From Editor-in-Chief

Abstract

Dear colleagues, authors and readers!

The theme of this issue is literary works, with a primary focus on poetry. Accordingly, the issue opens with the Poetry section, where each article explores a distinct phenomenon within contemporary and classical poetic texts.

The first article, by renowned scholar and Doctor of Philology Liudmila V. Zubova from the V. V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, investigates the grammatical form of the diminutive – a feature characteristic of Russian colloquial speech. Drawing on an impressive corpus of poetic texts by 70 authors, the scientist demonstrates the diverse and nuanced effects poets achieve through the diminutive. Her encyclopedic approach and subtle analysis make this article a fundamental resource for understanding this linguistic device in modern poetry. Readers will surely enjoy the rich and illustrative examples presented.

Next, Novgorod authors Vladimir I. Zaika, Doctor of Philology and Professor of the Department of Philology at Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, and Olga M. Kocherova, student at the same department, analyze cutting-edge poetic texts by the rapper known as Pyrokinesis, focusing on his latest 2025 album. Their linguistic study highlights the use of oxymoron and convincingly demonstrates its significance within the rap genre and the texts examined. It is encouraging to see Russian rap poetry gaining scholarly attention in our journal, continuing a conversation initiated by Alina Diveeva from Cherepovets State University, whose PhD dissertation on Russian rap poetics is referenced by the authors.

Alongside contemporary poetry, this issue also turns to classical works. St. Petersburg colleagues Elena V. Sergeeva, Doctor of Philology and Professor of the Russian Language Department at Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, together with Polina N. Spiricheva, master’s student at the same department, explore the uniquely Russian concept of longing (toska) in the poetry of F. Sologub. Their study reveals how this concept functions differently in the poetic system of the “senior symbolist” compared to its role in the broader linguistic worldview. The depth and philosophical rigor of their analysis make this article particularly compelling.

Thus, the poetry section presents three distinct phenomena: the grammatical diminutive, the stylistic figure of oxymoron, and the concept of longing – each offering fresh linguistic insights into diverse poetic texts

The Prose section features an article by Novgorod colleagues, representatives of the already mentioned Department of Philology at Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University – Vladimir I. Zaika, associate professor Galina N. Girzheva and master’s student Gennady O. Kalyanin. Their study examines the technique of the extended metaphor in a story by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The complexity of their analysis stems from the “multi-focus” nature of the extended metaphor and the ornamental qualities of Zamyatin’s prose. The analytical methods they develop promise to be valuable tools for studying other prose genres.

Perhaps the most unexpected section is Literary Text in Developmental Psycholinguistics, curated by Marina B. Eliseeva, head of the Department of Language and Literary Education of Children at Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia. This article investigates how fiction contributes to a child’s linguistic development. While the importance of reading fiction in language acquisition is well recognized, Marina B. Eliseeva’s work uniquely traces the formation of stylistic ideas through diary entries – an unconventional but insightful source for linguistic research.

The issue concludes with a report on the Neology. Neography – 2024 conference, held late last year at the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The chronicle, prepared by the conference participants, employees of the Institute – Doctor of Philology Natalia V. Kozlovskaya and Alina S. Pavlova, highlights the conference’s traditional scope and broad geographic participation. The report emphasizes the content of presentations, which covered not only the renewal of Russian vocabulary over the past year but also diverse neological studies, including their relationship to the “Word of the Year” election and related events. This marks the third such report in our journal, establishing a valuable chronicle of neological research and underscoring neology as a recurring theme in our publication.

In summary, this issue brings together university and academic linguists from Veliky Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Moscow, offering a rich and varied exploration of literary texts. The focus on contemporary works, depth of analysis and integration into broader linguistic science reflect the journal’s commitment to advancing scholarship. Notably, two papers by our St. Petersburg colleagues are based on presentations from the annual conference of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia “Word. Dictionary. Literature”, which took place in November 2024 and was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Evgenia G. Kovalevskaya.

I would like to sincerely thank all the authors who contributed to this issue, as well as its reviewers: Doctors of Philology Boris Yu. Norman (Minsk), Victoria G. Didkovskaya (Veliky Novgorod), Vadim A. Belov (St. Petersburg) and Tatyana I. Steksova (Novosibirsk).

Until next time on the electronic pages of our journal!

T. V. Shmeleva