pp. 0-0

Cover

pp. 1-2

Title

pp. 4-4

Contens

pp. 5-6

From the Editor

Zengin S.S.

pp. 7-13

Culture and Mythology in Cultural Studies: A Meaning-Forming Aspect

The article examines issues related to the relationship between culture and mythology in cultural studies. Through the symbolic concept of cultural genesis, the formation of meaning-forming mythologies that influence stereotypes of meaning formation is shown. The mechanics of perception of reality by a person of culture is considered in its connection with the dynamics of mythology. The conceptual constructions of researchers connecting the themes of mythology and mythologization with the foundations of worldview and conscious reflection, such as F.V. Schelling, E. Durkheim, L. Levy-Bruhl, B. Malinovsky, J. Sorel, E. Cassirer, R. Barthes, C. Lévi-Strauss. The article also devotes space to studying the influence of mythology on the formation of neuroses, as consequences of cultural influence on human consciousness. A special place in the article is given to the mechanism of interdependence of the act of perception and the activity of internal mental structures, in their connection with the forms of social consciousness. The form of human existence in culture is considered through a situation when the utilitarian use of material begins to be combined with its sign function, in the process of which a picture of the world and the meaning of existence begin to appear. The development of this form of existence is considered in its dynamics –  from archaic mythology to modern mythological paradigms. Based on the material presented, it is concluded that when researching in the field of the internal side of culture, it is necessary to take into account the schematics of human conceptualization of reality.

Keywords: mythology, culture, worldview, semantics, cultural genesis, reflection, interpretation, meaning formation, conceptualization, cognitive process, mental structures of consciousness.

Sergei V. Kudryashov

pp. 14-26

Transformation of Christian Symbols in Children’s Drawings of Leningradians in the 1940s

Over the past decades, many studies have been carried out on children's drawings of the Great Patriotic War, most of them were dedicated to the memorable dates of the Great Patriotic War and devoted to the topic of preserving historical memory. The relevance of this study lies in the insufficient development of the topic of children's drawings of war from the point of view of the problem field of art criticism. Methods of art historical analysis make it possible to fill the gap and show the process of creating artistic images of children's war drawings to be more complex than it appears when using other scientific methods. The purpose of the study is to study the semantic features of children's drawings of war with Christian symbols. The author focuses on Christian symbols, dates and conditions for creating the drawings, and their existence. Using the example of the transformation of Christian symbols, the author shows possible algorithms for studying the semantics of children's drawings created in military conditions. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that children's drawings from the 1940s are presented for the first time. with Christian symbols, the role of children's drawings as a carrier of information about the artistic and creative process of children during the Great Patriotic War is determined, the importance of children's drawings as a mechanism of continuity is shown. The study uses a historical approach, which is combined with a formal-stylistic method of interpreting children's drawings and an iconographic method. Christian symbolism in children's drawings manifests itself in different ways, both indirectly and directly, but in general its use is spontaneous. Christian symbols in children's drawings do not indicate the religiosity of their authors. The process of forming artistic images took place with the participation of adult mentors in the conditions of anti-religious Soviet propaganda. In this connection, it follows that Christian symbols are undergoing a significant transformation. Despite the fact that the religious aspect is excluded from the artistic process, children's drawings demonstrate an effective mechanism for transmitting accumulated cultural, historical and artistic experience. Art historians still have a lot of work to do, on the one hand, to take a different look at the memorial function of children’s war drawings, on the other hand, to come closer to understanding the artistic and historical value of children’s drawings and their specificity in historical and visual contexts.

Keywords: children's drawings, the Great Patriotic War, semantic features, Christian symbols, cultural experience, artistic traditions.

Oksana V. Khukhrina

pp. 26-33

Culturological Aspects of the Evolution of Communication in the Postmodern Era

In the article, the authors take a cultural approach to the process of evolution of communication in the postmodern era. Using the method of comparative analysis, the article compares classical theories of communication and their transformation in the sociocultural space of our time. The authors use the works of postmodern researchers on this issue and trace in them those essential contradictions that lead to the depersonalization of the communication process itself. This approach determines both the relevance and scientific novelty of the article, since the very problem of communication in the postmodern information society is, on the one hand, discursive and contradictory in nature, and on the other, requires cultural scientific justification. The comparison of communication paradigms in the domestic and Western European traditions, the contradiction of these concepts, seems fruitful. The very definition of postmodernity as a constantly emerging phenomenon in history, as opposed to considering it as an independently evolving phenomenon (“post-postmodern”, “metamodern”, etc.), also deserves attention. The article provides a comparative analysis of the mentioned concepts of Western cultural scientists. The authors’ conclusion that such a substitution of concepts is inherent in postmodern consciousness in general, and currently in the process of de-theorizing humanities knowledge in particular, logically follows from the research conducted. The article is addressed to both culturologists and a wide range of interested researchers of the phenomenon of communication.

Keywords: communication, dialogic cognition, monologue ideology, postmodern, metamodern.

Mikhail K. Naidenko, Elizaveta A. Naidenko

pp. 33-47

Retransmission of Cultural Code in Creative Industries: An Axiological Aspect

The axiological aspect of relaying the cultural code in the creative industries is considered in historical retrospect. Being a natural continuation of the development of mass culture in an industrial society, the creative industries, at the time of their institutionalization as a strategy for the development of cultural policy in Great Britain, absorbed the values and ideals of Western consumer society. However, during the short period of its existence, the British model of creative industries managed to transform from a regional sociocultural strategy into a global development trend not so much as a result of effective marketing technologies of the European Union and the United States, but rather due to the fact that it focused current trends in the development of the information society. However, the retransmission of the cultural code in the creative industries was carried out in the paradigm of mass culture of the consumer society, at the level of a kind of ethnographic stylization, which involves the positioning of regional identity in the conditions of unilinear globalization, based on the values of transatlantic civilization, including tolerance, multiculturalism, liberalism. In modern conditions of building a multipolar world, in which the sovereignty and importance of national states is recognized, the retransmission of the cultural code in the creative industries is based on traditional cultural values, which is confirmed by the Chinese and Russian experience in building and developing creative industries.

Keywords: cultural policy, mass culture, consumer society, post-industrial society, informationsociety, media culture, creativity, creative technologies, creative industries.

Sergey A. Morozov, Olga A. Pavlova, Pavel V. Prokhoda

pp. 48-54

Museum Industries and Cultural Tourism

The article analyzes the issues of interrelation and interdependence of two interconnected spheres of modern cultural industries – cultural tourism and museum industries. Modern museums, in the process of transformation into modern cultural and leisure educational and educational medical and communication centers, have become coordinators of cultural and tourism activities, developing the resource provision of municipalities, including the production of various intangible forms of capital – symbolic (Veliky Ustyug – the residence of the fabulous folklore Russian Father Frost, the city of Myshkin Yaroslavl region – “the capital of the fairy-tale mouse kingdom.” The issues of production of human, sociocultural, symbolic and emotional capital in the process of interaction between museums and the sphere of cultural tourism, actualization and vitalization of cultural heritage, commodification of various areas of museum activity in the context of multi-channel budgeting of museum activities, branding of territories are analyzed. based on the use of profiling of museum activities. The transformation of modern museum industries is revealed in the context of the development of digitalization processes, the transformation of museums into multidisciplinary centers for storing artifacts of the past, education, enlightenment and the organization of leisure practices and spaces, which are an important system-forming element of modern cultural tourism, a significant resource for the development of human capital and urban development of small towns.

Keywords: museum, cultural tourism, transformation, cultural industries, blockchain, cultural and leisure space.

Anna V. Kudinova, Roza S. Lavo

pp. 55-65

Operas on Biblical Subjects in the Musical Theater of France during the Consulate and the First Empire

The article highlights the history of the revival of opera based on the biblical plot in the French musical theater of the early 19th century. Special attention is paid to the socio-political context of the period of the Great Bourgeois Revolution (1789–1799), which plunged the country into atheistic views. Thus, the author examines the reasons that provoked the persecution of Christianity and the prohibition of worship, identifies the factors that contributed to the formation of the so-called “religion of patriotism”, highlights the repertoire of the opera house, reflecting the revolutionary aspirations of that time. The author analyzes the activities of Napoleon Bonaparte related to the restoration of Catholicism in official rights. The work notes that the signing of the Concordat contributed to the active support of Napoleon and giving him a special status – church leaders saw the consul and the emperor as a messenger of God sent to save France from “wickedness”. The author also reveals Napoleon's attitude to the staging of the plots of the Holy Scriptures in the opera house. The article provides an overview of opera compositions on biblical themes created during the reign of Napoleon – these are the operas “Joseph in Egypt” by E. Megulya, “The Death of Adam” by J. Lesueur, “The Death of Abel” by R. Kreutzer and “The Oath of Jephthah” by J. Meyerbeer. The author provides information about the premiere staging of works, analyzes the interpretation of Old Testament plots and the genre designation of operas used by the author. In conclusion, conclusions are drawn about the features of these works and their anticipation of the principles of lyrical opera.

Keywords: French opera, revolution, Holy Scripture, biblical plot, biblical historicism, Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Olesya S. Mikhaylova

pp. 66-73

The Opera “Liu Hu-lan” as an Example of Historical and Heroic Genre in the Musical Theater of China of the 20th Century

This article is devoted to the opera “Liu Hu-lan”, written in 1950 by the composers Wei Feng and Liu Lianchi. Practically unknown to European and Russian musicology, it arouses great research interest. In the center of the opera, which is an example of the historical and heroic genre, there is one of the main images of Chinese culture in the middle of the 20th century, relevant to the time of the powerful revolutionary rise of the Chinese people: the revolutionary girl Liu Hu-lan, whose feat played an important role in the development of ideas of patriotism and citizenship in the public consciousness of China 1950s years. Anticipating the analysis of the artistic concept of the opera, the author touches on a number of famous Chinese revolutionary operas (“The Girl with White Hair”, “The Red Rock”), which became “artistic documents” of their time and at the same time central events in the artistic life of revolutionary China. The author focuses his attention on the image of the main character, shown in the opera in dynamics: from lyrics to heroism; presents a musical analysis of her individual characteristics, reveals the ideological and philosophical intent of the opera as a politically engaged work. The study emphasizes the importance in opera of the traditions of the national culture of China, embodied in the musical style of opera and its scenography: the use of national symbols, stylized costumes and decorations, folk dances and classical melodies, samples of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting.

Keywords: Chinese revolutionary opera, Liu Hu-lan, Wei Feng, Liu Lianxi, national traditions.

Wang Xue, Elena V. Smagina

pp. 73-81

Musical Traditions of the Southern Urals: Common and Special

The article considers the musical traditions of the South Urals in the context of common and special on the historical material. Based on the methodology "region through cities", the author considers Magnitogorsk as a type of industrial single-industry town characteristic of the region. Specific features of the mentality of the South Urals areal are conditioned by a highly specialized economy, concentration of urban life around the city-forming enterprise and secondary interest in artistic culture. The article shows that in the existing historical and cultural circumstances there is a lack of musical traditions and, at the same time, their forced formation. It is postulated that the simultaneous construction of the city in the material and artistic senses, which determined the specific relationship between urban society and art. The author finds a correlation between the mono-specificity of the city and its musical culture. In his opinion, the mono-city identity paradoxically allows to make music a generally accessible, rather than segmented type of leisure activity, since the cohesion of urban society makes any event a city-wide event. The author shows the contiguity and autonomy of the traditions of amateur and professional creativity, which feed each other, but do not directly determine each other. The author pays special attention to musical and educational institutions, showing the history of their formation and their important role in the development of the musical space of the region. The author concludes that the musical and educational institutions of the region are the most important for the development of music in the region. The conclusion is that musical traditions provide the South Urals with the image of a Eurasian platform of musical life and the potential for development based on modern cultural strategies.

Keywords: musical culture, musical tradition, region, South Urals, industrial single-industry town, Magnitogorsk, amateur tradition, professional tradition, musical education.

Galina E. Gun

pp. 81-87

The Ladoharmonic Factor in the Context of the Stylistics of E. Emir’s Vocal Compositions

The work of composer Elvira Emir occupies a significant place in the modern academic musical art of Crimea. Presented by symphonic, chamber instrumental, chamber vocal compositions, choral and theatrical music, it is indicative of its national character and originality of musical style. In his creative solutions, Emir refers to the stylistic models of Romanticism, impressionism, and neo-folklore. The intonation world of the composer's works is original in the original synthesis of the national mode color and the modern harmonic language. Vocal genres, represented by solo and choral songs, romances and ballads, occupy a significant place in the composer's work. The collection "Songs for children and youth" gives us an idea of individual stylistic features of the author. Most of the issues in the collection are based on folklore-fret basis. The songs feature variable modes characteristic of Crimean Tatar folk music – Aeolian-Dorian, Aeolian-Phrygian-Dorian. The harmonic basis is based on a combination of tonal-harmonic and chromatic systems. The songs of this collection reflect the psychologically expressive, characteristic and sound-colorful properties of harmony. In the musicological literature, insufficient attention is paid to the individual style of E. Emir in the aspect of the ladoharmonic factor. In this article, an attempt is made to reveal the original intonation world of the author's vocal compositions in the interrelation of the national mode color and the modern harmonic language. The songs of the collection show a new harmonic hearing of national music.

Keywords: style, mood, song, melody, diatonics, chromatics, coloristics.

Leyla T. Kurtbedinova, Servet Ya. Mambetov

pp. 87-94

Features of Interpretation of Percussion Instruments in the Late Work of B. Tishchenko

One of the composers of the “Shostakovich school”, Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko, always highly valued his teacher, and in his work one can detect noticeable traces of the influence of Shostakovich’s musical language, compositional techniques, and even worldview. However, at the same time, Tishchenko formed his own, recognizable style, in which his perception, hearing and use of instrumental timbres played a significant role. The use of only percussion instruments in orchestral scores is a very narrow and specific area. However, it is here, in our opinion, that one can find some “keys” to understanding the most ambitious concepts, including those reflected in the late, most complex period of Tishchenko’s work. The article examines the interpretation of percussion instruments in the works of B.I. Tishchenko, special attention is paid to late works – Dante’s symphonies. B.I. Tishchenko had a pronounced sense of timbre, and the semantics of timbres was important to him from the very beginning of his career as a composer, as clearly indicated by his original orchestration of the First Cello Concerto, where percussion plays a significant role. In further creativity, the interpretation of this group received a fairly definite semantic load as the embodiment of the ideas of destruction, death and suffering. It was partially preserved in later opuses, but in them percussion instruments are used more diversely and loaded with broader meanings.

Keywords: percussion instruments, interpretation, B.I. Tishchenko, D.D. Shostakovich, choreosymphonic cycliad “Beatrice”.

Li Zichu

pp. 94-104

Music by Wang Liping in the Context of the Series “Dream of the Red Chamber”

The subject of the study is the music of the Chinese composer Wang Liping (born 1941) for the television series “Dream of the Red Chamber”. The director of the series is Wang Fulin, the duration of the series is 24 hours (36 episodes). The film was released in 1987 and is considered a classic adaptation of the novel. Wang Liping's soundtrack remains popular today. Based on the music for the series, the composer composed vocal cycles: for voice with piano (10 numbers) and for voice with orchestra (13 numbers). In Russian musicology, Wang Liping's work has been almost unstudied. This determines the relevance and novelty of the research. Research methods: musical-historical method, comparative method, method of musical text analysis. The authors come to the following conclusions: 1) Wang Liping's music corresponds to the dramaturgical features of the series; 2) The composer managed to fully reveal the characters and feelings of the characters in the film; 3) The characters in the series do not sing. The film does not feature songs of characters, but songs about characters; 4) The melody of the overture is heard many times in the series and is the basis of several vocal numbers; 5) One of the most dramatically important musical scenes is the scene of the burial of flowers; 6) The basis of the melody is the Chinese pentatonic scale; 7) Closeness to folk origins, simple and clear musical language ensured Wang Liping's music wide popularity and love of listeners.

Keywords: “Dream of the Red Chamber”, novel, series, music, composer.

Niu Yunmeng, Marina G. Dolgushina

pp. 104-111

Stalingrad Book Graphics in the Pre-War Period: 1935–1941

The small number of preserved sources of information about the activities of cultural institutions in the pre–war period does not allow us to holistically recreate the path of development of fine art in Stalingrad, in particular, the development of book graphics. The purpose of the study was to study the state of book graphics in the period of the creation of the Stalingrad Book Publishing House, the subject of the study is to determine the personalities of artists who collaborated with the Stalingrad publishing house at the beginning of its activity. The scientific novelty of the study is that on the basis of archival documents and pre-war publications from the collection of the Russian State Library, a circle of artists who collaborated with the Stalingrad Book Publishing House was determined for the first time. The names of the artists considered in the article have entered the history of both Soviet fine art: K.K. Dmitriev, P.P. Ostrovsky, B.B. Malakhovsky and Volgograd fine art: P.F. Grechkin, P.P. Bykov and A.P. Bykov, but very little is known about the work of these artists in the field of book illustration. In the pre-war period of the history of Stalingrad book graphics, one can notice the special approach of the Stalingrad Regional Book Publishing House to the selection of illustrators. Experienced artists from other cities were involved in the design of high–budget illustrated books – K.K. Dmitriev (Kursk – Saratov), P. Sysoev, B.B. Malakhovsky (Moscow), A.V. Brun (Voronezh). Among the first illustrated books of the publishing house, the series “Fol'klor Stalingradskogo kraja” can be distinguished. Kalmyk fairy tale “Kebjun” in the design of P. Sysoeva and the collection of poetry “Golosa molodyh” in the design of K.K. Dmitriev differ from other books of the publishing house in the integrity of the artwork and good quality of printing materials. Mass literary and propaganda publications did not require illustrations, were produced in large editions for a wide audience, young Stalingrad artists from regional newspapers – P.F. Grechkin, brothers A.P. Bykov and P.P. Bykov, P.P. Ostrovsky were involved in the design of covers and title elements of such publications. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and until its completion, the publication of illustrated fiction by the Stalingrad Book Publishing House ceased, mainly mass political and propaganda literature was published.

Keywords: illustration, StalGiz, Stalingrad, publishing house, P.P. Bykov, A.P. Bykov, P.F. Grechkin, K.K. Dmitriev, P.P.Ostrovsky, P.Sysoev.

Anna V. Filimonova

pp. 111-119

Development of Modern Decorative and Applied Arts Using the Example of “Sculptural Painting” Techniques

The world of art is developing rapidly and intensively. Knowledge in the field of classical arts of their types and retrospectives of their development at this stage of history are only part of the whole picture. The work presents and analyzes one of the modern types of art, which originated at the junction of two monumental types of academic art – sculpture and painting into an independent unit of creative activity. Their synthesis led to the emergence of a unique direction in decorative and applied arts. The process of comprehending sculpture as a type of activity involves a gradual complication not only in materials, but also in the technique of doing work. Over time, beyond the traditional, so to speak, academic sculpture, more and more various variations on the theme of sculptural works using a wide variety of materials, a wide variety of shapes and sizes enter the art arena, one of which is sculptural painting. Sculptural painting, unlike bas-relief, can serve as decoration not only and not so much for walls and ceilings, but can be a beautiful element of various interior items. The scheme of work, built from the search for a sketch to the development of texture or application of color, involves variable solutions, which is determined both by the choice of material for the work and the complexity of the conceived composition itself. At the stage of choosing a material, there are also variations, which is due to the initial surface for work and the need for detailed elaboration. Working with color is carried out at various stages due to the choice of the shape of the color pigment. An important feature of the technique of sculptural (volume) painting is its versatility. Working in the “sculptural painting” technique does not require fundamental training, which in turn makes it possible to introduce the general public to this unique creative activity.

Keywords: arts and crafts, modern materials, "sculptural painting", technique, aesthetic education; artistic and creative activity.

Maya B. Pokhlebaeva, Yuliya V. Gumennaya, Anastasia E. Valeueva, Ulyana D. Shapovalova

pp. 120-127

Heroes of the British Epos in the Film “King Arthur” by Antoine Fuqua

The phenomenon of the Middle Ages remains attractive for art not one century. Interest in cultural heroes of the Middle Ages who reflect "a world picture" every era which addresses them, doesn't weaken and today that is visible from numerous movies, statements, festivals. During our difficult and contradictory era they represent multilevel search of mind and heart, high, spiritually and artly saturated picture of the world, reference points of honor, fidelity, service to the homeland, morality, humanity. Be the focus of attention of article – the movie by the American director Antoine Fuqua "King Arthur" (2004). Original conclusions: Antoine Fuqua's film shows a powerful movement forward with regard to the film adaptation of cultural heroes of the Middle Ages. If in the 20th century they were portrayed as convinced and uncompromising, which led to their death - it is enough to recall the dilogy "Nibelunga" by German director Fritz Lang, the end of which can be called "Mystery of Destruction," then the 21st century shows them capable of reaching a compromise, negotiating and achieving on the basis of this great goals. The film presents a new vision of chivalry and concepts of duty and honor. Antoine Fuqua turns the perfect medieval knight into a bold modern man who gives his life for the sake of his homeland, idea, king. Modern events fit into the chivalric past in a dramatic way. "King Arthur" follows the tradition of the Great Historical Films. The director uses mythological material, but does not emphasize its "magic," does not show irreal characters and objects. The mythological subtext in the tape is expressed through references to the sword (Excalibur). The director focuses on the nature of their heroes, their connections with their native places. "King Arthur" fits into the space of postmodernism and its approach to the past (literary-medieval) and modern (film-avant-garde) cultural heritage as material for free, playable use. Antoine Fuqua did not consider it appropriate to "resurrect" the irreal component of the medieval picture of the world. As a result (according to Lotman), a vertically multidimensional "text" appears. We can also talk about Wagner's "Citation", characteristic of postmodern, which grows in the subtexts of the film, its music and features of the leitmotic system. Hans Zimmer's music has a special place in the film: it allows you to place accents, indicate three figurative spheres – Knights of the Round Table, Picts and Saxons, as well as the connection between Arthur and Guinevere. Antoine Fuqua and Hans Zimmer have shown with their cinematic work that the cultural past has multilevel potential.

Keywords: Antoine Fuqua, Hans Zimmer, King Arthur, postmodernism, Chretien de Troyes, Thomas Malory, chivalric novel, film music.

Mikhail E. Zolnikov

pp. 127-133

The Chronotope of A. Tarkovsky’s Films as a Phenomenon of European Musical Culture

The article reflects a new view of the films of film director Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky as music captured in sound-visual images. The subject of the study – the chronotope of A. Tarkovsky’s films – is considered from the standpoint of civilizational theory. The authors analyze the chronotope of the films “Solaris”, “Mirror”, “Stalker”, “Nostalgia”, “Sacrifice”, based on the concept of time-space by M. M. Bakhtin. Methodologically, researchers also rely on cultural, sociological, ethnographic and anthropological studies of civilizations by A. Toynbee, L. Morgan, F. Engels, G. Simmel, O. Spengler, A. Fergusson, N. Danilevsky, B. Yerasov, I. Sledzevsky, S. Huntington, L. Frobenius, P. Sorokin, E. Hall, Y. Yakovets, etc. The following research methods are used: theoretical analysis of literature on the topic, historical and biographical analysis, structural, plot and cultural analysis of Tarkovsky’s works, the method of included observation, etc. They identify the components of European musical culture, which Tarkovsky laid down as the basis for film images. The authors conclude that the director’s work removes a number of contradictions in the interaction of Russian and Western European civilizations that have a common foundation. Tarkovsky’s work is christocentric, and this core is largely manifested through music. The chronotope of Tarkovsky’s films, according to the authors, is a phenomenon of European musical culture – common to Russia, Eastern and Western Europe. All calculations are confirmed by the words and arguments of the director himself about film music and its role in his works.

Keywords: chronotope, European musical culture, films by A. Tarkovsky, civilization, christocentrism.

Valentina M. Gaponenko, Marat E. Rogozyansky

pp. 134-141

Visual Representations as a Way of Constructing Meanings in Culture

In the article, the culture is considered as a set of conventional worldview, in relation to which there is an understanding of the general meaning. The process of cultural comprehension of the world consists in conceptualizing abstract constructs of the surrounding reality. A symbol, as a basic unit of culture, can carry a disproportionately greater content than any other units. It helps to find meaning, makes the world more understandable, defined, makes it possible to find a foothold in the system of socio-cultural interaction. Modern technological processes lead to changes in the perception of different cultures, where these cultures acquire a single, unified appearance and begin to look like an entourage in an absorbing consumer society. But it is in such a situation that different cultures need to choose behavioral strategies in order to remain significant in their environment, to have an impact on a subconscious level, to be a meaning-forming principle. The novelty of the study consists in the fact that the unity of cultural forms is described from the point of view of game theory. Using the concept of "focal point" it is shown that the construction of meanings in culture is one of the factors of successful interaction. As one of the main characteristics of the focal point, its dynamism is considered, since culture is subject to changes all the time. The main methodological approach in the study is social construction, with the help of which the ways of participation of individuals in the creation and reproduction of the sociocultural reality perceived by them are determined. Visual representations, which are the subject of the study, have a huge impact on these interactions. They displace the usual practices and construct a modern semantic context.

Keywords: culture, meaning, construction of meanings, visual representations, symbol, image.

Helen N. Nalbandyan

pp. 141-147

Trends in the Update of Genre Stylistics of Chinese Piano Music at the Turn of the 20th–21st Centuries by the Example of the Zhou Long’s Work

The article examines the features of updating the genre stylistics of Chinese piano music at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. The author of the article notes that since the 50s, a tendency towards embodying folk melodies and folklore elements of all regions and nationalities of the country in music has become noticeable in the works of Chinese composers. However, the desire to develop new trends was stopped due to mistakes made during the Cultural Revolution in China. The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to isolate China from the world, and all Western music and culture, as well as traditional Chinese music, were strictly censored. However, new generations of Chinese composers, beginning in the 1980s, were involved in creating a new style of modern Chinese music to correct the mistakes made during the Cultural Revolution. Having begun in the 1980s the search for fundamentally new options for combining elements of national music with Western European composition techniques, composers of the Celestial Empire created a “new wave” of Chinese music. One of the brightest representatives of the transformations was Zhou Long. In his piano music, he uses extended piano techniques, creates effects that imitate traditional Chinese instruments, and generally makes meaningful connections with other arts. Developing the concept of using the piano as a percussion instrument, the composer expanded his repertoire, taking it beyond the traditional genres and techniques of Western musical culture. In the field of piano music, this manifested itself in the updating of traditional European genres (for example, variations or instrumental miniatures) through the synthesis of European harmony with the modal and rhythmic features of Chinese music. Zhou Long's interpretation of the piano as a percussion instrument led to the originality of timbre effects, which differed from the “percussive” interpretation of the piano by Bartók or Stravinsky in his desire to recreate the traditional timbre preferences of the Chinese. These and other innovations outlined the path for the further development of Chinese piano music based on an increasingly flexible and deep understanding of national traditions and their embodiment in modern genre and compositional forms.

Key words: genre, stylistic trends, Chinese piano art, cultural revolution, “new wave” of Chinese piano music, Zhou Long.

Huang Hui

pp. 148-149

Information About the Authors in Russian