Abstract: The subject of the study is the genre of "rihla", that is, the Oriental person pilgrimage to various countries. The authors are interested in the elements of this style and their application in the novel "Azazel" by the Egyptian writer Youssef Zeidan. The main character, traveling along the Nile, Sinai and Asia Minor, learns the world around him. Through the eyes of a young man, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Damascus and other great cities of the early Middle Ages and their sights are described. Being in the midst of historical events, a young Egyptian acquires skills of a doctor. He witnesses the murder of a female philosopher Hypatia by Christian fanatics. Fleeing from painful memories, the healer flees Africa in search of true Christianity to the homeland of Jesus, where he becomes a monk Hypa. Mentors help him cope with doubts, advising him to write down everything he has experienced. This is how Gipa's guide to the countries of Africa and Asia is born, at the same time the confession of a reasonable person tempted by passions. The methods of historical and systemic analysis used make it possible to compare the lives of worshippers of the Hellenic gods and the first Christians. The author concludes that due to the traditional genre of "rihla" for Arabic literature, that is, the spiritual wanderings of the hero, Zeidan creates a reliable multifaceted picture of the life of people of the fifth century AD and tries to reveal the essence of the personality of the monk Hipa against the background of historical realities and characters. The format of diaries filled with experiences helps to delve into the inner world of the pilgrim and fully reveal the psychology of the pilgrim. This genre, in addition to cognitive and entertainment functions, has acquired historical and psychological features.

Keywords: problem of religious tolerance, guidebook, early Christianity, wanderings of a monk, search for self-identification, historical and philosophical novel, Youssef Zeidan, Egyptian literature, Modern Arabic literature, pilgrimage

Abstract: The subject of the study is the novel "Celestina" ("Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea") by Fernando de Rojas. The author examines in detail the introduction of this literary work into the process of teaching Spanish as a foreign language at a university. The methods used in the course of our work are the analysis of literary, historical and pedagogical literature on the problem of studying the novel "Celestina" in the process of teaching Spanish, and the synthesis of the knowledge gained in order to form the concept of working with the novel in the university audience of future translators. Research objectives: - to analyze the "Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea" from the point of view of potential interest for Spanish classes not only at the text level, but also from the standpoint of a deeper acquaintance of students with the history, cultural and social features of the country of the end of the XV century. - to present the author's approach of introducing the literary text "Celestina" into the process of teaching Spanish to students – future translators; to highlight the basic principles that allow to work productively with this text in the classroom. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the author has proposed a new approach to work with a book widely known in Spain, but not used in the Spanish teaching in Russia. The argumentation of the need to include the novel "Celestina" in the process of teaching Spanish based on the analysis of its deep meanings in the historical and social context, contains recommendations that may be useful to fellow Hispanists. The result obtained in the course of the research was the opportunity to use the text of the late XV century "Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibei" in the process of teaching Spanish as a foreign language at the university.

Keywords: Salamanca literature, literature of Spain, Literature of the XV century, Pre - birth, Fernando de Rojas, Celestine, Calisto and Melibea, teaching Spanish, Spanish literature, Tragicomedy of Calisto Melibei

Abstract: The relevance of the research lies in the scientific significance of the problem of studying the main plot in the works of E. T. A. Hoffman, manifested at the level of a group of works in which demonological personalities (ghosts / ghosts, vampires, magnetizers) act. The general invariant plot-thematic scheme of short stories ("Magnetizer", "Ignaz Denner", "Ghost Story", "Entail", etc.) is associated with the image of the intervention of otherworldly forces in real life, which is given the character of ghostliness. The object of the study is the short story "The Sinister Guest" ("Der unheimliche Gast", 1819), the plot of which tells about the impact of a "hostile beginning" on a person. The subject of the study is one of the artistic embodiments of Hoffmann's "alien spiritual principle". It is shown that the "sinister guest", the hero of the novel of the same name, is a product of Nature, avenging a crime and an attempt to interfere in its secrets; people are also punished for their unwillingness to live in harmony with it. At the same time, the right moral choice helps the heroes of this novel to avoid the destructive power of the "sinister guest". The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that when analyzing the story of a villain endowed with mysterious knowledge, a deviation from the main plot associated with the specific situation of the novel "The Sinister Guest" is considered. This approach made it possible to clarify the understanding of the duality of being by E. T. A. Hoffman, expressed through motifs (sound, portrait, dream, mystery, affinity of souls) and natural symbols (lightning / thunderstorms, spider, elder), as well as the idea of universal dependence of people on each other and on Nature.

Keywords: The Serapion principle, symbol, image, uncertainty, nature, motive, topic, Hoffmann, plot, novella

Abstract: The subject of this research is the peculiarities of representation of the symbolism of Arabic alphabet and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the lyrics of the prominent representative of Ashik poetry, of the XVII century – Aşıq Ümer. The object of is the poetry of Aşıq Ümer. The works of Aşıq Ümer are particularly relevant these days due to diversity and vividness of symbolism of his poetic system. The purpose of this article lies in the analysis of the symbols of Arabic alphabet and fundamentals of the religious tradition, as well as in determination of their role in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer. The symbolism of Arabic alphabet in his poetry is examines in the following descriptive aspects: external description of the beauty of the beloved; description of the external characteristics and sufferings of the one in love. The research methodology employs the method of hermeneutics, descriptive method, and semiotic  text analysis. The relevance of this research is substantiated by popularity and important semantic load of Arabic letters, symbols, and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the images of romantic poetry of Aşıq Ümer – the beloved and the one in love. The scientific novelty lies the analysis of the symbols of Arabic graphemes and fundamentals of the religious tradition in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer, which reveals the role of these symbols in his poetry. The author concludes that the study and analysis of the symbolism of Arabic alphabet and religious components in the lyrics of Aşıq Ümer make it comprehensible to common audience. The sacred meaning of the Arabic alphabet and religious metaphors enriches the lyrics of the poet, as well as demonstrates his unshakable faith and living within the framework of Islam.

Keywords: sweetheart, metaphor, lover, foundations of spiritual tradition, letters of the arabic alphabet, symbols, love lyrics, Ashyk Umer, image, Islam

Abstract: The subject of this research is the rituals and customs of the Omani people and their reflection in the novel “Celestial Bodies” by Jokha Alharthi. The author traces the changes that took place in the Sultanate of Oman. Life of the Omani people is depicted on the example of several generations of the large family of Abdallah ibn Sulayman of the Hilal. Comparison is conducted on the living conditions of provincial population, namely the village of al-Awafi and the capital Muscat. The problem is raised about people’s happiness in the technological era, and the topic of loneliness of our contemporary. The methods of historical and systemic analysis prove that the traditional structure of Omani society remains in rural areas. It represents a fusion of Islamic and African customs, Muslim and pagan beliefs. The description of engagement, wedding, childbirth, and funeral ceremonies creates a holistic picture of the life cycle of the Omani people. However, urbanization and technological development force people to move from the rural areas to cities and change their mentality. The protagonist Abdallah falls out of touch with his native land, changes his living condition, and reaches an impasse. Nourishing the memories of the pleasant past, they do not experience joy from the present. The novelty consists in the fact that the ethnographic research is conducted by the Professor of Sultan Qaboos University – Jokha Alharthi in form of a literary work. The scholar comes to the conclusion that due to shift of life paradigms, the senior generation of Omani people is experiencing a fateful moment. The way out of the crisis should be sought in the educated Omani youth, who does not want to blindly follow the customs of their ancestors and shelter themselves behind the adults. Youth of the XXI century does not fear difficulties and willing to make own decisions. Thanks to support of the family, London – the daughter of Abdalla – became a medical doctor. The audience is fascinated with discovering the culture of the Land of Frankincense through the prism of Jokha Alharthi.

Keywords: slave trade, Arab customs, Islamic traditions, pagan rites, Jokha al-Harthi, The Arabic literature, Sultanate Oman, Ibadism,, city and village, Celestial bodies

Abstract: The subject of the research is the creative writing of an Egyptian writer Bayram at-Tunisi including his 'Remembering the Exile', the novel in which he described the years spent in Tunisia and France. Babieva focuses on the image of The Other in at-Tunisi's novel and his description of France and European life in general. The author examines such aspects of the topic as the description and acceptance of new realities, analysis of the history of his native country, and self-identification under different conditions. The methodological basis of the research is based on the integrated analysis of the novel written in the Egyptian dialect of Arabian. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that at-Tunisi's writings have never been studied by Russian researchers before. The main conclusions of the research are the following: at-Tunisi perceives the West as The Other, something that is different from himself and his countrymen, and different for better. At the same time, the Egyptical writer emphasizes the negative sides of French mentality and suggests that Egyptians should adopt only positive but decline negative features, thus continuing the rihla tradition of Arabic literature. 

Keywords: arabic studies, travel, rihla, Bayram at-Tunisi, travelogue, Modern Arabic Literature, Arabic literature, Egyptian colloquial Arabic, the image of the beuty, Self and the other

Abstract:  The subject of the research is the concept of grammatical norm in the poem Martyrdom of saint Cyprian written by the empress Eudocia (the 5h century AD). In her article Alexandrova analyzes examples of deviations from the morphological norm. Earlier researches (by A. Cameron, etc.) on Eudocia only express reproaches of Eudocia being too free with the poetic language rules and Homeric dialect. The purpose of this research was to find out whether those approaches actually corresponded to the facts. In her research Alexandrova uses the corpus search system TLG, analyzes examples that were independently discovered by the author, and applies the method of integral analysis. The author of the article finds out examples of similar deviations of earlier poets (Euripides, Apollonius of Rhodes, Gregory of Nazianzus) Eudocia was most likely to have read. In each particular case the author of the article proves that reproaches of Eudocia had nt grounds. She knew the classical tradition very well but was inclined toawrds a freerer norm of Christian poetry offered by Gregory of Nazianzus. Deviations in Eudocia's poem were mostly caused by the need to maintain the metric order. However, she did not follow classical rules of prosody, either. As a result, the author concludes that earlier evaluations of Eudocia's creative writing were hyper critical. Generally, Eudocia's poem is an example of a middle-level poetry and received positive approve of many Byzantine authors such as Photios I of Constantinople. 

Keywords: late ancient literature, Christian poetry, deviations, morphological rule, Homeric dialect, poetic language, Homer, Martyrdom of saint Cyprian, empress Eudocia, Byzantine literature

Abstract: The master's thesis of a famous Slavic scholar Victor Grigorovich devoted to the literary process of Slavic ethnoses is interesting not only as a masterpiece of the Russian Slavic science but also profound cultural research. The thesis became a subject of intense disputes between Victor Grigorovich and an anonymous reviewer from St. Petersburg who then turned out to be Pyotr Preys. In his review Preys agreed with Grigorovich' philosophical ideas about the role of Slavic nations in the history and importance of Christianity for the destiny of Slavic ethnoses. In her article Aristova analyzes the main stages of their intense polemics, and philosophical, historical and cultural aspects of their polemics as those reflected different views on the essence and overall cultural orientation of the Slavic literary process as they were expressed by two famous Slavic scholars of the 19th century, Victor Grigorovich and Pyotr Preys. Having analyzed the main stages and nature of disputes evolving around Victor Grigorovich' thesis, the author of the article describes the initial period in the development of Russian Slavic studies, as she defines it. Thus, at the dawn of its development, Russian Slavic studies applied culturological but not narrow philological research methods and included comprehensive studies of religion, mentality and culture of Slavic nations. 

Keywords: slavonica (Slavic literature), cultural reciprocity, Slavic antiquities, ethnography, ethnology, cultural studies, Slavic studies, Preys, Grigorovich

Abstract: In his lectures Nabokov makes an attempt to help students take a different look at Miguel Cervantes’ book, free from false pietism as a result of a long-term interpretation tradition which turned a cruel and harsh book into a modest myth about the appearance and reality.

Keywords: philology, Don Quixote, rethinking, cruelty, mystification, magic, appearance, reality, illusion, creativity.

Abstract: The article covers the phenomenon of the studies on Shakespeare’s creative heritage as a constant of the world culture and presents an outlook on the appearance of special form of the Shakespeare cult — Shakespeare studies.

Keywords: philology, Shakespeare, Shakespeare studies, constant, cult, world culture, the English language, the drama.