School of Languages and Linguistics - Research Publications
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ItemThomas Rosén. Russian in the 1740s [Review of the book Russian in the 1740s, by Thomas Rosén](University of Canterbury, 2023)
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ItemDislocation and liminality in Andrei Zvyagintsev's Leviathan and Loveless(University of Canterbury, 2023)This article compares and contrasts two of Andrey Zvyagintsev’s most recent films, Leviathan (2014) and Loveless (2017). Although there are clear differences in structure and plot between the two films, by using the concepts of liminality and non-place, a number of parallels and shared themes are brought to light. In both films similar framing techniques are used in order to highlight domestic space and its role: in Leviathan it exposes the vulnerability to outside societal forces, while in Loveless it highlights the dysfunctionality of Alesha’s immediate world. Identity is closely linked to domestic spaces in both films. In Leviathan Nikolai’s existence is rendered liminal by the expropriation of his home, while in Lovless the parents’ search for new identities results in Alesha’s liminal existence, and, in turn, their own, as they acquire new partners and domestic spaces.
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ItemVariation in the Stress of Russian Short-form Adjectives(IJORS, 2023)This article examines the dynamics of word stress in one of the more complex and increasingly literary areas of Russian, that of short-form adjectives. By comparing the stress patterns of a normative dictionary with another contemporary source which gives stylistic evaluations of stress positions, the article traces the main accentual tendencies which are occurring in this area of morphology and aligns them with two previous surveys of short-form adjectives. Above all it is the feminine singular and the plural forms which are pivotal. The article reveals the contradictory and even circular dynamics of stress in short-form adjectives, especially in patterns a, c and c´: in stem-stressed forms (pattern a) there is a clear tendency towards mobile stress by virtue of a shift of stress from stem to ending in the feminine form, while, at the same time, a smaller group of such adjectives appears to have shifted stress from the ending to the stem at an earlier stage. The main mobile-stress pattern (pattern c) also confirms a contradictory tendency to move ending stress to the stem in feminine forms together with a weaker trend to shift stem stress to the ending in the plural forms. Taken as a whole, all these shifts in different directions are creating new complex stress patterns characterised by at least two forms with variation.
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ItemThe Productivity of the Russian Suffixal Attenuator -оват(ый): A Corpus-Based Analysis(University of Melbourne, 2022)
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ItemNon-Love in a Non-Place: Liminality and Dislocation in Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Loveless(International Journal of Russian Studies, 2021)In this article Andrei Zvyagintsev’s film Loveless (2017) is analysed from the angle of domestic space using the theoretical prism of liminality and non-places. It is argued that, while the concept of home may be defined as private and personal, as opposed to public and impersonal, the domestic space in this film, far from being a comforting and reassuring destination in itself, can be read as liminal, as transitory, as a space ‘in-between’ or, indeed, a space which, ideally, should be a sanctuary, but which is, in fact, vulnerable to external forces. The article also examines Loveless in the light of Marc Augé’s seminal work, Non-places: An Introduction to Supermodernity, in particular the extent to which his theory of non-places may, in certain instances in this supermodern globalised world, be as applicable to the domestic space as it is to the increasingly ubiquitous and liminal public spaces of airports, hotels, shopping centres and other typical non-places. It is demonstrated that, as in Zvyagintsev’s earlier films Elena (2011) and Leviathan (2014), Loveless uses a framing technique which highlights the centrality of domestic space in the film. From the outset, the film is concerned with the ‘in-betweenness’ of the characters’ lives, and domestic space plays a key role in this, although it is not consciously sought or coveted by the characters, but rather a consequence of their actions. It is argued that tragedy is not a feature of Loveless: in its place are incomplete transitions, rites of passage awaiting their natural fulfilment. It is this dislocation and liminality which pervades the entire atmosphere of the film and gives it its almost unbearable sense of foreboding.
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ItemVARIATION IN THE STRESS OF RUSSIAN FEMININE NOUNS OF MOBILE TYPES D (ЖЕНА́) AND D´(СПИНА́)(International Journal of Russian Studies, 2020)In this article two key mobile stress patterns of Russian are analysed, patterns d and d´. The former is characterised by ending stress in the singular and stem stress in the plural, while the latter has the same pattern except for the accusative singular which has stem stress, i.e. it has a mobile sub-paradigm in the singular. Pattern d has been established as not only the largest mobile stress type among first-declension feminine nouns, but also the only pattern which is in the ascendancy. This article attempts to analyse empirically what variation exists within nouns of this paradigm, since it is to be expected that variation would indicate earlier stress types ‒ as an ascendant type, pattern d itself would be expected to be stable as an endpoint for nouns from other stress types, particularly patterns d´, f and f´. Pattern d´ is also briefly analysed in order to establish whether it can be considered a sub-type of pattern d in the sense that nouns which have variation tend to be moving towards pattern d. The hypotheses for both patterns are borne out by the data: pattern d is largely stable and most variation which occurs within it indicates earlier stress types, while pattern d´ exhibits a weak tendency towards pattern d.
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ItemVariation in the Stress of Russian Feminine Nouns of Mobile Type d´ (спина́)(Australia and New Zealand Slavists' Association, 2020)
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ItemNow you Sie me, now you don’t: the history and remnants of the 3pl V address pronoun calque in Slovak (onikanie) and in Czech (onikání)(John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2019-11-15)Among the neighbouring languages that calqued the third person plural (3pl) address pronoun Sie from German in the 18th century, the closely related languages Czech and Slovak offer contrasting diachronic and synchronic uses of their respective Sie-calques. In Czech, onikání (literally ‘addressing with the 3pl masculine pronoun oni’) was among the German linguistic influences hotly fought against by linguistic purists in the Czech National Revival of the 19th century, and, as a consequence, its use today is restricted to jocular or ironic use only. In Slovakia, the national revival came later, and purist proponents of Slovak as a national language did not just have German as a linguistic adversary, but also Hungarian, and to a certain degree, even Czech. Therefore, there was less pressure for onikanie, the Slovak version of onikání, to be ousted so clearly. As a result, the subsequent history and development of 3pl address differs somewhat in Slovak from Czech, something which is confirmed by the status we can still find today of remnants of Slovak onikanie. The diachronic development of Slovak onikanie shows some differences to that of Czech onikání, due, we argue, to the different social and political histories of both languages and of their respective national states. We conducted a pilot study (including data drawn from online discussions by native speakers) into the extent, varieties, and domains where Slovak onikanie is still used. Results show its present usage to be different from that of its Czech counterpart.
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ItemFrom Post-Soviet to Post-National: Domestic Space as Non-Place in Andrei Zviagintsev’s 'Elena' and 'Leviathan'(Mustafa Yaşar, 2018)In this article two films directed by Andrei Zviagintsev, Elena (2011) and Leviathan (2014), are compared and contrasted from the point of view of Marc Augé’s concept of place and non-place. Although these two films differ in specific details, similarities exist at several levels which are frequently linked with the theme of domestic space. Both films utilise similar framing techniques which place the respective main domestic spaces at the structural and thematic forefront of each plot. Both films employ a binary locational symmetry: while Elena juxtaposes a Soviet-era apartment with a modern luxury apartment, Leviathan operates with a single domestic space which stands opposed to the world outside and is, ultimately, destroyed by it. In each film the main domestic space is usurped by nefarious and dishonest means, in Elena by the murder of Vladimir by the eponymous heroine who thereafter brings her family to live in the new apartment, and in Leviathan by the scheming mayor who, it is assumed, murders Nikolai’s wife and destroys his house for the purposes of building a new church. The ultimate casualty in both films is moral truth which finds its perfect setting in the modern world of non-place.
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ItemThe Fragility of Domestic Space within Corruptive Non-Place in Andrei Zviagintsev’s "Leviathan"'(Ural Federal University, 2018)In this article the authors analyse Andrei Zvyagintsev’s feature film Leviathan (2014) from the perspective of domestic space using Marc Augé’s theory of nonplaces. As in Zvyagintsev’s film Elena, the film uses a framing technique, placing the domestic space in question, in this case the site of Nikolai’s house, in the film’s central role. From the outset the house is depicted as somehow fragile and unprotected from the outside world, and, as the plot progresses, this vulnerability increasingly comes into play. The main instigation for the events which follow comes from the town’s corrupt mayor, who plans to purchase Nikolai’s house for a fraction of its true value and build a church on its site. This action brings Nikolai’s former army colleague Dmitry, now a successful Moscow lawyer, into the action, leading directly to infidelity on the part of Nikolai’s wife (Liliya), and, ultimately, her death, presumably at the hands of the corrupt mayor. The external corrupting force of non-place and non-language, seen clearly in scenes such as that at the city court, where the clerk reads the court’s decision at an improbably fast tempo, increasingly enters Nikolai’s home and family situation, and, ultimately, undermines, then destroys, the integrity of private domestic space and the lives and identities of those who inhabit it.