2018.3

The article is dedicated to the lexical-semantic and grammatical characteristics of the two main components of the field “movement in ether” – namely, the verbs pát- “to fly; to fall” and dī-/ḍī- “to fly”. The main basis for the analysis was the hymns of the Rigveda; language data from texts in Middle Indo-Aryan and New Indo-Aryan were also used. The dynamics of the semantic and formal transformations of the verbs mentioned and of their derivatives, correlating with their functioning at different phases of the evolution of Indo-Aryan, was demonstrated.

On the basis of analyzing the works of the Persian poets of the XI–XVII centuries, the author of the paper has made an attempt to trace the main stages of evolution of the genre of Shahrashub, which is little dealt with in Iranian studies. Such study is meant to throw some light upon the process of evolution of minor genres of Persian poetry throughout the classical (X–XV c.) and postclassical (XVI–XVII c.) periods. Revealing the generic forms used by Persian poets for writing Shahrashubs, the author has made a number of suggestions concerning the reasons for their choice of different poetic forms. The main stress is made upon the analysis of verses of two outstanding poets – Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman (1046–1121) and Sayido Nasafi (d. 1711), whose works have served as basic landmarks on the way of the evolution of the genre.

The article is devoted to proving that Yang Xiong (53 BC – 18 AD), an outstanding Chinese thinker, writer and scientist, is the creator of the first explicit rhetoric as a theory of literature in China. From this point of view his work in world sinology has not yet been considered. The article reveals the main factors and features of the formation of ancient Chinese doctrines on oratorical art using the results of research on archaeological excavations of the last three decades. Ancient Chinese rhetoric has gone a long way of development from latent to explicit form with the selection of poetics from it. The works of Yang Xiong are one of the final stages of this process. The main provisions of Yang Xiong’s rhetoric are revealed on the basis of the study of his treatise “Exemplary Speeches” Fayan, which is both the theory and practice of literature, because on the one hand, it formulates the theory of rhetorical poetry and prose, and on the other hand it is conceived by the author as a canonical example of its literary embodiment. This thinker understands literature very widely, it covers all the main genres and types of writing that were formed by that time. A special role in it is given to canonical literature, which combines the features of the canon and classics. Yang Xiong gives poetry and prose a rhetorical character, makes a functional distinction between oral and written speech, but it is with the text that he binds the creative act, making writing primary in relation to oral presentation. He pays special attention to the aesthetic side of ancient Chinese literature. Yang Xiong also gives a rationalistic interpretation of divine inspiration, examines the phenomenon of creativity and develops the category of individual authorship.

The article discusses the poetological features of the story “Infinite Present Time” (1998) by A. Kulin, which are studied on narrative-compositional and image-bearing levels. The unusual chronotopos (playing with time and space), along with the psychological motivation of the characters and the acute social problems, permit us to say a lot about the fictional code that is dominant in this work of the writer. The present tense (=yor) is intended to increase the sense of tragedy and make the events described more dramatic. The present tense in this story seems to absorb the past and replace it, presenting past events in a tragic perspective through the prism of today. The present tense (=yor) is also used to describe events that the main character believes will happen to her in the future. They also evoke a persistent sense of hopelessness and anxiety. In such a way, the present tense accumulates all other tenses, apparently becoming infinite: there is nothing but the present, a message which the story’s title emphasizes.

The article is focused on the theological legacy of Moroccan Sultan Sidi Muhammad ben ‘Abdallah (1757–1790). The significance of his religious works is caused by the fact that since the Almohads (12th century) Sidi Muhammad was the first Moroccan sultan who consistently called for a return to the pure Islam of Prophet Muhammad. Moreover, a study of his theological heritage allows us to rethink the view of the development of Salafism in Arab-Islamic societies. For example, Russian and international researchers used to consider that Moroccan sultans had turned to Salafi ideas only after the development of the Wahhabi doctrine in Arabia. However, an analysis of the religious works of Sidi Muhammad shows that the rise of Salafi ideas in Morocco was not a result of adoption of the Wahhabi ideology which spread on the Arabian Peninsula, but formed at the stage when the Wahhabi movement was just emerging. The fundamentalist views of the Moroccan sultan were the result of internal processes that took place at that time in the Islamic Far West, and not of external influence. This conclusion broadens the limits of our perception of the renewal tendencies that emerged in the Arab-Islamic world in the second half of the 18th century.

A set of XII century BC oracle bone inscriptions found in the ruins of the ancient Shang state capital narrates the bestowing of a title of hou of the place named Gan (genuine reading unknown) upon the person named Shang. The case of Gan-hou Shang cannot be explained by merely a formal recognition of the subjection of a previously independent peripheral chieftain; it must have been either a feudal-like enfeoffment or an assignment of an office. Some evidence suggests Gan was originally a part of the royal domain, granted later to hou Shang as a fief. Thus, the inscriptions shed light on the Shang period enfeoffment system, saying little of its actual scale and characteristics.

The article discusses the problem of enclave territories on the border between India and Bangladesh (East Pakistan in 1947–1971), known as chitmahals or chhits. The emergence of chitmahals can be traced through the history of the Cooch Behar princely state in the north-east of India. The XVII–XVIII centuries saw the decline of the princely state, which led to the ceding of a number of land parcels within its territory to the Mughal Empire. At the same time, the maharajas of Cooch Behar had land possessions outside their state. Later the actions of the East India Company, the new suzerain of the princely state, resulted in the emergence of new enclave territories. The problem of chitmahals was not resolved during the Partition of India in 1947, and Cooch Behar’s merger with India in 1949 turned it into a matter of international relations. The Agreements of 1958 and 1974 sanctioned the exchange of enclaves in order to preserve the integrity of the international border, but their timely implementation was delayed by politicization of the problem and India’s cumbersome bureaucracy. Corruption and the lax attitude of border guards helped enclave dwellers survive without access to their state’s infrastructure, economic system and social services up to 2015. The local population was hostile to people from chhits, which further exacerbated their hardships and impeded the implementation of the 1974 Agreement. Though the Agreement was ratified in full in 2015, there still are a few obstacles to clear on the way to resolving the enclaves issue.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of transnational Islamic movements’ expansion to Thailand, taking the case of such a transregional missionary movement as Jama’ah Tabligh. Wide-scale activities of various international Islamic movements in Thailand and their rising influence on political and social life there since the 1970s resulted in the growing complexity of the religious situation in Thailand in general and in its southern provinces in particular. The Muslim Brotherhood was the most influential among Islamic movements in Thailand in that period. Its ideological framework became the basis of the Young Muslims Association of Thailand’s activities. However, the impact of the transnational movement Jama’ah Tabligh originating from India and Salafi movements urging the clearing of Islam from local traditions on Thailand’s Muslims was also essential. Each of these movements has its own strategy of ideological expansion and its own model of social activity. Thus, new ideological constructions and cultural identities emerging from the expanding Islamic network structures originating from the Islamic reformist movements supplemented the patchwork constellation of Islamic movements historically established in Thailand in the Modern Times. These processes became most visible in Thailand’s Muslim south.