The article analyses the role of China in the Vietnam War (1959-1975) or, as it is called in Vietnam, the ‘Resistance War Against America’. There is an overall view in Russia that the role of the Soviet Union in the victory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam over the United States was greater than that of China since the Soviet Union provided more military aid to North Vietnam than the People’s Republic of China did. The article argues that this viewpoint is not entirely correct since China’s role in the Vietnam War was primarily not military but geopolitical. Unlike the Soviet Union, to which Vietnam was not that signifi cant in terms of state and national interests, assistance to Vietnam thus being rather a consequence of not geopolitical but ideological factors, the PRC considered the territory of North Vietnam as a strategic buffer zone to prevent the enemy states from approaching China’s frontiers. This approach of the Chinese side to the Vietnamese problem was explained by the historical use of the territories of Indochina and Korea by European and Japanese colonizers as outposts on the way to China as in the case with the aggravation of the disastrous situation in China in the fi rst half of the 20th century, when the country almost became a colony. In an effort to prevent such a scenario, China fi rmly resisted the U.S.’s attempts to destroy the Communist regime in North Korea by joining the Korean War (1950-1953). For the same reason, China offi cially voiced its readiness to enter the Vietnam War in case of an expansion of the U.S. Army’s military operations to North Vietnam. Thus, China’s determination to enter the war in case of American aggression in North Vietnam kept the U.S. from this step. Since the air operations against North Vietnam were not suffi cient to defeat the latter, with military presence allowed in South Vietnam only, the United States placed themselves in a ‘military stalemate’, due to the fact under the mentioned conditions North Vietnam could choose time and place of battles. Thus, by its fi rm position regarding the expansion of military operations to North Vietnam, the PRC eventually set the territorial limits of the Vietnam War, confi ning it to the territory of South Vietnam, creating security guarantees for North Vietnam and giving the latter an opportunity to conduct offensive operations in the south which ultimately led to a victorious outcome. In this context, China’s role in the victory of Vietnam over the United States is no less important than the role of the Soviet Union.

This article attempts to provide a comparative analysis of the development of Buddhism in Mongolia and Russia over the last 20 years. The paper argues that the processes of restoration of the Buddhist sangha (Pali/Sanskrit ‘assembly, association’, i.e. monastic/religious community) in these countries can hardly be referred to as ‘revival’. It is not only about restoration of monasteries and temples and return to the situation of the early 20th century. The dramatic events of the past century, processes of modernization and secularization have had essential impacts on the societies so that the very conditions for the functioning of the sangha have changed radically. During the socialist era, Buddhism was reinterpreted in the ethnic, national and cultural contexts; many functions (education, medicine, etc.) once performed by the sangha passed to secular institutions. Currently, local Buddhist communities are in search for new ways of adapting to the changed conditions. The main contradiction lies in the fact that, on the one hand, Russia and Mongolia’s sanghas depend on the material, ideological and educational support of the Tibetan sangha; but at the same time, they strive for more independence. They try to strengthen their ethnic and national sentiments and to distance themselves from the Tibetan infl uence. The 14th Dalai Lama still remains the main authority who recognizes new reincarnations and most believers consider him to be their teacher. However, not all of the present-day Mongolian and Russian Buddhist leaders are happy with it. In Mongolia there is a community of Dorje Shugden followers who disagree with the Dalai Lama’s ban on the worship of this deity. They insist that it is an exclusively Mongolian matter and the Tibetans should not interfere with it. In Russia, the Buryat Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev insists that there is a Buryat form of Buddhism evolved independently from the Tibet tradition. Local communities in Russia and Mongolia are formed around large monasteries, Dharma centers and some famous teachers. In Mongolia, the role of the reincarnations is stronger than there in Russia. And after the enthronization of the next Jetsundamba Khutuktu positions of Buddhism in Mongolia will become much stronger. In Russia, the search for independence and the national form of Buddhism is more characteristic to Buryatia, while the Kalmyk sangha follows the Dalai Lama. One of the key differences between the two countries is that in Russia lay Buddhist organizations play a much larger role. The Karma Kagyu Diamond Way, Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition, and Dzogchen community are the widest spread and active among them. The Gelug school dominates in Mongolia and in the traditionally Buddhists regions of Russia; however, in some Russia’s territories other schools of Buddhism are represented as well.

With evidence from Russian and Mongolian languages archival documents, the article studies the life of one of Tuva’s famous historical fi gures, Haidyp (1859-1909), the ruler of Khemchik Khoshuun (Tuv. ‘district’, ‘district’) of Tuva, a religious and political fi gure. Haidyp was born in 1859 in the Khemchik valley to the noble and wealthy family of Ak-Mongush. The nomadic territories of the villagers of Ak-Mongush or Ulug-Mongush ‘stretched from Chaa-Khol to the river Ayangaty, from the river Khemchik to Khandagayty’. On 1 August 1895, the Uliyasutai Jian-Jun (Chin. ‘military governor’) appointed Meeren (Tuv. ‘court offi cial’) Haidyp as the Governor of Khemchik Khoshun. A khoshun ruler possessed all power within his khoshun, including judicial, military, fi nancial, administrative power. A khoshun ruler wore a blue ball and a one-eyed peacock feather on his hat. In the early 20th century, Haidyp petitioned the Uliyasutai Governor to allow for independent administration due to the fact that the population of Khemchik Khoshun had reached almost 10 000 people or 2 013 yurts, and in view of the remoteness of the Tuvan Ambyn-Noyon’s Offi ce. On 19 November 1901, the petition was approved by the Ministry of Ranks. In Uliyasutai Haidyp received the symbol of princely dignity - a coral ball worn by a fi rst-class offi cial - and a seal. In 1901, the Dzaisans (Tuv. ‘prince’) of 17 Tuvan otoks (Tuv. ‘municipality’) who had been subordinates of Sandagdorzhi, the Governor of Sain-Noyon Aimag of Mongolia, fi led a petition to join and ‘become governed by the Bugdiyin-Darga of Khemchik Khoshun’. Only in 1908 - due to the insistence of the 17 Tuvan Dzaisans - their otoks were brought under the administration of Khemchik Khoshun of Tuva. In 1906, seeking for asbestos, an expedition headed by the Usinsk Border Chief V.A. Alexandrovich and mining engineer of Minusinsk District Volkonsky appeared in the Khemchik valley on Mount Edegey. Haidyp prevented their further activities in the territory of his khoshun. He also resisted asbestos mining developments in the Khemchik by the French, ‘despite the legality of the concession obtained by the French company in Beijing and Uliyasutai’. In April 1908, Haidyp held a meeting attended by offi cials of the two khoshuns as well as Russian and Chinese merchants for the discussion of ‘the status of the Russians in the Khemchik nomadic territories’. From then onward, Chinese traders were to receive trade licenses at the headquarters of the khoshun ruler, and no trade was allowed beyond the borders of the headquarters. In addition, it was decided to evict Russian citizens who had no Tuvan stay permits (certifi cates) but the deportation was postponeOn the Russian side, the Usinsk Border Chief, Governor-General of Irkutsk, diplomatic corps in Beijing and Uliyasutai, agents, as well as military offi cers were involved to settle the problem. Offi cials from Uliyasutai came to Tuva twice to investigate complaints of the Russian Consul. As a result of the inspection, it was decided to suspend the expulsion of the Russians and hold a joint meeting. On 2 April 1909, Haidyp suddenly fell ill and died in 10 days. He was buried in 9 days in a specially built ‘temple-tower’. In the fourteen years of his rule, Haidyp was able not only to make his khoshun administratively independent but also to expand it territorially. Economic attractiveness, abundant natural resources, Russian colonization - all that exacerbated the already diffi cult situation in the khoshun. Thus, for some time Haydyp became a key fi gure in that geopolitical environment.d until the beginning of the winter period.

The study of the life and activities of the bright representative of the fi rst advisers of the young Tuvan state (August 1921 - October 1944), Pavel Safronovich Medvedev, was carried out on the theoretical basis of historical, biographical and other methods of historical cognition. His activities in Tuva proceeded in the 1920s, in the fi rst period of the history of the Tuvan People’s Republic (TPR), and were directly related to the dual policy of the conservatives in the Tuvan Government fl uctuating between adherence to the old order and acceptance of assistance from the USSR, including that of experts. These fl uctuations caused tension between the Tuvan and Soviet parties in the process of their interaction and were refl ected in the activities and destinies of Soviet specialists, instructors and advisors in the TPR. All this can be clearly seen in the study of Pavel Medvedev’s personality and activities. Pavel Medvedev joined the political process early, in the diffi cult situation of 1919-1921 (intervention in Tuva by the Mongolian occupation squad): fi rst he became a member of the Mongolian Affairs Commission and then took the position of its chairman. In the early 1920s, he was elected as the Chairman of the Regional Revolutionary Committee; he headed the diplomatic department at the Uriankhai (Tuvan) Branch of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, presided at congresses of representatives of the Russian population of the region. He took an active part in the organization and holding of the All-Tuvan Founding Khural (Tuv. ‘assembly’, ‘legislative authority’) which proclaimed the establishment of the Tuvan People’s Republic in August 1921. P. Medvedev was the Senior Adviser to the Government and the Central Committee of the Tuvan People’s Revolutionary Party (TPRP), assisting in developing the newly founded state and strengthening Soviet-Tuvan relations. The 1920s were for the TPR by all means a decade rich in historical events, both external and internal ones. The period witnessed the formation of the state apparatus (the Government and the Khurals at all levels), formation of socio-political structures (parties, trade unions, women’s and youth movements, etc.), negotiation of obsolete stereotypes (renunciation of ranks and titles, the key acquisition being the principle ‘all are equal before the law’, etc.), suppression of the 1924 armed anti-state insurrection, organization of the state’s economic system (budget development, planning), search for new forms of accommodation of Soviet citizens permanently residing in Tuva, recognition of the TPR by its neighboring states (Mongolia and the USSR) in 1925-1926. P. Medvedev took an active part in all these events.

The article deals with Mordovia’s higher education system during the dramatic transformations of the Soviets. The demolition of sustainable development mechanisms for universities infl uenced the spirituality, intellectualism and morality of college youth. The ideological and structural changes resulted in transformations of educational and research processes. By all means this had its impact on the development level of the region in general since academic teaching staff and university students have always been and still are in the forefront of progress and modernization trends. Throughout decades, the higher pedagogical education system has passed through a number of important and quite controversial stages. However, the system proved to be sustainable enough which is, inter alia, due the fact the state is interested in its functioning. From the viewpoint of the authorities, the pedagogical community was to educate and, thus, produce highly qualifi ed teachers, social thought leaders anytime ready to implement any state project. And, in fact, teachers had once acted as local representatives of the authorities working with the younger generation and shaping the fundamental values. This responsible, time-consuming and diffi cult task required that educators should be highly cultured and literate, apply innovative approaches, and be constantly engaged in the community affairs; all that was repaid with social respect, appreciation, and decent fi nancial support as well as the high status of school teachers and university lecturers.

The article examines some issues connected with livestock breeding traditions and present-day ethnic entrepreneurship in Kalmykia. It analyzes ethnic entrepreneurial experiences of Kalmyk expatriates in European countries during the 1920-1930s in relation to the traditional handicrafts typical for Kalmyk nomads. The paper also discusses ethnic entrepreneurial activities of the migrants who have been engaged in camel breeding practices (already lost by the natives) in the territory of Kalmykia in the 21st century. The fact that the resettled individuals were representatives of the same ethnic group and interest displayed by the host society erased any would-be boundaries between the migrants and the surrounding population, since many Kalmyks visited the newly arrived ones inquiring about common paternal origins and background (Kalm. yasun - ‘bone’). Most important for the host community were the camel breeding practices and experiences they could obtain from the migrants, while the newly arrived Oirats of Mongolia were basically interested in decent wages, conversance with the akin culture of the Kalmyks, and Russian language learning opportunities for the children. The traditional occupations of the Kalmyks determined the priority trends in their ethnic entrepreneurship in the fi rst third of the 20th century; nowadays the republic requires specialists with corresponding nomadic experiences lost during the Soviet era. But currently the qualifi ed-manpower requirements and the vacant niche are not well enough to guarantee suffi cient conditions within the receiving community.

With evidence from materials of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia and State Archive of Stavropol Krai, the article studies the ‘bride purchasing’ rites among Turkmens and Kalmyks in the fi rst half of the 19th century. The paper considers the bridewealth (Turk. qalym) custom of Southern Russia’s nomads supposed to protect economic interests of a young family. The author presumes that bridewealth disappeared among the Kalmyks earlier and turned into a wedding contribution constituted by what was necessary for the wedding feast and that what could economically support the newly established family. At the same time, as distinct from the Kalmyks whose match-making procedures were lengthy enough, the Turkmens simply had no such rites at all. It is noteworthy that when it came to the size of bridewealth, the Turkmens faced signifi cant problems resulting from differing interpretations of the essence of bridewealth by adat and Islamic law. Despite the increasing role of the Muslim clergy in Turkmen society, they could not affect the once established views on qalym as ‘bride purchasing’ throughout the 19th century. It should be mentioned separately that - unlike Kalmyks - in rare instances Turkmens submitted not only money and livestock but also subjects (humans) as part of qalym. The religious policies of the Russian Government towards Kalmyks and Stavropol Turkmens resulted in an increased role of clergy in wedding rites which - in the context of the crisis of nomadic economies predetermined by the dramatic reduction of pastures in the fi rst half of the 19th century - gave rise to the widespread occurrence of ‘bride abduction’ practices.

The article considers the Kalmyk Buddhist tradition through the prism of images depicted in decorative and applied arts. The author emphasizes the interrelations between Kalmyk folk traditions of decorative and applied arts and the nomadic way of life, points out some features of such arts in the sphere of religion that emerged due to the autonomous development of Buddhism in the North Caspian Steppe after the Kalmyk Khanate was abolished in the late 18th century and links with the Buddhist world of Central Asia were disrupted. The work shows that the diverse historical events resulted not only in the Kalmyks’ conversion to sedentary life but, moreover, the very process was accompanied by virtually a complete a loss of material culture and related original traditions of decorative and applied arts, including manufacturing of Buddhist icons and sculptures. The Kalmyk tradition had once elaborated ‘own’ images of Buddhist deities - with due regard of religious syncretism and folk Buddhism. The image of Green Tara associated with the traditional cult of the Progenitor Mother has always been - and still is - a most revered one among the Kalmyks. In modern realia, the worship of the image of Green Tara obtains new features which are refl ected in new forms of national decorative and applied arts.

The article examines felt artworks from Russia’s museum collections representing the traditional material culture of Mongolian nomads, i.e. household and other items. Considering the cultural heritage of the Republic of Kalmykia, the author reveals the structure and contents of its museum collections. Those require further comprehensive studies that - in the context of museology - would combine methods of art criticism, history and ethnoculturology. It was relevant for the comparative research to examine the ethnic traditions of felt craft. Pieces of artistic handicraft of Mongolian peoples are represented in the museum collections as follows: Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera), Russian Museum of Ethnography, Zaya Pandita Museum of the Kalmyk Scientifi c Center of the RAS and Palmov Kalmyk National Museum. Due to historical circumstances, cultural heritage of nomads in the museum funds of the Republic of Kalmykia is still incomplete and is characterized by somewhat ‘fragmented nature’. This makes the task and experience of learning and scientifi c cataloguizing of items of traditional art inherent to Mongolian nomads in other museums of Russia extremely important. Comparative analysis of the artistic heritage will reveal the uniqueness of the local folk art - closely associated with livestock herding and breeding - in more detail.

The article analyzes accompanying horse burials of Scythian mounds. Studies of the locations and conditions of horse bones as well as the sizes and depths of corresponding graves made it possible to refute the widespread scholarly opinions that horses used to be buried alive, and to show - with evidence from statistical calculations - the horses had been killed and disemboweled before being buried. The author’s reasoning is confirmed by Herodotus’s evidence. The analysis of horse burials in relation to the owner’s grave and the fact his / her status directly determined the luxury of the horses’ bridles and furniture gave rise to the conclusion that horses served as costly and prestigious burial implements within the ceremony. This is also supported by the fact that the horse burials were never disturbed during post-funeral rituals. Despite high values, silver and gold decorative elements of horses never acted as hereditary symbols of status. The spatial analysis of mounds in the North Black Sea Region showed that horse burials had been placed in most non-prestigious parts of a burial facility - in the western part of the mound - while human burials had been located in the eastern part or to the north and south from the central (main) burial. The investigations of sizes and depths of horse burials revealed that horse burials of Scythians of the North Black Sea Region were commonly narrow and comprised various fittings, such as ledges, cross-walls or logs to fix the horses in the upright or prone positions. According to the statistical calculations, in most of the horse burials every horse occupied some 60-70 cm which means that the animals were placed into the graves not only dead but also disemboweled. Thus, in burial facilities of Scythians horses played the role of costly burial implements as important means of transport, being perceived as - unlike oxen and camels also used by nomads for transport purposes - special prestige signifiers. Luxurious bridles were to underline a high status not of the buried horses as such but that of the buried individual - their owner.

Though studied unevenly, the Mongolian languages have been long known both in Europe and Russia’s academic circles. The most investigated modern Mongolian languages are Khalkha Mongolian, Buryat and Kalmyk. The Inner Mongolian languages and dialects as well as languages of other Mongolic peoples of China (the Monguors, Dongxiangs, Bonan and Yugurs) had been less academically accessible. The research is topical enough in the context of an increasing interest towards studies of separate lexical layers specifying some features inherent to cultural and economic conditions of Mongolic peoples. Studies of everyday lexis may contribute to the tracing of human social development, interactions with neighboring and remote but once cognate and economically related - since ancient times - peoples. A considerable part of the vocabulary considered has been transferred to passive lexis. Investigation of such terms is of great signifi cance when it comes to compiling dictionaries, e. g., defi nition, etymological ones, etc. After considering names of packages and containers in Mongolic languages that are basically indigenous, we thus once again confi rm that the lexis is archaic by nature which is due to diverse changes in life conditions, reorganization of everyday life and traditions of Mongolic peoples. The analysis of language materials concludes that studies of household vocabulary can facilitate tracing the development of human communities, infl uence of neighboring and distant, once interrelated peoples, and economic activities since the earliest times. Studies of such terms are very important for compiling different dictionaries, e.g., defi nition, etymology ones, etc.

Syntactic variability is one means formal variability manifests itself in medical terminology through. Data for the research were collected from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medical Terms. The article analyzes the types of syntactic variability as follows: ‘word / word combination’ and ‘word combination / word’ substitutions; replacement of a prepositional word combination by a nonprepositional one; replacement of an abbreviation by an explicit term; change of the subordination type within a word combination that acts as a term; simplifi cation of the term’s formal structure; change of the morphological status of the dependent word. Group (type) one of syntactic variability comprises a number of models, namely: 1) a model where semantics of a word-combination term is equal to root morphemes of the word term; 2) a model where semantics of a word-combination term corresponds to root and affi xal morphemes of the word term. Materials of the work once again confi rm that the problem of variability cannot be ignored neither when it comes to compilation of standard dictionaries nor in the context of theoretical research. Questions about the degree of dependence of the special medical language upon cultural and historical development of the literary language and the role of individual lexicographers in the compilation of medical dictionaries and normalization of variability are still open and unanswered.

The article introduces an attempt to establish suitable principles of defi ning subject as one of the main parts of sentence for ergative languages of Dagestan. The problems of syntactic division of sentence and peculiarities of its members in Dagestani languages are still examined only in general. Even the question of the number of principal sentence members is still under discussion. Only semantic or pure formal features are traditionally used as the criteria for distinguishing between sentence members. Within Dagestani languages studies there are no special researches devoted to this question. To distinguish the predicative of sentence the authors suggest using three levels of the language: syntactical, semantic and pragmatic ones. However, the article gives priority to syntactical features as members of the sentence are syntactical category, and their specifi cs should be found in peculiarities of combination of words while forming a sentence. Formal criteria are also very important, but apart from morphology, syntax is interested not in forms of words separately but in their combination with each other. In some sentence constructions it is exactly the word order that is the only criteria of the subject as a principle member of sentence. Subject as syntactic element is characterized by defi nite relationships with other parts of sentence; therefore word order is suggested to be the fi rst identifi ed feature of subject which holds the fi rst left position in a sentence. In every language there are some means which express syntactical connections between words within a sentence, which help ‘recognize’ members of sentence. These are morphological (structural), semantic and syntactical means. In ergative languages these means play different roles for different structures of sentence. For absolute sentence constructions, morphological means of expressing connections between words in a sentence are rather important. Correlation is a morphological means of connection, as it is used through forms of words. For ergative sentence constructions, semantic means of expressing syntactical connections are also very important. In this case, the semantic factor is the key one in defi ning members of sentence. Subject in this case is defi ned by means of comparison of semantic contents of the sentence (only its meaning), as functional homonymy of ergative and absolutive cases prevents distinguishing between subject and object of sentence. As for ergativoid (bi-absolutive) constructions, their criterion is a pure syntactical means of expressing syntactical connections, i.e. the word order. For other types of constructions word order is not the main criteria for distinguishing members of sentence, however, any change of word order infl uences the meaning of the sentence. In ergative and absolutive constructions syntactical connections and functions of certain words during the change of word order, in contrast to ergativoid construction, do not change but the sentence as a whole obtains a rather new shade of meaning. Thus, the word order in Dagestani ergative languages plays a very important role for the structure and contents of sentence.

The article examines the status of the subject - a major sentence part in the Avar language. It shows that the subject as a constituent of a clause is opposed to other subject expressing means both in terms of the grammatical meaning and its role within the sentence structure. The syntactic essence of the main parts of a sentence can be determined only when viewed through the prism of syntactic correlation. The subject in the Avar language is a constituent part of the predicative basis, though it contains no predicativity. Its participation in the predicative basis lies in the fact that it coordinates with the verb-predicate by class and number. The class verb is related to the name in the nominative. The categorical substance of the ergative is not refl ected in the verb. So, it can be classifi ed only as a subordinate part of the sentence. Only a name in the nominative can act as the subject in the Avar language. This very defi nition of the subject is confi rmed by linguistic evidence. Thus, conjugation of a verb by class and number and agreement of the predicate it denotes with the subject and a direct object are signifi cant grammatical characteristics of the Avar language that can serve as the basis for the determination of essential and specifi c features of major parts of the sentence. So, the nominative in the Avar language is a form of the subject in a sentence with a transitive predicate. The class verb is related to the name in the nominative within the sentence structure. The ergative expresses no categorical substance of its own in the verb. In the Avar language, the agreement between the predicate and the subject by class and number are the only means to express their relations within non-transitive constructions.

The article considers Kalmyk cumulative fairy tales recorded by the collector of Kalmyk folklore, I.I. Popov. The investigator actually compiled a considerable collection of Kalmyk fairy tales comprising fi fty one plots. All types of fairy tales are represented in this fantastic collection: magic, powerful, household, about animals and cumulative ones. It should be noted that most of currently known Kalmyk cumulative fairy tales were recorded by I. I. Popov. Within the fairy tale collection, six samples of cumulation were revealed and subjected to synoptic comparison with oneplot multi-temporal known variants. As a result, it was revealed that fairy tale texts had retained stable integrity. Among them - both in the all-Mongolian and Kalmyk fairy tale traditions - the fairy tale ‘Bogshada’ (‘The Sparrow’) is distributed most widely. I. I. Popov’s variant of the fairy tale has never been published in Kalmyk before, and its text is in the appendix to the article. The original text is identical to other recorded variants of the same fairy tale. The fairy tales ‘Küünä Kishgin Tuul’ (‘The Tale about Human Happiness’) and ‘Chonyn Tuul’ (‘The Tale of the Wolf’) from I. I. Popov’s collection have been introduced into scientifi c discourse already. The fi rst one has been printed both in Kalmyk and in Russian; the second one is known only in translation, and the original Kalmyk text is for the fi rst time drawn in the appendix. The fairy tale ‘Aratyn Tuul’ (‘The Tale of the Fox’) is presented for the fi rst time. The fairy tale ‘Delüünä Tuul’ (‘The Tale of the Spleen’) is also newly introduced into scientifi c discourse. As for ‘Bogshadan Tuul’ (‘The Tale of the Sparrow’), it should be noted that an identical variant of the tale was discovered in the Scientifi c Archive of the Kalmyk Scientifi c Center of the RAS but the latter was recorded 75 years later and also from a Don-Kalmyk woman which testifi es that the plot is territorially unique; neither any other variants were revealed in published sources.

The theory of archetypes has well been developed in works of many foreign and Russian scholars: C.G. Jung, Yu.V. Domansky, E.M. Meletinsky, V.A. Markov, A.A. Kolesnikov, M.A. Khakuasheva and others. At the present stage, it is essential to study the key archetypes - with evidence from ethno-cultural materials - for the understanding of ‘logos’ and ‘voice’ of different peoples worldwide. The article considers the central archetypal image of Karachay-Balkar culture - ‘stone’ - in the composite context of all its mythopoetic meanings. Proceeding from the premise that the rocky mountainous ethnolandscape and the key archetype are closely interrelated, the author considers the status of stone in the material culture of North Caucasian highlanders in the fi rst part of the paper, namely: stone houses, fences, millstones, fortresses, ovens, grindstones, amulets, prayer rugs, press stones, astronomical calendars, measure of surface, divination objects, sports equipment, talismans, healing stones, grave-stones, etc. A special group of stones are those used in folk games. In common, ethnographers distinguish about 250 stone-denoting words in the Karachay-Balkar language. The second part of the research deals with the key archetypal meanings of stone in the Karachay-Balkar epic - The Narts - which is the main epic monument of the Balkar and Karachay people. Here, too, the concept of ‘stone’ occupies an important place defi ning all levels of the practical and spiritual life of the highlander. According to the epic, the fi rst man had been placed into the core of a blue meteorite stone and, thus, came down from the sky. In another signifi cant episode, the hero fi lls caldrons of infernal forces with stones instead of food, thereby expressing the emerging spiritual independence of the Narts. The motif of birth from stone can be found in folklore of some peoples worldwide; but the motif of fertilization of a stone is unique and is absent in other myths. The Nart hero Sosuruk had been born from stone and after death also turned into stone. The list of ‘stone’ motifs comprises the ones as follows: ‘stone divination’, ‘stone as a measure of honor and dignity of a person’, ‘stone as a way of learning the world’, ‘stone as a creation of a solid culture from unstable elements’. The motif of ‘patience’ plays an important role in the value system of North Caucasian highlanders. In many fairy tales and legends there are characters with stones attached to their feet, sometimes millstones, symbolizing both patience and the secret high-speed energy of a person. When reading the Nart sagas, all the listed ‘stone’ images and motifs - such as the cradle of the fi rst man, stone informative books, a chaos-conquering fi rmament (stone as a means to learn the world), the code of human attachment to the native land - should be perceived in a semantic unity. The main folklore ‘stone’ motifs are widely and creatively applied in literary works by Karachay and Balkar professional authors.

The ethno-fantasy novel Kirdazht by Mordovian writer M. Bryzhinsky manifests the author’s mythopoeia that facilitated a more complete depiction of the ancient Mordvins’ history and culture, their customs and traditions. Since the Mordvins were forest inhabitants, it is Viryava (a protector goddess and mistress of forest fl ora and fauna) who is the key mythological fi gure. The image is primarily shown through the prism of the main character’s mind - young Kechay - as a creature dangerous for humans and their livestock that can steal something, punish with a disease or even kill. At the same time, they worship and request Viryava’s help who can bestow recovery from illnesses. Such interpretation of the image - being an example of the author’s mythopoeia - refl ected beliefs about Viryava depicting her as a malicious being which was determined by the conversion of the Mordvins from paganism to Christianity. Other Mordvinian deities repeatedly mentioned in the novel are Chipaz (god of the sun) and Nishkepaz / Ineshkipaz (the Supreme God). And while the image of Nishkepaz is typical enough for mythological beliefs of the Mordvins, that of Chipaz differs a lot. The writer does not distinguish between their functional roles, namely: in one episode dealing with a request to the god the latter is referred to as Chipaz, while in another episode about the creation of the world he is called Ineshkipaz. And, supposedly in the search for originality, the author modifi es the usual name ‘Nishkepaz’ into ‘Ine Shki-tri paz’, thus supplementing it with the word ‘tri’ (Mord. ‘tryams’ - ‘to grow, bring up, maintain’). A signifi cant role in the novel is played by the image of the medicine-man, wizard, or more precisely - folk healer Kepe Prya (‘Bare Head’) elaborated by the author from different mythologies. Analysis of the clothes, interior of his home, healing devices and methods concludes that Kepe Prya actually resembles a shaman rather than a Mordvinian healer. This is a manifestation of the writer’s vivid fantasy that, on the one hand, showed the opportunities of mythopoeia, and, on the other hand, complicated the task of creating a character with a certain national mentality. In general, the use of images and motifs from Mordvinian mythology (Chipaz, Ineshkipaz, Viryava, Vedyava, Kudava, etc.) facilitated a brighter depiction of the ancient Mordvins’ history and culture, their beliefs, view and perception of the world, ethnic mindset.

The so-called awareness-raising prose is heterogeneous and diverse and it differs from other prose by its artistic specifi city and peculiar character. The genre range of educational prose is rather wide but, at the same time, it is strictly regulated: essays and sociopolitical journalism in all varieties, scientifi c works (folklore, linguistic, historical-ethnographic ones) and popular science writings, etc. However, the texts of the enlightenment authors that went beyond this range either stayed behind the scenes of literary criticism attention, or they were ‘compulsorily’ attributed to one of the types of sociopolitical journalism or scientifi c research. Therefore, we believe that there is an obvious need to take a fresh look at the creative work of the enlightenment writers. As a rule, it was defi ned only as scientifi c-historical, ethnographic or sociopolitical journalism, and, at the very best, as ethnographic work. We do not deny the borderline nature of most part of the enlightenment heritage, the study of which should be carried out comprehensively and at the intersection of different sciences. But the fact that there is the author’s backlash in the texts cannot be denied. It is impossible to miss how purely exploratory backlash is gradually reborn and transforms into an artistic and writer’s one. This ‘violation’ of the established canons and traditions of the research genre leads to development of elements of artistic narration and to development of literature in general.

Changes in the external environment, processes in the society and country, new economic conditions lead to changes in all spheres of activity, including the sphere of production that promotes the emergence of new requirements and approaches to business management. In the modern world of promptly developing information and communication technologies, managers of Russian commercial organizations cannot be guided only by experience in their administrative activities. In view of changes in the professional structure, an increase in the share of university lecturers and philosophers accompanied by a decrease in the share of experts there is a need to defi ne an entity and the signifi cance of creative potential of the Russian managers as a basic factor determining a development strategy of an enterprise. The paper analyzes social technologies as a set of methods, receptions, ways and interactions applied to achievement of goals in the fi eld of management, and provides a comparative analysis of attitudes to the phrase ‘social technologies’ during the Soviet and Post-Soviet periods. The technology of individual creative activity does not consists that much in search of some new original idea but rather in the ability to fi nd non-standard goal achievement methods, to carry out its implementation plan under certain conditions within logically built stages. Results of the concept interpretation (‘social technologies’) have the following distinctive features as of the above-named periods: in the Soviet period this term contacted the fi rst attempts of the contents detection and a binding of specifi cs to management as the only fi eld of reformative social practice. The Post-Soviet period is characterized by the general reduction of interest in the phenomenon of social technologies (in particular on behalf of the participants), fast decrease in amount of newly created technologies, emergence of new types of technologies in the fi eld of policy and management. Authors have received also interesting results of sociological poll: 65,5% of respondents would electthe manager applying new ways of the working process organization offering the new, non-standard ideas; 73,5% are convinced that the manager’s fi gure in key within an organization. Applying the system approach it is possible to investigate the social organization as a part of the general social system which organizational development depends either on elements of all social system, or on its internal processes and changes. The activity of leaders creating conditions for realization of personal and business qualities of managers with moral contents respectively improves activity of employees and also qualities of organization labor life in general.