Vol 2, No 1 (2021)

Much of the literature concerning Sumarokov’s journal «The Industrious Bee» often highlights its satirical orientation. Often the genre of epigram is noted as corresponding to this satirical pathos and to the topicality of the journal’s publications. In contrast, this article suggests a new perspective, focusing on Sumarokov’s epigrams that were published in the May issue. Historical-typological, cultural-historical, biographical, and comparative-historical methods are used to reconstruct their historical and cultural context. The authors find that Sumarokov formally follows the main generic features of the epigram. The text of each epigrams is intended for the general reading public. The subject of each epigrams is an original interpretation of a common place. At the level of poetics, the emergence of a new genre section of several texts is a special way of their cyclization. This method is based on the intuitively found by the publisher balance of socially significant and intimate contexts.

This article deals with the development of new cultural practices based on the example of the wine trade in Sergievski posad in the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. It demonstrates the development of new cultural forms of leisure in the service sector and changes in lifestyle. The legally fixed distribution of alcoholic beverages for different types of establishments meant that for each type of establishment particular cultural practices were simultaneously designated The traditional Russian practice of selling “bread wine” without any snacks took place only in pubs and drinking houses intended exclusively for the common people (peasants in bast shoes). The specifics of this trade imposed the most minimal requirements on the establishments and on their level of service. In establishments of the new European type (inns, “herbergs”) everything was different: the category of visitors, interior design, the range of drinks (alcoholic, low- and non-alcoholic), the availability of snacks, service, and entertainment (billiards). They were, in modern terms, cultural and leisure centers. In everyday life, the desire to increase sales blurred rigid class divisions eased restrictions for those of the common people with the means and desire to visit places not intended for their use. Hence there was a natural assimilation of new cultural practices by broad segments of the population.

The problem this article addresses is the question of the status of a work of art in modern society. The authors consider the role of art in society and the ethical problems associated with the broadcast of a work of art through the media. Particular emphasis is paid to the massification of art, during which the border between elite and mass culture becomes much less obvious. The authors focus on the role of the media and media-education in order to describe how contemporary art functions in a society of risk, in which negative interpretations may become especially damaging. The main methodology employed is functional analysis. Dialectics, the principle of historicism and comparative analysis are also applied.

In this article, the author identifies the main trends in the use of digital technologies in the world’s leading museums and galleries. She suggests that digital technologies used in the space of a modern museum contribute to the actualization of a “second reality,” “another culture” that meets the preferences of a mass audience. The “virtual” museum differs from the traditional one by the dominance of the visual component; the variety of means of communicating with the audience; its interactivity; and the creation of augmented and virtual reality. The use of digitization contributes to the dissemination of works of art.

This paper considers ways of fostering cultural competency in secondary vocational education. Among effective methods, the author discusses use of modern visual aids, such as: interactive posters, videos, slide shows, and the interactive library. The author proposes that the following categories of cultural competence be used to measure the effectiveness of these visual aids: informational, communicative, self-developing, and activity-based. The article also describes in detail a psychological and pedagogical experiment that bears out the hypothesis of the study about the positive impact of the use of modern visual aids on students’ cultural competency.