Linguistic and cultural studies is a section of linguoculturology that considers the characteristics of the country of the language being studied in their linguistic expression, the vector of which is determined by the professional orientation of the researcher. Linguo-cultural studies (ethnolinguistics, linguistic anthropology) detached from cultural studies (philosophy) in the 60-s of the XX century. It took the form of an independent discipline after the publication of a special issue of the American journal “Ethnography of Speech” (1964) with articles by a number of well-known researchers, among whom were V. Labov, E.T. Hall, D.H. Hymes. The authors stated the urgent need to unite the efforts of several scholastic disciplines (linguistics, history, anthropology, ethnography, sociology) in the context of the discovery of the enormous potential of the human language. It should be noted that the concept of sociocultural determinism of the phenomena of the human language did not originate from a scratch. It was prepared by the works of European scholars of the past ‒ K.W. Humboldt in Germany, A. Meillet and E. Benvebiste in France, A.A. Potebnia in Russia. Later, the famous Russian scholars A.F. Losev, M.M. Bakhtin, Y.M. Lotman, D.S. Likhachev, R.A. Budagov studied several areas of connection between languages and cultures. “France Today”, the program for III-IV year MGIMO students, prepared by the Department of the French Language at MGIMO-University is an example of the professional orientation of linguistic and cultural studies. It is designed for students of various specialties ‒ international affairs, lawyers, economists, journalists. The program includes 30 topics, from which the lecturer selects those that have the desired focus. Russian-French and French-Russian ties, political parties of France, the state structure of the country will be relevant for the faculty of “International Relations”. Labor law, science, education, transport, and health care are suitable for students of economic specialties. As far as the students of the International Journalism faculty are concerned, it would be better for them to concentrate on French media, the traditions and customs of the country, the demographic characteristics of society (population, family, youth).

In the conditions of the media turning into the fourth power, the problem of the effectiveness of the system of verbal descriptions and images, their correspondence to the realities of public life acquires a particular philosophical signifcance. Analysis of Tyutchev’s linguistic skepticism he showed in the famous formula “We are not given to predict ...”, requires scientifc attention from the philosophy of language, literature and cultural studies. Moreover, this skepticism today has gained a lot of weight among theorists and practitioners, whose interests are connected with the topic of international relations and philosophical comparative studies. The relevance of the approach, whose appearance in the history of national thought can be associated with the names of the poet and diplomat F.I. Tyutchev and writer and member of the diplomatic mission I.A. Goncharova, thus no doubt. An appeal to a meaningful consideration of their ideas in the context of biographical, as well as historical and comparative methods allows us to trace the main vectors that formed linguistic skepticism within the framework of the philosophy of culture - one of the most valuable theoretical frameworks that allow realizing the urgent tasks of diplomacy as a specifc professional activity in the feld of international interaction. The inexhaustibility of the world of words and the world of theoretical and practically signifcant concepts behind it, with their infnity of shades of meaning and possibilities of its interpretation, constantly requires an answer to the same question: to what extent is the specifc content presented in these meanings and narratives? After all, such content is the basic prerequisite of political and diplomatic goal setting and at the same time the relief of the initial conditions that contribute to or impede the realization of the set goals that correspond to state geopolitical and other interests. Since politics in general and diplomacy in particular combine not only the systems of scientifc knowledge, but also art in its specifc manifestations, analysis of the experience of subjects of political and diplomatic activity and elements of the “possible”, turning to the study of the reflection of combinations of these elements in specifc life settings of Tyutchev and Goncharov represents not only historical, but also quite practical and even pragmatic interest. Thus, the novelty of the presented article consists in revealing and describing the phenomenon of linguistic skepticism as an important philosophical principle, revealed in the work of outstanding nineteenth-century Russian thinkers who were in the public service.

The article explains how the concepts of “entertainment” and “artistry” are interpreted in linguistics, Russian philosophy and cultural linguistics. Such an interdisciplinary study of these concepts allows us to take a fresh look at the process of generating an artistic text. Firstly, the author analyzes the etymology of the words “entertainment” and “artistry” in Russian, gives the compatibility of these lexemes. Further – the stylistic marking of the words “spectacle”, “spectacularity”, which is due to the fact that the Russian language reflects people’s mentality. The basis of genuine Russian art has always been the desire to understand the important issues of being, not the desire for primitive entertainment. Undoubtedly, artistry is a phenomenon of a higher order than entertainment. Famous philosopher I.A. Ilyin wrote about the three components of a genuine work of art: the “outer layer of art” is the “aesthetic shell”, the second layer is the “aesthetic image”, and the third is the “main idea of the work”. These “three layers” of art are inextricably linked. The author pays special attention to the fact that I.A. Ilyin called the coming, - responsibility for the work created by him, not only to himself, to the reader or the viewer, but also to God. The article analyzes how representatives of Russian literature from different historical eras worked on their artistic texts. For example, the works of the symbolist poet V. Bryusov and the avant-garde poet V. Kamensky are quoted. Both experimented with the form of poems, wishing to achieve spectacular text to the detriment of the content. The classics of the Russian literature worked carefully on the word, it was always important for them to convey the idea of the work, and the form was secondary. Every word, every punctuation mark was important for classic poets. When comparing the original poem “The Prophet” by Lermontov with its subsequent publications it was revealed that the author’s punctuation marks, which affect the perception of the main idea of an artistic poetic text, are violated in modern editions. How? You can learn about this by reading the full article.

The article is devoted to analyzing the concept of HOME as cross-perceived by Russians and Englishmen. A linguistic analysis, phenomenological synthesis and complex description add to the integrity of the phenomenon in question. The author maintains that issues treated by linguists, culture specialists and narrow experts should be regarded jointly. Ordinary consciousness of both Russians and Englishmen abounds in mythologems and stereotypes. So, English people tend to consider that Russian towns team with wild bears, rambling haphazardly; or the locals have money to burn. Conversely, the Russian folk are of the opinion that England is somewhat a fairy domain under the control of charming princes. The conducted research contributes to a greater awareness of the current reality and the importance of the autochthonous and non-autochthonous phenomenon representations. The object of the study is the Russian and English living space of an average citizen or a rural man, most often it is a house, cottage or apartment. The subject is the way of perceiving “home” by the residents of Russia and England. The contrasting analysis of proverbs induces the premise that Russian mental image is bigger and incorporates additional connotations “domesticity” and “regular housekeeping”. While comparing the physical parameters of the Russian and English homes, sets of features for indigenous and non-aboriginal images have been established, as well as popular materials, dimensions, and design. The data are presented in tables. The article reveals that Russian and English people share warm attitude towards their homes, delicate handling of national traditions, and creating snug and cosy family nests. The unveiled common and specifc features show that Russians and Englishmen see eye to eye on the daily grind, which can promote better understanding between the cultures and contribute to eliminating disagreement on the world arena.

In conceptosphere “the national image of Russia» the concept “Rodina” occupies a key place in the Russian language picture of the world and represents the unity of linguistic and cultural content. This article is devoted to the analysis of language, spheres that represent the concept of a motherland in Russian linguistic picture of the world. With a view to lingvoсulturological conceptual description area birthplace can be represented as a structure that defnes the base for Russian culture constant native earth («rodnaya Zemlya»), dating back to ancient mythological archetypes such as mother earth, motherland, Terra Mater. This image was fxed in proverbs and sayings, and today has a sacral meaning associated with a woman as the ascetic nature and nation. This topic is also relevant in the minds of modern Russian language media, as evidenced by the data of the Russian Association of the dictionary. Meaningful concept structure is updated in the nuclear sense: “native land as geographic Wednesday habitats”, “Patria”, “little homeland”, “perceptions and attitudes towards their motherland”, shaped, metaphorical redefning of this concept. When considering the linguistic representatives of the concept “Rodina” diachronically, the evolution of its content is traced. The process of evolution is the accumulation of conceptual signs as a result of the movement of this concept from nature-ethnic-religious through ethical and civic notions of homeland to the idea of national identity through the history, religion, language and literature. In the article it is illustrated by proverbs and sayings and by the examples from fction. Content and use of tokens belonging to the “patriotic triad” – motherland, fatherland, native country – is considered in diachronic. In the modern Russian discourse the interpretation of the concept of “motherland” appeared to be wide and varied, creating polyphonism of evaluations and interpretations of its content in the minds of Russian language media, supported by verses of classics and modern Poets.

These chapters are taken from monographies of N. Uspenskaya “East – West – Russia: the protheses of culture interaction”. In these chapters the author touches the themes of holiness and piety, faith and national conciseness, spirituality and intercourse with God in pray, relations between eastern traditionalists and the supporters of the west way of development. These categories are shown through the heroes of the works of contemporary Arabic writers such as “The saint’s lamp” by Yahya Haqqy, “The apogees of love” by Ihsan Abdel Kuddus, “Three orange trees” by Yahya Tahir Abdalla, “Days” by Taha Husein compared to such works as “White Guards” by Mihail Bulgacov, “The nights of Cabiria” the flm of Federico Felliny, “ The book of meditation and quiet contemplations” by Ivan Ilin and some works by Chekhov. The task of the author is to show by these examples the place of Arabic writers in World literature, their relation to famous works and their authors, to show the common features and common points of view. The author of the monographies touches the problem of intercourse between religion and science, which was shown by Yahya Haqqy in his “Saint’s lamp”, as well as the attitude of western and eastern intellectuals to it. In these chapters the author compares the values of such religions as Islam and Christianity and shows its realization in the heroes of works of considered authors. Here also shown the history of development of the problem of East and West and its reflection in mentioned above works.

The article makes an attempt to summarize and develop the existing ways of classifying pragmatic adaptation (transcreation), while translating from one language into another. Such methods ensure that the receivers of information both in the source language and the language of translation can get similar messages both from the original and the translated text without having to overcome «transcultural barriers» that slow down and complicate comprehension. The analysis provides proof that there are correlations between such lines of research as sociolinguistics and pragmatic adaptation of translation (transcreation) because both of them have the same object of research. The researcher examines the currently used parameters of analyzing pragmatic adaptation and goes on to suggest looking at another possible level of adaptation, which takes into account the national variety of the language (if the language in question has several national varieties). To illustrate the need for this kind of approach the author provides examples from three versions of Anton Chekhov’s play «Three Sisters» prepared by British and American publishers as well as «Progress Publishers» (Moscow). The article also contains examples of why and how texts are adapted: 1) because the systems of languages are incompatible in many ways and at various levels and 2) because the realities of life (in a very broad sense of the word) are very different, which defes easy adaptation.In conclusion the author suggests that further research into this feld is needed to develop more approaches to studying pragmatic adaptation.

The article is devoted to the forms of address in the Italian language. They form an integral and important part of human speech behavior and frequently determine attitude toward the speaker in interlingual and intercultural communication. Several forms of politeness coincide both in Italian and Russian (form “tu”-you and “Lei”-You-respectful), but at the same time there are unique forms in Italian not exampled in the Russian language, complicating its learning and further practice. Yet another confusing communicative issue is a title added to a person’s name or surname. Thus a title “doctor” is used for any person holding a university degree; “professor” is relevant to those earning Ph.D., the same as “engineer, lawyer, and architect” for suitable occupations. Neglecting politeness formulas and addressing by incorrect titles may send cultural shockwaves when interacting with the Italians. These forms can be undoubtedly found in the educational literature but all their peculiar properties are left at the discretion of the professor. This work is to fll the gap and help the learners to look into the peculiarities of using the forms of address. The article is addressed to those who study this language and contact the Italians.

From ancient times people have been seeking for the beautiful and it found reflection in art, sculpture and literature. As the man’s life can’t be separated from nature and the desire to be surrounded by it is inherent it’s vital to visualize dear images, connected with science and technical development, new trade routes in response to the changes in the political situation in Europe, discoveries of new continents, importation and selection of new, their adaptation to the British climate Cultivation and growing plants and subsequently horticulture became an essential condition of survival on the one hand and aesthetic necessity on the other. This article traces the concept of “English garden” that has been changing for ages as well as different styles which characterize the stages of its development and correspond to six eras of its existence. It’s worth mentioning that the 18thcentury introduced a number of styles such as Forest, Augustan, Serpentine, Picturesque and Landscape. Visiting Great Britain one can enjoy walks in the gardens of different styles and epochs, see the traditions cared with solicitude, plunge into this or that epoch. Let us mark home researchers of this topic D.O. Shvidkovskiy and his work “ British gardens and their reflection in Europe”, describing British culture influence on Europe. A.P. Vergunov and V.A. Gorohov analise in detail the origin of the English garden and its appearance in Russia.

The relevance of the research is determined by the growing interest to modern manifestations of Celtic culture, the desire of almost half of the population of Scotland to gain independence and the increasing attractiveness of Scotland as a tourist destination. As a result, the traditional symbols are viewed not only as trade and ethno-territorial brands, but also as social and ethnoculturally relevant imperatives. To achieve the objectives of defning the factors that influenced the transition of the kilt into an informal symbol of “Scottishness” it was imperative to consider the concept of Scottish identity and the role of the kilt in constructing its various forms: cultural, ethnic and national. The analysis of the existing approaches to studying identity and defnitions of the concept suggested by psychologists, philosophers, sociologists and experts in cultural studies allows to conclude that the kilt as one of the informal symbols of Scotland can be considered as a symbol of both cultural and national identity: the latter is explained by the fact that Scotland has such forms of statehood as autonomy, a coat of arms, a flag, an anthem, its own parliament and languages – Scots (Anglo-Scottish) and Gaelic. The tradition of wearing the kilt by the representatives of the royal family, popularizing “Scottishness” by means of the tourist and entertainment industries makes it possible to speak about a new phenomenon – the perception of the kilt as the symbol of both Scottish and British culture.

The article is devoted to the problem of education in Palestine nowadays. It shows the role of the Palestine universities and Birzeituniversity in particular, in which the author spent some time with her students. The article gives some personal impression of the author of Birzeituniversity, the protheses of education in Palestine itself. The article depicts the details of the teaching, describes the faculties and the programs of the university. The author mentions the most important institutes of Palestine and its role in the most difcult time for Palestine, when some people and even scientists try to prove, that Palestinian people doesn’t exist as a nation. The aim of the author is to show the role of university education for the people, which lives in the terms of occupation. The main methods of the author are the observation, description and generalization. She also touched the frst Palestinian town, which was built during the period of occupation – Rawaby, the town of high technologies, so cold “Palestinian silicon wally”. In result the author expressed her point of view about future role of Palestinian education not only in Palestine, but in the region of Middle East as a whole.

Understanding the other is a prerequisite for full-fledged communication and successful interaction with him, establishing trusting relationships in the process of negotiations or joint activities. Successful intercultural communication presupposes the willingness of participants to perceive, understand and accept stereotypes of behavior, customs, traditions, interests and cultural values of another ethno-cultural community. To achieve this, it is not enough to know the language of your dialogue partner; you need a deep understanding of the semantic content of various signs and symbols that arise in the process of knowing the other side, the cultural code as the key to understanding this culture. Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia, on the one hand, historically related with the Soviet Union and therefore is known to us. On the other hand, in reality, the knowledge of the majority about this country is limited and superfcial. And despite the constant friendly relations between our countries, the practical content of our cooperation quite often does not meet expectations. The author of the article considers that in order to make the communication with Vietnamese partners more effective, it is necessary to pay more attention to such aspects that at a frst glance seem far from politics and economics – traditions, customs, that cultural basis of Vietnamese society, which largely determines the model of behavior and reactions of its representatives. The basis of the worldview of the Vietnamese is the cult of ancestors. Even nowadays, it largely determines people’s moral and cultural values; it is the main “cipher” of the Vietnamese nation. But the cultural code permeates almost all areas of society. One of the most striking examples is cinema as the most popular art, as a sociocultural phenomenon, consistently reflecting the state of society. Historical and cultural allusions are also often traced in theatrical art. And if we talk about the cultural code, then, of course, frst of all it is a traditional theater, in particular, the Vietnamese theater “cheo”.

The article focuses on an understudied phenomenon, Danish idioms and sayings that originate from seafaring and have long since have been adopted into everyday use and have found their way into the language of mass media. Their abundance and existence in contemporary Danish reflect the historical and cultural heritage of Norsemen, a group of people that inhabited Scandinavia, mainly spoke the Old Norse language and were known all over Europe as traders, settlors and warriors and commonly referred to as Vikings. Many of the listed fxed expressions that relate to and have once derived their meaning from specifc nautical terms are most widely used in spoken and written Danish and therefore require adequate understanding and translation. To achieve these goals it has been found necessary to examine the appropriate language material, conducting an overall analysis of the fxed expressions of nautical origin used in a wider context in contemporary Danish means of mass media. Basic expressions retrieved in the study have been provided with and supported by extensive citations. In order to facilitate the analysis, the said fxed expressions have been divided into several groups according to their core subject. These are: 1) seafaring and operation of a sea vessel along with the use of specifc equipment (keel, sail, steer wheel, flag) as main units of meaning; 2) water and ocean as a basic element and natural environment that has to be tamed, ridden and mastered as well as actions that help in achieving those ends; 3) navigation and space orientation; 4) dangers at sea; 5) highly technical expressions with obscure meaning to a wide readership not well-versed in professional nautical terms. The last category, however, poses an ample number of problems as it requires exact understanding coupled with a necessity to provide suitable synonyms in Russian. Providing these expressions with Russian equivalents whenever possible or suggesting more metaphorical translations when the corresponding Russian terms are lacking or cannot be understood by general public is thus a major task. The fndings of the article may be of interest to professional interpreters and translators and to those who teach and study Danish and other Scandinavian languages.

The article looks at semantic and pragmatic changes on gesture “bow” in the Russian language and culture throughout 11th – 21st centuries. The paper analyses four types of bows (a prostration, bow from the waist, polite bow and a nod) and three contexts of their usage – religious, ritual and secular. The study demonstrates that throughout the given period the semantics and pragmatics of the gesture have gradually been narrowing. It is in the religious context where we still fnd two original forms of stooping used. Starting from the reign of Peter the Great new types of ceremonial bows were borrowed from Europe, but practically disappeared in the 1920-s after social classes system was banned by new Socialist government. At present we can observe the use of bows in Russian diplomatic protocol and in the theatre or other performances. The sphere of secular bows initially had only two forms, embracing new ones in the second half of the 17th century. Nowadays almost all of them have passed out of use. The fndings clearly indicate that by the 21st century Russian gesture “bow” have lost most of its meanings, and their usage has signifcantly decreased.

The article is devoted to the reflection of the Patriotic theme and concept of ‘Motherland’ in the works of the singer of the Palestinian people, the world-famous Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish. The sense of patriotism, which is perhaps common to all peoples, is most acutely felt among people born in the Palestinian lands. National humiliation, injustice, ignoring the interests of the whole people, despair, comprehensive anger and the struggle for freedom, honor and dignity of the Motherland – these are the main themes of the works of dervish. In the poetic work of Darwish are reflected all the features of the concept of ‘ homeland’, which are characteristic of the Arab mentality: territorial, a sign of social belonging, ideological and political and related moral values that continue to play an important role in the life of modern Arabs. The author shows that in the works of Mahmoud Darwish the concept of ‘homeland’ is connected not so much with the native land, but more with the struggle of the Palestinians for freedom and independence of their country. In his poetic creativity the impossibility to live on the earth according to precepts of ancestors is perceived as the national humiliation demanding restoration of justice. But the homeland in the poetry of Darwish is also a wonderful past, the image of the black-eyed girl, kind heart of the landscapes of his native Palestine. Therefore, the red thread in the poetry of the Darwish is the idea of protecting his native land, permeated with thoughts of struggle and willingness to give his life for it. Despite all the horrors of the situation in modern Palestine, the poet did not become embittered, although he is angry, does not curse anyone, although he warns of retaliation. At the end of his life, the dervish returns in his thoughts to the peaceful pictures of his childhood, which have always served as a guiding star in the spiritual and political struggle for the future of Palestine. His life and work is a model for the younger generation of Palestinians, his love for Palestine fosters a sense of patriotism in Palestinian youth and a desire to fght for the honour and just future of their country.

The article is devoted to the analysis of peculiarities of recreating the stylistic features of R. M. Rilke’s poetry into English, i.e. to English rendering of the shortened line as an innovative element of the sonnet form of the lyrical cycle “Sonnets to Orpheus”. Rilke’s works have been translated into all languages of the world. Outside of the German-speaking world, his poetry and prose is best known in the USA and Great Britain. This article presents a comparative analysis of the English translations of the 19th sonnet of the frst part of the cycle, performed by more than twenty English translators. The cycle “Sonnets to Orpheus” has been translated into English more than twenty times. The images and themes of the sonnets, as well as their unique, author-modifed style, turned out to be interesting for several English generations of Rilke’s translators. These translators entered the so-called “the correspondence competition”: to test their talent and convey the beauty of the Rilke’s sonnets by means of English. The analysis of the original and its English translations showed that the shortened line as a peculiar feature of the 19th sonnet’s style is a certain difculty to recreate in English, and Rilke’s translators only partly conveyed the rhythmic structure of the original. The most adequately recreating stylistic features of the 19th sonnet translations were performed by American authors: J. Lemont and L. Norris. In their translations, the shortened line as a distinctive feature of the style of the 19th sonnet is most closely to Rilke’s original.

The present article discusses the formation and development of the motif of human cunning in medieval literature. The motive of cunning is not chosen by chance. For the frst time, it appeared in Italian narrative in the Renaissance. But the beginning of the motive of cunning goes to the oral folk story. In the urban environment, stories about resourceful townspeople laughing at a stupid knight or a voluptuous monk were very fond. Such stories vividly and expressively depicted typical events of city daily life and aroused keen interest among the townspeople. And the life of Italian cities was stormy and diverse, abundant in various events. At the end of the Middle Ages, new social groups were formed, involved in a political struggle and challenging the power of the aristocrats. At the interpersonal level, the gradual erosion of the conceptual boundaries of nobility began. A new system of ideas about the purpose and role of a man was formed. But the nobility of origin was to be opposed by any quality of a common man, which would distinguish and characterize him. That was the quality comparable to titles and ranks. Cunning turned out to be such a quality. But the conceptual content of cunning did not happen immediately. At frst, there was a coarse laughter and bullying in literature. The cunning motive reached its full development in the novel of the Renaissance, when the image of a man of a new era was fnally formed. Then cunning, quick-wittedness and resourcefulness came to value more than titles. So tracing the development of the motif of human cunning in medieval literature, one can understand how the man of the Renaissance was formed.

The article gives an overview of Indian musical art. The author dwells upon history of Indian music, which descends from sacred hymns and songs of ancient India. Music has always been the most important part of Indian life. Religious ceremonies used to play and still play a signifcant role in the life of Indian people. This is the reason why each community has its own musicians and performers of hymns and songs. These songs are mentioned in the most important works of Indian philosophical literature, such as «Rig Veda», «Athharva Veda», «Sama Veda», «Natya Shastra». Music has been an essential part of all Indian holidays since the ancient times till now. With the emergence of Indian theatre the art of singers and musicians comes into high demand. Music has changed with time. However the theory of music and songs presented in ancient books preserved in new forms. Thanks to their careful attitude to classic forms Indian people managed to keep traditions of their music through the centuries. The work presents a classifcation of the music, giving specifc features of classic and folk music. It also briefly presents Indian musical gamma. Ancient Indian music is a synthetic genre which combines singing, dance and music. Indian music is divided into classic and folk music. The classic music is subdivided into northern and southern branches. The author describes complicated classical music gamma which consists of seven notes. There is also a short description of raga in the article. Raga is the basis of Indian classic music. Raga has wide emotional spectrum. It depicts different feelings, such as joy, happiness, sadness. According to his desire, a musician choses and creates a rich rhythmical composition. There is also a description of contemporary cinema music and other kinds of modern musical art. An important thing is an unbreakable connection between contemporary and classic music, the preservation of Indian originality in the process of Western influence.

The most powerful incentive in the study of Italian is undoubtedly the Italian culture and music at the forefront. It was in Italy that the modern system of musical notation originated a thousand years ago. The Italian musical notes relating to the tempo and expression of the performance, as well as terms of musical theory are adopted today in most countries of the world. Many names of musical instruments and pieces of music in European languages represent Italian borrowings. Italy is also the birthplace of opera: this genre originated there, the plot and musical structure of opera was formed, and for 400 years opera and high vocal art have been an integral part of Italians’ life and culture. Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, Italy had an indisputable primacy in the art of opera. Today, operas by Rossini, Verdi, Bellini, Puccini, Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, and Ponchielli are performed on the stages of theaters all over the world. This is the invaluable cultural heritage of Italian people, their fame and pride. The opera audience played a crucial role in the formation of the act. At the dawn of the development of this genre, the tastes and preferences of the audience influenced the formation and the structure of the performance that we know today. In Italy, there is a particularly reverent attitude towards opera and vocal art as one of the most important elements of Italian culture. It is this attitude, as well as the traditions passed down from generation to generation, that help to maintain the lively spirit of Italian opera.

The importance of teaching a foreign language alogside with its culture, history and modern life has been universally acknowledged. The article focuses on integrating music and songs of Great Britain into the English language training program for MGIMO undergraduate students as a means of developing their foreign language communicative competence. Music and songs appear to be powerful incentives for enhancing students’ motivation to learn by positively impacting their emotions and creating a favorable learning environment. There are several examples of pieces of music, songs and tasks to follow that would arouse students’ interest and improve their language skills as well as their critical thinking, creativity and broaden their horizons. Another major issue dealt with in the article is the process of selecting songs for a particular age group of students with a focus on British Studies integrated into the English language training program. By highlighting the cultural component in the English language classroom, educators emphasize the signifcance of the communicative function of a foreign language that is particularly important for students specializing in international relations. Students will be able to access all supplementary learning materials, i.e. audio tracks, music video clips, creative task on MGIMO portal via their PCs and mobile devices.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the Italian language in the world music tradition and Italian songs in the world cultural history. Italian songs and recognizable language of modern musical terms represent a vivid cultural image of Italy which promotes interest to the country and its language. The article considers a historical aspect of advancement in Europe of modern Italian songs that have appeared in the process of artistic learning and processing of regional Italian musical material, primarily of Naples and Venice. First for the Western Europe and subsequently for Russia, music has started to sound like Italian, speak in Italian and be written in Italian. It is one of the main reasons of familiarizing the Europeans, including the Russians, with the Italian language. The Italian language has become a base for special terms that are used to describe musical components. Modern classical musicians, folk and popular singers use the terms that demonstrate the influence of the Italian language. From the very frst step in primary music education, people face “Italian” musical terminology. It encompasses amateur musical environment as well as professional one and shapes a wide interest towards learning Italian. The article shows the process of generating incentives to a deliberate and steady learning Italian via studying Italian musical and song cultures, plunging in songs and the “Italian language” of the world music in Russia and in the USSR. The article analyzes the transformation of the interest to Italian songs into the interest to the Italian language in Russia; overcoming of the emerging linguistic substitutions in Russian-Italian communicative and cultural exchange for real life Italian language; creating premises for learning Italian on the basis of authentic Italian songs. Italian sons have become a guide in learning Italian for the Russians.

This article attempts to explore Persian dances in order to determinate its national identity. The authors refer to the semantic core of the lexemes that express this phenomenon, give a brief outline of the genesis and evolution of this traditional physical culture of Iranians, the historical dynamics of its development, consider and group existing types of dance styles. Such a multifaceted approach allowed to study the specifcs of this art and to identify the characteristic features of this language of art in Iran. Ethnic dances reflect the climatic characteristics of the people living environment, the specifcs of its history, culture, beliefs and musical preferences. These include the oldest of all existing types’ ritual traditions, which symbolize worship, offering, dedication, thanksgiving or prayer, as well as folk, classical and modern dances. Persian dance is neither organized nor detailed, which allows, through individual initiative, to contribute to the evolution of the canon. However, like any other kind of art, it requires a serious analysis, and codifcation. Classical dance has developed in parallel with the other authentic cultural materials – Indian and Arabic dance traditions that contributed to the evolution of its forms. Despite their simplicity, folk dances reflect fgurative mythological thinking, religious beliefs, moral and aesthetic values. Their varieties show the whole rich palette of ethnic peoples living in the territory of Iran. Not only individual dance styles, but also a full-fledged cultural rite of passage has become a mystical ritual of rotation of “sama”. Another feature of the Persian scenic and professional choreographic art lies in the fact that at the present stage it develops under the territorial remoteness of its origins.