Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/8831

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 36

Open Access
Akram Aylisli, Village Prose, World Literature
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Orte, Peter; Hokanson, Katya
This thesis takes Akram Aylisli’s Farewell, Aylis as an occasion to dwell on World Literature. Tracing Aylisli’s development as a Soviet writer of Azerbaijani “village prose,” I follow the displacements of the village enacted in his recent works. These displacements reflect Aylisli’s response to the violent events associated with the end of the Soviet Union in the South Caucasus. While carrying on the traditions of “village prose” in a way, Aylisli stands against the chauvinistic forces that conscripted many of its leading figures in Russia. Aylisli’s response rather involves 1) addressing taboo histories of communal violence denied by nationalist mythologies and 2) claiming kinship with authors beyond the established national literature of Azerbaijan. In this sense, he practices a version of the idea—old, yet revolutionary—that “poetry is the universal possession of humankind.” This thesis contains previously published material.
Open Access
Arcadian Ruins: Remains of the Past in Contemporary Russian Art
(University of Oregon, 2020-09-24) Vikulina, Nadezhda; Presto, Jenifer
This thesis considers the subversive ways contemporary Russian art offers of looking at the ruins left by the recent Soviet past. It focuses on works of poetry and photography that capture the transformation of the landscape of industrial neighborhoods and how the material presence of the remains of the past exist in relation to the space of everyday life and shapes our perception of the present. Galina Rymbu’s poetic depiction of the disintegration of the industrial landscape in the 1990s and the photographic project “Arcadia” by Anastasia Tsayder that captures the abandoned and overgrown Soviet garden cities dwell on these spaces in a way that is utterly non-nostalgic and suggestive of new ways of inhabiting them and weaving them into the plane of the historical now.
Open Access
Aspectual Prefix Variation in the Novel Russian Verbs
(University of Oregon, 2019-01-11) Gordeeva, Ksenia; Vakareliyska, Cynthia
The study compared prefix variation in novel verbs to prefix variation in standard Russian. Thirty-seven native speakers of Russian participated in the designed experiment. The experiment elicited the perfective verbs formed from the borrowed English nouns. The novel prefixed perfective verbs attested during the experiment were analyzed in comparison with databases for CSR. The analysis revealed significant prefix variation among the novel perfective verbs. It is caused by the broad semantics of the novel verbs and the absence of the restrictions and rules in the language for their formation. The aspectual prefix za- demonstrated dominance over other prefixes in the formation of the perfective forms. The Overlap Hypothesis has proven effective for the prediction of the prefixes used for the perfectivization on the basis of the semantic tie between the prefix and the verb’s base.
Open Access
Beyond the Feminine in Pushkin's Tatiana
(University of Oregon, 2015-08-18) Spreat, Eric; Hokanson, Katya
Pushkin's Tatiana tends to be pigeonholed by criticism that acknowledges her dynamism and openness to creative possibilities but restricts her intertextual significance to the heroines of the European novelists she herself reads. I argue that only by viewing her as the construction of a narrator who relies heavily on the stylistics of Karamzin and Zhukovsky can Tatiana be pulled out of such narrow confines. By tracing the thread of these Russian texts in the novel in verse, I will show that they often beg comparison not with their predecessors' heroines but with their male counterparts. Tatiana’s ambiguous characterization when read in conjunction with "Domik v Kolomne" (1830) shows the explicit gender parodies that Onegin only hints at. Using this text, I will ultimately consider Tatiana as an example of the ambivalence of Pushkin's heroine-muse in relation to his own participation in the ‘ballad question’ of the early 19th century.
Open Access
Bulgakov's Novel The Master and Margarita and the Subversion of Socialist Realism
(University of Oregon, 2008-06) Yurchenko, Anastasia Vladimirovna, 1982-
Socialist Realism was proclaimed the main method in Soviet literature in 1932. It went through a long process of formation before its main principles were solidified. The main aim of Socialist Realist literature was to portray reality through the lens of the undoubted victory of communism. Thus only writers who followed the requirements of the state were welcome in Soviet literature at that time. Mikhail Bulgakov considered writers' freedom to be more important than the goals of Socialist Realism. This thesis explores how Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita subverts the main ideas of Socialist Realism. The second chapter examines the genesis and the main principles of Socialist Realism. The third chapter explores Bulgakov's biography, literary works and views on literature of that time. The fourth chapter analyzes to what extent The Master and Margarita overturns the conventions of Socialist Realism.
Open Access
Can the United States and Russia Cooperate? Analyzing the results of bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the Syrian conflict
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06) Ward, Peter; Hessler, Julie
The discourse regarding US/Russia relations focuses intensely on the competitive nature between these two powers. Policy makers echo strategies of the past by making recommendations which embrace competitiveness and mutual mistrust as unavoidable characteristics for future relations. Although these perspectives are not entirely misled, they fall short of illustrating the finer nuances of relations. This paper offers an extensive analysis of three instances of cooperation between the US and Russia in Syria between 2011 and 2017 in order to offer concrete observations about how these antagonistic powers work together. The analysis shows that although the US and Russia are competitive and often have opposing agendas, this does not necessarily prevent them from cooperative engagement that produces substantive results. Their polarity can even contribute to more effective cooperation. This paper also draws conclusions about what circumstances improve the effectiveness of US/Russia cooperation and makes recommendations for future mutual efforts in Syria.
Open Access
Children of the Gulag
(University of Oregon, 2008-03) Switzer, W. Alayne, 1960-
Early Bolsheviks seeking to redefine the family launched"cultural campaigns" to throw off the vestiges of the tsarist regime and create new societal roles. Laws were enacted to protect children and provide them with rights. "Thank you Comrade Stalin, for our Happy Childhood" was a popular slogan. Posters portraying Stalin as the benevolent father and protector of children hung in every schoolroom. Yet contrary to official propaganda millions of children were left abandoned, orphaned or separated from their families. Many of these unfortunate children found themselves victims of the Gulag. This thesis illustrates how war, famine, collectivization, political purges and capital punishment left countless children at the mercy of the state. Thousands of children were arrested or born in the camps to pregnant women or women who became pregnant through rape or camp relationships. Many perished and those who survived carried forever the scars of their "happy" childhoods.
Open Access
Contribution of the Brothers Strugatsky to the Genre of Russian Science Fiction
(University of Oregon, 2011-06) Kulikova, Yulia A., 1985-
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are the most prolific Soviet science fiction writers, who focused, above all, on the social themes and with satire discussed the political and social agendas in the Soviet society. This thesis explores the contribution of the Brothers Strugatsky to the genre of Russian science fiction and looks into the main themes of their most famous novels. At the beginning, I present a short overview of the history of Russian science fiction. Further on, I explore the Brothers Strugatsky's role in the development of science fiction in the Soviet Union and single out the two phases of their literary career: utopian and anti-utopian. Furthermore, I examine the Strugatskys' most prominent novels and their main themes: human nature and Soviet bureaucracy. Finally, I analyze to what extent the Strugatskys' novels fit into the Soviet reality and how they shape the genre of science fiction in Russia.
Open Access
Foreignization and Domestication in Translation on the Example of Alice in Wonderland
(University of Oregon, 2022-10-04) Kostiuchenko, Mariia; Lim, Susanna
In this thesis I would like to compare the principles of domestication and foreignization in translation using the examples of the Russian translations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (commonly just Alice in Wonderland) (1865): Аня в стране чудес (Anya v strane chudes/Anya in Wonderland) by a bilingual Russian and American writer Vladimir Nabokov (1923) and Алиса в стране чудес (Alisa v strane chudes/Alice in Wonderland) by a Soviet translator and English philologist Nina Demurova (1966).If Nabokov’s in his translation was guided by the principle of domestication Nina Demurova, on the contrary, used the principle of foreignization in her work. I would like to make a comparative analysis of these two Russian translations and compare them to original in order to find out if the principles used by the translators made a reasonable difference on Russian translations and if they are conveying the original.
Open Access
From Aral-Sea to Salt-Soil in Abdizhamil Nurpeisov's "Final Respects". Gender, Kazakh Ecocriticism and the Soviet Modernisation Mirage in the Steppe.
(University of Oregon, 2021-09-13) Zabel, Verena; Lim, Susanna
In my thesis, I am analysing Soviet Kazakh writer Abdizhamil Nurpeisov's novel Final Respects. I argue that Nurpeisov's novel presents both environmentalist criticism and a multivocal description of Soviet Kazakh identity. Nurpeisov's complex social analysis of Kazakh identity is expressed through the narrative style. The narrative structure itself gives voice to multiple points of view through shifting narrative voice(s) and focalisation(s). This reflects the various opinions and worldviews of the Kazakh population, oscillating between traditionality and sovietisation. Neither Soviet influence nor Kazakh identity are depicted as monolithic. Similarly, the novel's ecocriticism and its depiction of women is complex and multifaceted. Women are often essentialised through negative characteristics, but the novel also parallels gender oppression with environmental exploitation. While the juxtaposition of women and nature echoes ecofeminist criticism, the negative essentialisation of women contradicts a direct ecofeminist interpretation.
Open Access
From Prophecy to Parody: Shamakha in the Russian Romantic Imagination
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Jalilov, Murad; Hokanson, Katya
This thesis seeks to explore the role of the Azerbaijani city of Shamakha and the image of its ruler, the Shamakhan Queen in Pavel Katenin’s "Kniazna Milusha" and Alexander Pushkin’s "Skazka o Zolotom Petushke". In order to interpret these works, it is important to look at the prophetic topos as outlined in Harsha Ram’s book in the Imperial Sublime and see how it was applied to Pushkin’s previous work "Kavkazkii Plennik", which I argue, is being parodied in Katenin’s "Kniazhna Milusha" and takes place in Shamakha, changing the prophetic topos as a result. Pushkin, on the other hand, considers "Kniazhna Milusha" as a literary challenge and writes "Skazka o Zolotom Petushke" as a response, where the character of the Shamakhan Queen reappears and is much more sinister than in "Kniazhna Milusha". Pushkin is successful in inverting the prophetic topos and making it somewhat "demonic" as a result.
Open Access
Gender Assignment of Russian Indeclinable Nouns
(University of Oregon, 2014-09-29) Wang, Qiang; Vakareliyska, Cynthia
This thesis analyzes the grammatical gender assignment of Russian indeclinable nouns. Chapter I focuses on gender and agreement in Russian nouns. Previous assignment models failed to account for the non-neuter gender of a number of indeclinable nouns. Chapter II proposes a gender assignment mechanism of indeclinable nouns, including an Absolute Semantic Criterion, a Morphosemantic Criterion Based on Hypernyms and Synonyms and a Neuter Filter. Chapter III deals with the methodology of the experiment involving ten native speakers on gender assignment of indeclinable nouns. In the experiment subjects were given sentence tokens in which they were required to select gender agreement morphemes corresponding to their perception of the gender of 62 indeclinable nouns, and they were asked to identify the gender of four out-of-context nonce nouns. Chapter IV analyzes the result of the experiment and shows that the gender assignment mechanism accounts for the actual assignment patterns by native speakers.
Open Access
How Publication Type, Experience, and Ownership Affect Self-Censorship among Moscow Newspaper Journalists
(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Rodina, Elena, 1982-
This thesis examines how social and economic factors shape the behavior of Russian journalists. Although the state does not practice legal censorship today, Western experts compare Russian media with the Soviet period, and Russia is commonly ranked in the bottom 10% of all countries in terms of press freedom. While scholars identify free press as a necessary condition for a democratic society, Russian media are influenced by flak directed at editors and reporters, which results in self-censorship. The central question is: What is the relationship between the ownership structure ofthe media, a reporter's experience, and the occurrence of self-censorship? A random sample of40 journalists was drawn from ten prominent national newspapers. Interviews focused on instances when reporters had been asked to remove facts critical of the government. The data show that self-censorship is significant in Russian journalism; it comes both from the editors and from the journalists themselves.
Open Access
The Koreans' Migration to the Russian Far East and Their Deportation to Central Asia: From the 1860s to 1937
(University of Oregon, 2012) Lee, Woosung; Lee, Woosung; Hessler, Julie
From the early 1860s Koreans appeared in the Russian Far East. Beginning in 1864, Koreans who received approval of the Russian authorities had begun to establish Korean villages in this region. During the 1860s and 1870s, the Russian government favored the Koreans' immigration into this area in order to develop the inhospitable lands in the Far East. After the 1880s, Russia's contradictory tendencies of accepting the Korean immigrants or prohibiting them coexisted. Nonetheless, Korean immigration continuously increased until the mid 1920s. The number of Korean immigrants reached approximately 200,000 in 1937. During September and November of 1937 all Koreans living in the Far East were deported to Central Asia because of the potential suspicion that they would serve as spies for Japan.
Open Access
Maximilian Voloshin between Spirit and Matter
(University of Oregon, 2021-09-13) LEONENKO, ELENA; Presto, Jenifer
This thesis considers in tandem the verbal and visual production of the Russian modernist poet and artist Maximilian Voloshin (1877-1932), whose work, I argue, was polarized between the spiritual and the material realms. This tension between spirit and matter is manifested in his poetry, prose, and visual works, as well as in his life-creation practices (zhiznetvorchestvo). I contend that Voloshin understood his creative task as being to display the true essence of things by purifying ideas or symbols of their material “layers”, thereby recognizing the otherworldly in physical objects. One of Voloshin’s most crucial concepts is the “Apollonian dream”. He understood this as a source of the transcendental that coexists alongside the tangibility and concreteness of his poems and landscapes and his emphasis on form. This spirit-matter dyad is reflective of the profoundly eclectic nature of Voloshin’s creative corpus which emerged at the intersection of Naturalism, Symbolism, and Acmeism.
Open Access
Narrative Reliability in Selected Works by Bulgakov, Nabokov, and Tertz
(University of Oregon, 2012) Butler, Michael; Butler, Michael; Presto, Jenifer
This work examines the use of ambiguous or obfuscating narrative devices in 3 works by 20th century Russian authors: A Dead Man’s Memoir, by Mikhail Bulgakov, The Eye by Vladimir Nabokov, and You and I, by Abram Tertz. Bulgakov relies on diabolical imagery as well as characters that are by and large caricatures of how any decent person would behave. Nabokov employs several modernist tropes including skillful use of estrangement, as well as a bland tone towards occurrences that ordinary people would find miraculous. Tertz plays on the notion of a double identity by psychically linking two polar extremes until they are nearly unable to tell themselves apart from one another, causing one to crack and kill himself, thus restoring his observer to a more enlightened state. Each work uses the idea of narrative ambiguity and unreliability to demonstrate the incommunicability of one’s artistic vision in its purest, platonic form.
Open Access
On the Semantics of the Instrumental Case Marking in Russian: Constructions with Instrumental Complements
(University of Oregon, 2013-10-10) Tretiak, Valeriia; Vakareliyska, Cynthia
This thesis examines the Instrumental case marking on complements in constructions with verbs denoting movement of body parts, verbs that allow an alternation of the Instrumental and Accusative case marking, and verbs with a semantic content of 'domination,' 'possession' and 'evaluation.' The Instrumental case marking in Russian is used in many ways and is not well understood. This thesis focuses on 'quirky' Instrumental case marking in constructions, in which the semantic motivation of the Instrumental case marking is less than obvious. These constructions represent the unpredictable and controversial uses of the Instrumental case marking and are of particular interest because there is little analysis of them in the scholarly literature.
Open Access
Orphic Mythologemes in Marina Tsvetaeva’s Oeuvre
(University of Oregon, 2016-02-23) Savenko-Moore, Anastasia; Presto, Jenifer
This thesis explores Orphic mythologemes and tropes in Marina Tsvetaeva’s works in order to identify whether they create a personalized semantic system in her oeuvre. I review such themes as the “supernatural powers” of the archetypal poet, the descent to the underworld, the return from the dead, and the dismemberment and subsequent appearance of Orpheus’s head. I study in detail the trope of the severed head in Tsvetaeva’s poetics and her understanding of poetry as Land with its physical and metaphysical realms. I discuss a question: which persons might Tsvetaeva have associated with Orpheus? I examine the guises of the lyrical “I” and its associations with mythological or literary personae. I argue that Tsvetaeva demonstrated resistance and opposition towards the Orphic/Apollonian paradigms; above the authority of the "archetypal poet Orpheus" she introduced and established the authority of the Genius who leads "poets with a history."
Open Access
Perception of pragmatic appropriateness of Russian Imperatives: The Case of L2 Learners and Heritage Learners of Russian
(University of Oregon, 2016-10-27) Tsylina, Marina; Mikhaylova, Anna
The study compared 10 fluent second language learners (L2Ls) and 10 heritage learners of Russian (HLs) to monolingual controls (n=20) in their judgments of the subtle nuances of aspectual usage in direct positive and negative imperative structures. The participants were asked to rate the appropriateness of pairs of imperative sentences differing in the aspectual form of the verb against the suggested discourse context. The analysis of the ratings revealed assumed deviations from the baseline in L2Ls. The HLs also revealed deviations, but unexpectedly, did not follow the baseline tendencies of the control monolingual group. Frequency and learning experience are some of the possible explanations of these finding and implications for pedagogy.
Open Access
The Petersburg Text in Russian Literature of the 1990s
(University of Oregon, 2012) Smirnova, Daria; Smirnova, Daria; Hokanson, Katya
The image of Saint Petersburg has influenced the imagination of Russian writers since the establishment of this city in 1703. Today, it is common to speak about the Petersburg Text in Russian literature that has its own mythology, imagery, and stylistics. However, the research in this sphere is predominately concentrated on works written before the second half of the 20th century. This thesis addresses the revival of the Petersburg mythology in the 1990s in works by such authors as Mikhail Veller, Andrei Konstantinov, and Marusia Klimova. It illustrates how the reinvention of traditional Petersburg themes contributed to the representation of the "wild 1990s" reality. It also examines the influence of mass media and popular culture on the development of Petersburg narration in terms of genre, style, and the creation of an author's public persona. The cultural significance of the cityscape in these works is of particular interest.