Abstract: The object of the research is the decorative art, paintings, and installations that contain both phrases and words. Based on the analysis of the art work of an Ural artist Udmurt, American artist Barbara Kruger, and Chinese calligrapher Vand Gu, the author of the article describes stages in the evolution of the role of the word in the artwork of Russia, the USA and China. The subject of the research is the role of words in the overall canvas of an artwork in synchronic and diachronic aspects. The hypothesis of the research is that in terms of contemporary fine art, word plays an extremely important role which is not confined to the sphere of decorative arts but comporises the core element of the sense-making process in general. The methodology of the research implies the systems approach to cultural research. According to this approach, culture is a whole phenomenon that consists of individual mechanisms interacting with one another based on the general principle. In her research Zavyalova appeals to the studies of both Russian and foreign art experts, art critics and cultural researchers such as M. Vaymugina, M. Davydenko, V. Dyakonova, A.Zubareva, Vl. Lukov, V. Razakov, V. Woolf, Yu. Kharari, and R. Zajonc. The results of the research may be applied for cross-cultural description of contemporary art. The author's contribution is her statement that games with words, written symbols and phrases brings a new global meaning to contemporary fine arts. As a result of the research, the author has discovered important strategies of the Post Modernism such as citationality, collaging, and picturing objects as an artists sees them to the detriment of their realistic image, double actualization of meanings, mysteriousness, anonymity and deliberate play with the audience. 

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the cultural phenomenon of agonality – competitiveness, which is viewed an essential component of phylogenies, ontogenesis, and culturogenesis. The object of this research is the competitive practices and strategies of China from the ancient time to present. The subject is the specificity of China’s competitive advantage, its role in realization of the cultural succession. The author examines the Chinese legend about the origin of lunar calendar, treatise “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, cultural doctrine of the current leader of PRC Xi Jinping “Chinese Dream”, as well as caricatures of the contemporary Chinese artists. The article also contains the elements of comparative analysis aimed at revealing the common mechanisms of competitiveness in the culture of Ancient Greece, Rome and China. The main method of research is the systemic-analytical approach to culture that allows disclosing the strategies of agonality, which manifested at various levels of culture. A conclusion is made that agonality is a powerful method of development of the world revealing itself not only in terms of fighting for life, but also in theatre, verbal folklore and visual art. The author underlines the ultimate importance of preparing the young generation to competitiveness in the adult world, as even during the leisure time a person recourse to a competition, desiring to prove his supremacy over the others. The results of research can be applied in various fields of culturology for examining the determinant of the Chinese national self-consciousness.

Abstract: The focal point of the article is the phenomenon of continuity within the framework of Chinese culture. The subject of the study is the influence of the culture of Ancient China (5000 BC - 220 AD) on the culture of Chinese modernity. The object of the research are jade artifacts, fortune-telling bones, as well as folklore language expressions which are popular with modern Chinese. The basic methodology of work is a systematic and analytical approaches to culture, where the analysis of specific objects contributes to the understanding of the whole; the next method is the description of objects with the elements of interpretation and comparison. Exploring objects that reflect the evolution of Chinese civilization from ancient times, the author concludes that the consciousness of the modern Chinese contains a huge layer of powerful meanings, rooted in Neolithic antiquity. The most important results of the work are cultural interpretations of the functional orientation of Neolithic artifacts and their reflections in the folklore layer of the Chinese language, the data of which the author analyzed with the help of the on-line corpus of the modern Chinese language. In the course of the research, the author appeals both to the classical works of G.W.F. Hegel, N.Y. Danilevskii, E. Husserl, and to the relatively recently published works of J. Alexander, V.D. Leleko, T.I. Lavrenova, R.J. Klein, B.E. Ensor, Bai Yui. The results of the research are applicable to any branch of cultural production, as they contribute to the penetration into the depths of Chinese sense, the understanding of which is of the greatest importance for the contemporary cultural space.