Научный архив: статьи

In recent years, a new promising general scientific direction has emerged to study the processes of self-organization in complex open systems of Nature and Society. Under open systems it is customary to understand systems capable of exchanging matter, energy and information with the environment. Openness in combination with the accumulative and internal resonance of the system leads to the activation of internal processes of self-organization and the complication of the structure, which is the essence of its evolution.

They outlined briefly the basic concepts of nonlinear dynamics, such as evolution, bifurcations, autowaves, instability, fractals, chaos, and dynamic chaos.

Several ancient authors tell a puzzling story of treason to murder Alexander the Great by presenting him with poison or poisonous water carried in a curious vessel — a hoof of a horse, a mule, or an ass. Porphyry of Tyre, citing Kallimachos and Philo the Paradoxographer, gives us a reason to believe that the mention of hoof-made vessels was a misinterpretation of hornmade chalices, or put otherwise, drinking horns. Presuming that the vessel in question indeed was a drinking horn, we are left with an unusual image — Alexander the Great perished after drinking the poisonous water from the horn of a hornless animal. We can look into the development of this legend and propose its origins by examining mutual features of two distinct traditions — the Greek legend of the river Styx and its lethal streams and the Indo-Iranian tradition of several miraculous features of a unicorn’s horn, attested in Iranian, Indian, and Greek sources. After the survey of relevant sources, we see that the horn from Philo’s story represented a legendary present of Indian rulers intended to save Alexander the Great from harm. Various layers of misapprehension transformed the legendary gift into a device contracted to harm him. This way, the author demonstrates two points: 1) that the story told by Porphyry in Styg. 375F is a part of an Indo-Iranian tradition about unicorns and their miraculous features; and 2) that the legend of Alexander’s poisoning represents a transformed and misinterpreted story of Alexander’s grandest gift.

The present paper is the first attempt at a bio-bibliography of Jan Luňák (1847–1935), the peripatetic classicist who roamed the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian empires before founding the classical seminar at the University of Ljubljana, in 1919, in what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians. Luňák studied in Prague and Leipzig and then moved to St Petersburg to earn his master’s in classical philology from Dorpat (now Tartu) and his doctorate in Greek literature from Kazan. In 1890 he became extraordinarius in Moscow, and in 1892 ordinarius in Odessa, from where he retired in 1907. Known primarily for his Quaestiones Sapphicae, he was forced to launch a second career in 1919, after World War I and then the October Revolution permanently separated him from his family and deprived him of his pension. He served as contractual professor of classical philology in Ljubljana until 1930 when he finally returned to Prague. Based on both published and archival material, the paper provides a historical context for his academic career (which had its roots in the Russian Philological Seminary in Leipzig, where Luňák was recommended by Friedrich Ritschl). It thus attempts to understand the somewhat disparate aspects of his complex scholarly itinerary. Apart from providing his comprehensive bibliography, the study hopes to serve as a stimulus for other primary sources to surface in the future

The article concerns the semantic nuances of the verb faxo in the Plautus’ language. The vast majority of the occurrences demonstrate causative semantics, but there are a few cases where such a meaning can hardly be seen. De Melo singled out the two occurrences in which faxo can be treated as either an adverb similar to forsitan or a parenthetical expression with the meaning “I assume.” The author of the article has found some more examples of the non-causative use of faxo and tried to find out which of De Melo’s suggestions is preferable. On the grounds of the grammaticalization principles suggested by Hopper and Heine, there has been traced the stages of grammaticalization of faxo in the language of Roman comedy, with particular attention to the broader context. It is demonstrated that the causative meaning which transpires in many examples tends to emerge in the “bridging contexts” of grammaticalization, while the transition to the semantics under consideration occurs at the following stage, i. e. in the “switch context”. Having analyzed all the occurrences of faxo against the broader contexts and comparative data from other languages, the author concludes that the rare sigmatic future faxo had over time become a semi-grammaticalized marker of the speaker’s stance, which allowed both evidential (inferential) and modal-epistemic interpretation

This article is devoted to the history of stylometry and its development at an early stage. Stylometry is an applied philological discipline that considers style as a set of quantitative parameters. Stylometry arose on the material of classical studies. Using the example of the most reliable and authoritative stylometric method to date — Burrows’ Delta — the advantages and disadvantages of this type of analysis are examined. The genesis of the term “stylometry” is established. In the seminal book of G. Martynenko “Fundamentals of Stylometry” it is indicated that it was coined by the German classical philologist W. Dittenberger. The study reveals that the term “stylometry” actually existed in the 19th century in the meaning of ‘the art of measuring columns’, and it is not used in Dittenberger’s works. This term was introduced by W. Lutoslawski, who tried to solve the problem of periodisation of Plato’s dialogues. It turns out that “stylometry” was first used in a new meaning on May 21, 1897, during a report by W. Lutoslawski at the Oxford Philological Society. In Russia, the term first appears in a review in 1898 in the form стилометрия, and in Morozov’s 1915 article in the form стилеметрия, which became widespread in the Soviet academic community

The Gulf War (1990–1991) became a watershed event for Japan’s foreign policy, testing its readiness to address the challenges of the post-Cold War world. However, one can hardly say that Japan successfully passed this test. Despite substantial pressure from the United States and heated debates in the Diet and beyond it, Japan failed to make any contribution to the resolution of the crisis other than providing financial aid. Neither the plan to send peacekeepers to assist the U. S.-led coalition nor the proposal to dispatch JASDF aircraft for the evacuation of refugees were realized. The only “human contribution” Japan made was sending JMSDF minesweeper vessels to the Persian Gulf, but even this was done after the active phase of the hostilities was over. This severely harmed Japan’s image in the world and simultaneously served as stimulus for change, leading to Japan assuming a more active international role from the 1990s on. The present article focuses on the domestic political background of Japan’s reaction to the Gulf crisis. It shows how the factors including the political weakness of the prime minister, factional nature of the ruling party, the situation of the “twisted Diet,” where the LDP did not control the House of Councillors, as well as political opportunism of the opposition, insufficient support for the government’s proposals from public opinion, and the general focus on minor and technical details, rather than strategic foreign policy goals, combined to cause a paralysis of the decision-making mechanism. The study of this historical episode will, among other things, help us to better understand the roots of present-day Japanese foreign policy

The article analyzes the features of the financial crises in Japan in the context of using theoretical and practical approaches to financial contagion. A brief overview is made with the identification of the causes, nature, and consequences in relation to the three significant financial crises observed in the period 1990– 2009. A strong impact on the Japanese economy was exerted by the banking crisis of 1997–2001, which became one of the most noticeable events of the “lost decade.” Its lessons allowed the Japanese government to overcome the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 with minimal losses, which negatively affected not so much the credit and stock markets as the real sector of the Japanese economy and its foreign trade. From a scientific standpoint, the spread of crises is productively considered from the standpoint of the theory and methodology of financial contagion. It is a process of transmission of negative shocks that can lead to the disruption of fundamental links between countries and markets, thereby contributing to the growth of crises and instability. The article shows that Japan can act as both a transmitter and a recipient of infection. Examples of studies that examine the channels and direction of financial contagion in Japan are given. An important feature has been identified, which is that the main channel for the transmission of shocks in a given country is trade relations, and not financial ones. Taking this circumstance into account explains the effectiveness of the policy of supporting the real sector of the economy pursued by the Japanese government during the global financial crisis of 2007–2009. In order to illustrate the methodology of financial contagion, the article conducted an empirical study of the country and cross-industry effects of infection in the Japanese economy during the COVID-19 period. A specific infection detection tool (statistical tests) and an extensive empirical base were used. As a result, the country effects were confirmed only partially – Japan was the recipient of the financial contagion that came from China, but weakly transferred it to other countries. Cross-industry infection spread more actively (it was recorded by more than half of the tests). At the same time, uneven transmission of shocks between sectors was detected; possible causes of high or low susceptibility to infection in different sectors were discussed.

The article addresses the experience of Fumio Kishida’s first year as Prime Minister of the Japanese government with respect to its economic policy vision and implementation. This policy is analyzed by comparing it to the policy pursued over the past ten years by PM Kishida’s predecessors in the office, on the one hand, and to the commitments he announced during the 2021 election campaign, on the other hand. The paper notes that, in its basic moments, the economic policy of the cabinet of the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party continues the course previously maintained by the team of then-PM Abe Shinzō, known as Abenomics. This is manifested in the specific use of basic instruments of macroeconomic policy, primarily in the monetary and tax areas, as well as in setting priorities for the policy to stimulate consumption and economic activity. Continuity of the course can be particularly illustrated by the soft monetary policy; a positive view of the depreciation of the Japanese national currency; the moderately expansionary fiscal policy relying on domestic borrowing; preference given to interests of the national corporate sector. Legacy inherited from the previous administrations also includes government measures to revitalize deferred private demand, promoting investment in R&D, venture, and innovative enterprises with a particular focus on regional economies. Kishida’s particular emphasis on invigorating redistributive mechanisms and increasing the share of wages in the total national income has not yet resulted in specific decisions and actions by the government. Kishida’s commitment to expand the number of beneficiaries of the capitalist market system as part of his idea of “new capitalism” is yet to be carried out. In recent months, the attention of the government and its economic team has largely been focused on overcoming the consequences of the disruption of transnational production, trade and logistics chains caused by the coronavirus pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions. In addressing this issue, the government prioritizes subsidizing businesses and households to partially offset energy and food price hikes, securing diversification or localization of critical links of trade and production chains, as well as the exclusion from them of politically undesirable or unstable locations. At this stage, however, the actions of the government are limited to setting relevant goals and plans to provide finance for programs with effectiveness yet to be proven

The article analyzes the foreign policy of Shinzō Abe, one of the most notable and unusual political figures of contemporary Japan, who was the head of Japanese government twice for a total of almost nine years. It traces how his political philosophy formed under the influence of ideological views of his relatives, prime ministers N. Kishi and E. Satō, as well as his father, Shintarō Abe. It also considers Abe’s approaches to building Japan’s relations with the countries which are most important for its interests. Abe was perceived as a devoted ally of the U. S. in Washington. He established relations of confidence with presidents Obama and Trump. For this purpose, he strengthened Japanese-American military-political cooperation, took steps to support American strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. He implemented, even if without substantial results, steps to stabilize relations with China, trying to combine policy of containing Beijing with efforts to develop bilateral ties. Abe paid substantial attention to relations with India, including for the purpose of the idea, which was put forward by him and supported by the U. S., to establish quadrilateral cooperation of “democracies” in the Indo-Pacific region – the U. S., Japan, India, and Australia. His policy in the Korean direction was not successful. The relations with Pyongyang remained in deadlock, and, with Seoul, the most acute bilateral problems were not finally solved. Abe also paid great attention to policy aiming to conclude a peace treaty with Russia on the basis of a radical improvement of Japanese-Russian ties in all spheres. The reasons for his failure in t hese directions are discussed in this article The article evaluates Abe’s efforts aimed at developing governmental documents and making the Diet adopt laws determining the basic directions of the foreign and military policy of the state. The author characterizes the results of the activity of S. Abe in the sphere of foreign policy and assesses its influence on the formation of the course of the Japanese government after his resignation

As has been noted in grammaticalization literature, partitives, i. e. nominals encoding parts, portions, and sets, tend to evolve into vague quantifiers, and then into degree adverbs. However, while this grammaticalization path has already received a fair amount of scholarly attention in English, the extension of such items beyond the nominal domain in Swedish remains an empirically unexplored territory. Thus, based on random samples of attestations extracted from selected Språkbanken corpora, this paper offers a synchronic glimpse into the syntactic expansion of nine Swedish nominal quantifiers, namely droppe ‘drop’, nypa ‘pinch’, smula ‘crumb’, hop ‘heap’, hopar ‘heaps’, hög ‘pile’, högar ‘piles’, massa ‘mass’, and massor ‘masses’. The Swedish results largely coincide with those obtained for English, and demonstrate that in the verbal domain, most of the scrutinized elements reveal a preference for pronominal uses, in which they function as an argument of the verb rather than a genuine degree adverb, but which nonetheless give rise to secondary scalar inferences, whereas in the adjectival domain, a majority of the items exhibit a propensity to combine with the comparative forms of adjectives/adverbs. Both of these environments may therefore be assumed to constitute bridging contexts in the emergence of full-blown degree modifier uses of grammaticalized partitives. It is further shown that there exists a strong positive correlation between the items’ respective degrees of grammaticalization in the quantifier function and their extents of adverbialization, which testifies to the importance of frequency of use in the scrutinized instance of grammaticalization

This article explores the folklore components of Finnish rock poetry in Finnish and Swedish. It highlights how Finnish rock culture has revived an ancient tradition where poetry and music were intertwined. While musicians of Amorphis reference “Kalevala” mythology in the songs like “Tuonela”, “Sampo” and “Kantele”, they do not explicitly mention the names of “Kalevala” heroes in their adaptations of runes. The themes of their lyrics seem to take on a universal quality and are set in modern times. The influence of folklore traditions on Finnish authors is evident even in their English-language works. Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow interprets the runes, trying to understand the intention of their creators, believing that these lyrics resonate with people worldwide. Similarly, Jan Jämsen (Katla), a Swedish-speaking Finn, infuses his native Swedish lyrics for Finntroll with imagery of fantastical creatures and incorporates Sámi folk chants joik to emphasize their uniqueness. Modern Finnish rock poetry stands out for its multilingualism and references to mythological themes from Finnish and Scandinavian folk poetry. However, the resurgence of metrics and imagery from the “Kalevala” and “Kanteletar” in rock poetry was unexpected. Authors use figurative symbolism that may require a deep understanding of Finnish culture to fully appreciate, even in Englishlanguage works. Finnish rock poetry is a diverse and vibrant art form that resonates with universal themes and emotions