The 5th All-Russian Conference "Comparative Studies at the Current Stage: Theory and Practice"
The forum provided a platform for engaging discussions among researchers on the interaction of cultures and religions in a changing social context, literary and cultural interactions, and issues of cultural transfer: the reception of Russian writers abroad; and Russian writers' perceptions of the experience of "foreign" cultures.
Separate sections were devoted to issues of translation as a form of interliterary interaction, the interpretation of cultural parallels through translation, the relationship between the language of fiction and creativity, and the problem of the fantastic in the works of Russian and foreign writers.
The forum brought together researchers, teachers, graduate students, and postgraduate students from the largest universities and educational institutions of the Russian Federation from Moscow (A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences; E.M. Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Indian Ocean Region Center; A.S. Pushkin State Russian Language Institute; Moscow City Pedagogical University; National Research University Higher School of Economics; A.N. Kosygin Russian State University; State University of Education; University College of the E.A. Kozlovsky Moscow State Geological Prospecting Institute), St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg State University, A. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University; Dostoevsky Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy; A.L. Stieglitz St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design), Nizhny Novgorod (National Research University Higher School of Economics – Nizhny Novgorod; E.A. Evstigneev National Technical University), Voronezh (Voronezh State University), Saransk (N.P. Ogarev Moscow State University), Krasnodar (Kuban State University), Sevastopol (Sevastopol State University), Rostov-on-Don (Don State Technical University), Yekaterinburg (Ural Federal University (UrFU), Ufa (M. Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University), Krasnoyarsk (M.F. Reshetnev Siberian State University), Anapa (Russian State Social University (branch)).
PetrSU was represented by faculty from the Institute Philology (Department of German Philology and Scandinavian Studies and Department of Classical Philology, Russian Literature and Journalism) and the Institute of Foreign Languages, young researchers (graduate students, master's students) of the institutes.
N.G. Sharapenkova, Chair of the Organizing Committee and Head of the Department of Germanic Philology and Scandinavian Studies:
“The tradition of comparative philological research at Petrozavodsk State University was established by Professor L.I. Malchukov, the founder and first Head of the Department of Germanic Philology. Subsequently, the faculty of the combined departments continued and developed this research area, expanding it into a broader context. This was confirmed by the fifth scientific forum, which brought together nearly 60 speakers and over 40 listeners.
Due to the fact that many participants were unable to travel to Petrozavodsk, an entire day of online sessions was organized, allowing for the participation of those wishing to speak from the southern regions of our country.
The conference focused on key topics in contemporary literary and cultural processes, maintaining existing contacts and establishing new ones (which is especially important for young graduate students).
I.V. Romanovskaya, Chair of the "Literary Interactions and Reception Issues" section:
“Today, the focus, as the speakers clearly demonstrated, is far more than just comparing individual themes, plots, and images in national literatures, but something far more important: establishing and understanding the cultural, literary, philosophical, and intermedia connections that shape a unified literary process. The 13 papers in this section demonstrate a keen interest in the academic field of comparative literature. Colleagues are actively working to identify common patterns and characteristics of intercultural influences in the literature of different countries and eras. This undoubtedly underscores the importance of comparative literature, the study of reception, and the cross-cultural influences of cultures and literatures in the modern world.
This conference truly became a platform for exchanging opinions and presenting the results of their research.
E.A. Safron, Chair of the section "Problems of the Fantasy in the Works of Russian and Foreign Writers":
“Researchers from Moscow, Anapa, Nizhny Novgorod, Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg, and Saransk participated in the section. The analysis covered a wide range of genres: fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.
S.V. Vasilyeva, Organizer and Moderator of the roundtable:
“On September 15, a roundtable discussion entitled "Problems of Intercultural Communication in Theory and Practice" was held in the lounge of the Humanitarian Innovation Park. Master's students presented various approaches to this topic, connecting theoretical knowledge with real-life situations, and, for example, discussed intercultural communication at the university. Students shared their experiences interacting with representatives of foreign cultures and put forward specific proposals for the adaptation of international students at PetrSU. Identifying the practical application of a theoretical subject is one of the key tasks of a teacher, as master's and undergraduate students vividly demonstrated.
Following the conference, a collection of materials indexed in the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) will be published (planned release date: 2026).
