasy world of C. S. Lewis and the traditions of the English literary fairy tale, the genre of fantasy as a semantics-forming genre, as well as the moral issues through the prism of the Gospel values, which are fundamental in understanding the characters of the heroes. The leading approaches to the study of this problem are the comparative method, the method of philological and philosophical analysis, the dialectical and deduction method, which allow to analyze in detail The Chronicles of Narnia as a work of art in all its genre, ideological and philosophical diversity. The article presents a detailed analysis of Clive Staples Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. It is revealed that this work represents a special synthesis of a number of genre structures, such as a parable, a fairy tale, and the genre of fantasy. It is substantiated in the paper that fantasy acts as the main genre structure, since it 'generalizes' the parable and the fairy tale, the reality and the fantasy world. The article shows that it is fantasy, as a synthesis of various genre elements, that ensures the unity of the 'world's dual nature': the writer's world, the country where he and his characters live, and the fictional country. The spiritual evolution of Lewis' characters is accomplished through overcoming temptations, fear, indifference, and betrayal. The humaneness of Lewis' moral position is manifested in the fact that he believes that God and his life-giving power is present in the life of every person, and the Joy of man is to meet with God. The materials of the article are of practical value for philologists, philosophers and theologists, and can also be used in lecture courses of "History of Foreign Literature of the XX Century" as well as "History of English Literature of the XX Century", in lecture courses in cultural studies, history of philosophy of science, history of philosophy of religion, and in the teaching of theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzed the contribution of Greek Catholic priest Omelyan Kovch to the spiritual heritage of Ukraine. This topic has not yet been sufficiently explored in the contemporary historical scientific thought, and therefore needs further research. The objective and careful study of the figure of this Greek Catholic priest is important both in terms of his religious and spiritual merit and in terms of the introduction into the wider scientific circulation of the name of this unique man. The idea which was proclaimed by Omelyan Kouch as the bearer of high Christian and human virtues is justified, and above all the love of God and help to his neighbor. It reveals the conditions in which he had to perform direct priesthood duties and manifest Christian mercy. The specific facts of priest Omelyan Kovch’s personal contribution to the enrichment of Ukraine’s spiritual heritage are outlined. The thesis about the importance of continuing the priesthood family tradition, not only for professional growth, but also for further national-patriotic activity as a chaplain of the Ukrainian Galician Army, is affirmed. The review of Priest Omelyan Kovch’s life shows us his practical steps to improve the situation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. His attitude to sermons as an important element of keeping believers in the bosom of the native church and raising its authority is highlighted. The article shows us his vision of mission of helping the needy. The perception of people of different nationalities - Ukrainians, Poles, Jews of the pastoral activity of a Greek Catholic priest from Peremyshlyan, is also analyzed. It turns out why Father Omelyan Kouch died and permanently immortalized himself in human memory as a spiritual giant and model of a true Christian for all generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article raises the question of bringing out and defining the “focus of meaning” — i.e. the writer’s purport in the process of creative work, in order to properly understand the text. One of the main practical conclusions that could be drawn out of the practice of patristic interpretation of the evangelical parables is that one should always follow the main idea neglecting the minor details which serve only as a basis of the plot, i.e. the embodiment of the topic. For the first time this principle is applied to a highly problematic work in the Russian literary history — Gogol’s famous Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends (1847). The article specifies the significance of this book in Gogol’ legacy and outlines a panorama of Gogol's heritage as a whole.

This article is analyzing the formation process of priest’s personality by learning and mastering spiritual heritage of the Holy Fathers and also by acquainting with compositions of Ukrainian literature XIX – beginning of XX centuries. These compositions cover figures of clergy representatives.

The essay for the first time highlights the history of a long-term attention and patronage that Еmperor Nicholas I as philanthropist, censor, and reader bestowed on Nikolay Gogol. It shows the increasing interest of the members of the tsar family to Gogol’s works starting with the Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka; following the established rule, Gogol presented his just published works including Mirgorod, The Government Inspector, Dead Souls, collected works in four volumes, and Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends to the Emperor and his family. The essay enumerates and highlights numerous cases of awards and financial aid given to Gogol by the Emperor and his family members in the 1830–1840s; Gogol’s appeal to the Emperor concerning the censorship of The Government Inspector; his intention to turn to the help of Nicholas I on the occasion of the censorship of Dead Souls and republication of Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends; a request to the tsar to issue him a passport for his pilgrimage to the Holy Land; Gogol’s plans to get a position of the educator of the heir’s son, Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, at the end of his life. Particular emphasis is made on the fact that the “fatherly” attitude of the sovereign towards Gogol’s writings was not always incentive; for example, alongside some other contemporaries, the Emperor disapproved of the premiere of Gogol’s “Marriage.” In conclusion, the essay draws parallels between the censorial history of The Government Inspector and posthumous fate of Gogol’s works which Nicholas I, against the censor’s verdict, approved for publication shortly before his death.

Though Zhou Youguang has passed away, his strong patriotism, independent exploration spirit, candid quality, awareness of unexpected development, broad mind, firm professional will, knowledge-seeking diligence, indifference to fame and fortune, modest and optimistic life attitude and respectful spouse affection demonstrate the great sense of historical mission and lofty responsibility of the traditional Chinese intellectuals. Today, people should strive to inherit and pass on his spirit, carry forward his sublime qualities so as to make contribution to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and world peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]