Keywords: Byzantium; Taurica; history; numismatics; coin production technology
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Keywords: globalisation;EU25;EU27;EU foreign policy;Lisbon strategy;new borders in the EU;
In the early 21st century there have been basic changes in global politics generated by the global democratizations that has demonstrated at the same time the diverging EU and US foreign policies. In the 21st century the EU has appeared as a global actor with its particular profile of a civilian superpower and acted through transformative linkage politics. It means that the EU advocates not only the fusion of international relations and domestic policy as linkage politics but gives a special transformation profile to it in the form of binding conditionalities for both sides. Transformative linkage politics or - with the usual term - the enlargement policy of the EU has been one of the most influential policies that has shaped the global world and it has been the major stake and bone of contention in the global rivalry between the EU and US. The most recent result of this new policy instrument is the Eastern enlargement. EU elaborated for the Eastern enlargement “a unique model of democracy promotion through integration (…) with a particular combination of hard conditionality and soft measures” (Dimitrova and Pridham, 2004: 91). The Eastern enlargement has made the EU to a real global player. It has been a great success, which can revitalize the EU that has been suffering from a transitory identity crisis. After the Eastern enlargement the EU25 has organized a special zone as the partnership ring of Eastern and Southern neighbours, so in the nextdecades the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) will be one of the main directions in the European Foreign Policy (EFP). It has caused, again, some problems by testing the EU absorption capacity but the ENP has accelerated the dynamism of the EU’s doctrine on the effective multilateralism.
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Keywords: policy; love; eroticism; history; 1956 Hungary
“The book was one of the great successes of the 1988 Book Week…The sex scenes, perhaps overly explicit in their details, the action carryingthe reader away, and mainly, however, the most convincing, most authenticand most sincere description to date of the events of the 1956 uprising,which form integral parts of the story, probably all contributed to thesuccess. This topic has been manipulated by so many and in so manydifferent ways that we who actually experienced them in real life recognizethem at last.”(Parallel Relations)Emil Kolozsvári Granpierre (1988) “I do not particularly wish to celebrate this kind of elimination of traditional taboos sinceliterary criticism, as is widely known, has, for a long time, been of the opinion that the bluntdescription of erotic topics is aesthetically indifferent; the only thing that matters is how the subjectfits into the novel composition, and what aesthetic value the description in itself has. Well, in thisrespect, the eroticism of the Szalay novels is aesthetically correct and is, at times, assigned none otherthan a “poetic” role… Csarody, the protagonist of the novels, is incessantly faced with thedevelopments of tyranny.. mostly, however, with the political comedy of the era which is described bySzalay in a series of particularly apt episodes. These episodes are real satires…”(Parallel Relations)Béla Pomogáts (1989)
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Keywords: Austro-Hungarian army; Habsburg Empire; September Uprising in 1848; Austro-Prussian War;
The presented monograph is an anthology of case-studies dealing with various aspects of military history of Slovakia starting with the antecedences of the 1848 revolution and continuing till the early beginnings of World War I. The texts are selected and arranged in chronological order. This mentioned period represents an era of crucial importance for the development of national consciousness of the Slovak nation. During that time, many revolutionary changes of social order took place in Hungarian Kingdom; decisive political struggles about the form of modernization were fought, the social structure and spiritual fundament changed radically, national contradictions among the nations living in the kingdom were more and more evident, the oppressive policy of Magyar elites towards other nations and nationalities strengthened. In consequence, the Slovak political representatives were pushed into a defensive position and they set as they primary goal the safeguarding of the Slovak national existence. The publication is divided into four parts: introduction, two basic chapters ordered chronologically and conclusion. In the first chapter titled Approaching the World War, I pay attention to the year of revolution, 1848, which represented a major turning point in the transition from feudalism to the capitalism and which deeply influenced the process of bourgeois transformation of the majority of European states. Further, it was for the first time in modern history of the Slovak nation, that an independent armed action of the Slovaks took place – the socalled September Uprising in 1848. In this chapter, the issues connected with the armed action of the Slovak volunteers in September 1848 serve as a background for a complex military historical analysis of that time. The Austro-Prussian War fought in 1866 that culminated in the defeat of Austrian army in the Battle of Königgrätz (Hradec Králové), brought a correction of great power ambitions of the Habsburg Empire, it further led to a revision of its foreign policy and cause inner political turbulences, leading to the Austro-Hungarian (Magyar) constitutional settlement in 1867. Last but not least, a reform of Austro-Hungarian army was initiated. In the second chapter, I consider the course of the mentioned war and its consequences, paying attention to the participation of Slovaks in the military formations of the Monarchy. The next three studies in this chapter seek to illustrate the system of resurrection of the Austro-Hungarian army and the organizational development of the infantry and cavalry units specifically considering the effects of those issues on Slovakia and the role of Slovaks in the frames of the Habsburg army and the units referred to. It is worth a mention that this is the first comprehensive attempt in Slovak historiography to reflect the above-mentioned issues. The studies are supplemented by tables and schemes and they are followed by an analysis of the nationality issue in the army – both the Habsburg and the Honvéd army – as well as the reactions of the Slovak policy to the mentioned questions in the last decades before World War I. Another chapter is dealing with the military and diplomatic background of events that followed after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo and which culminated in the World War I. The final study of this chapter is dealing with military plans of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the eve of the outbreak of World War I, taking into account their connection with the military plans of the general staff of the German army. The second part of this book is titled Slovaks in the Great War and is subdivided into three chapter, each of them monitoring the first stage of military actions in the north-eastern front, where numerous Slovak soldiers incorporated to the V. battalion of Bratislava and VI. battalion of Košice took part. In the first chapter I focus on the prelude of the Austro-Hungarian military formations operations in the north-eastern front during August 1914, which later resulted in most determined fights in the initial phase of World War I. In the following study, I consider the most extensive military operation of the Austro-Hungarian army in the north-eastern front – the Battle of Kraśnik. My last study is dealing with the Battle of Komarów, in the Russian literature better known as the Battle of Tomaszów. In both battles, many soldiers coming from Slovakia lost their lives. In addition to a detailed description of the course of these battles and the whole military situation, I pay attention to some controversial decisions taken by the high command of the Austro-Hungarian army, resulting from frictions and discrepancies between the German and Austro-Hungarian military command. These decisions caused setbacks of particular military operations. World War I and its consequences changed the political map of Europe and brought a dramatic change in the balance of power. The multinational Habsburg monarchy, which long before the outbreak of the Great War wasn’t able to respond and satisfy the demands (political, lingual, cultural etc.) of oppressed nations, ceased to exist. On its ruins, new state raised. By the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak state on democratic principles, Slovakia and the Slovaks entered a new historical era.
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Keywords: migration; Carpathian basin; Ostrogoths; Gepids; Langobards; Slavs;
The author describes the history of tribes residing in the Carpathian basin after expelling Huns. No one of them remained in Central Europe and all of them, victorious and defeated too, completely or partially, left for Italy. He follows the fates of the kings who came after Attila, but most of them remained in his shade, and tribes that defeated Huns or founded their empires in the territory bounded by the Carpathians, the Alps and the Sava river, but except for one they perished before Avars came to the Danube. East Roman Empire´s interest in Central Europe did not fall even after it ceased to be its part and fought for it with Ostrogoths and Franks. However, it was weakened by its wars against Ostrogoths and Persians and Slavic and Bulgarian incursions. The Migration of peoples was a period, in which the Antiquity perished, and the grounds of Middle Ages were laid. Central Europe, including Slovakia did not remain out of these events, it was more than only its part. The events that took place here after Attila´s Empire break-up, affected development in a large part of Europe. It was instable as not only interests of local kingdoms, but also of the Byzantine Empire, Ostrogoths and later also Franks collided here. Only a year after Attila´s death, seven kingdoms arose here, but 20 years later only four of them remained and after next 15 years there were only two of them, the Kingdom of Herules and the Kingdom of Gepids. Later after next 20 years, Heruls were replaced by Langobards who 60 years later destroyed even the last one. Such a turbulent development was not recorded anywhere in Europe. Although all German tribes that in the followed period resided in the Carpathian Basin, at last as a whole or partially left for Italy, a story of each of them is unique. They were led by nobles, commanders and kings, whose names are not unknown even today. Although the period of the Migration of peoples is perceived particularly as the history of kings and tribes, the retinues of kings and tribal leaders were more important than ever before. It was just the retinues transcending a framework of tribes and families that allowed forming mighty tribe unions since the end of the 2nd century. They were an integrating and stabilizing factor, however, in this period the tribes were eroded by them. Later the retinues, formation and spread of the heavy cavalry allowed arising and developing of vassal relations and together with hardening of a hereditary function of the King, an adoption of Christianity and new social relations opened a way to Middle Ages and feudalism.
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Keywords: folk musical culture of Śląsk Cieszyński; folk music; Beskid Śląski
The present monograph is a reflection of the author’s interests which were pursued for many years, which eventually resulted in the research in the musical folklore of Śląsk Cieszyński (especially in places located in its southern part i.e. Beskid Śląski – Istebna, Jaworzynka, Koniaków). It constitutes a natural continuation of previous explorations devoted to the vocal folklore of the Polish minority in Zaolzie (the part of Śląsk Cieszyński which today is a part of the Czech Republic). The purpose of the dissertation was to separate the present phase of the evolution of folk musical repertoire of the aforementioned area in the folklore – folklorism – folk perspective. Therefore the author’s idea had to do with a monographical treatment of the song repertoire in the genre-related and horizontal perspective (a musicological perspective and also an analysis according to the function and the content) and the establishment of its peculiar properties by conducting a comparative analysis of the early material (songbooks which were published since the end of the 19th century), the Zaolzie material and the material that was collected during the field research conducted in the years 2011–2015 in the Trójwsie area (Istebna, Jaworzynka, Koniaków – individual and group interviews). Moreover, the publication features descriptions of the transformations of source folklore – the folk and hybrid material. The author could not disregard the historical and political perspective (hence a chapter devoted to history), which exerted a decisiveinfluence upon the development of the changes and transformations of folk culture (and ofother types of culture as well). The last chapter contains the results of research in the familiarity of the children and young people from the schools of Śląsk Cieszyński (sixth-grade elementary school pupils and third-grade gimnazjum pupils) with the folk repertoire, which complement the present state and the functioning of musical folklore in the area that was discussed. A further merit of the work consists in the fact that until now no monograph devoted to a similar theme was published.
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Keywords: Estonia; Russian Federation; Baltic Republics; the Russian minority in Estonia
After the collapse of the USSR, the issue of national minorities became a very difficult and complex problem for the Baltic Republics. During the soviet times Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were considered as interesting areas to settle in for Russian-speakers. A massive migration into these areas resulted in changes in the demographic structure of the Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian societies. The beginning of 90s 20th century opened a new chapter for the Baltic States. It was a time of the system and society transformation where the process of inclusion and integration was seen to be undoubtedly important. Analysis of the criterion of ethnicity indicates that Lithuania is the most homogeneous country among the Baltic republics with two dominant national groups Poles and Russians, representing 6.8% and 5.6% of the population of the Lithuania society. In Latvia and Estonia, the social structure is much more strongly differentiated, national minorities create more than 30% of the population of these countries, Russians are the dominant minority group. The book examines the case of Estonia and the position of Russians living there, their relations with ethnic Estonians, system of education, religion and participation in social and political life of the state. The Estonian government takes many actions to strengthen the process of integration in the state. The naturalization process and granting the citizenship were often difficult to implement due to the inadequate language skills of many Russians living in the area. A good command of Estonian language is an essential factor that allows for better integration with the society. Russians living in Estonia are supposed to be equally involved in social and political life of the state. The potential of all residents has to be effectively and considerably used, especially when the number of population is decreasing. The position of Russians in Estonia is a major domestic and bilateral issue in the relations with the Russian Federation.
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Keywords: structural transformation; local and regional press; privatization; commercialization; centralization; rationalization; Czech media;
The fall of communism in 1989 brought major social, political and cultural changes in the Czechoslovakia. This book concentrates on changes in one particular segment of the media market, the subsystem of local and regional print media. This segment of the media landscapeis rarely studied although – arguably – it is a significant part of the media system, particularlyas it enables strong identifications at the local/regional level. Czech local and regional press has been the centre of attention in relation to the entry of foreign owners on the market and particularlyin relation to issues of possible media concentration on this segment of the market but concentrated academic study of this subject is seriously lacking. The text aims at mapping structural changes that characterize this segment of the media market between 1989 and 2009. It analyzes political and economic factors that played a role in the transformation and identifies commercialization as a major influence. The book makes use of three research methods: document analysis, semi-structured in-depth interviews, survey and content analysis. The analysis operates at two levels, those of the media system and the media organization and it uses a case study approach for an in-depth analysis of the case of the Vltava-Labe-Press (VLP) publishing house that has become dominant on the Czech local and regional print media market. The main hypothesis that the book addresses is that the influence of commercialization (and its constituting elements on the macro and micro levels) within the transformation process leads to the gradual erosion of the local characteristics (a process we term delocalization) of this particular segment of the media system.
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Keywords: Bohemian lands; Latin written culture; Latin manuscripts; Bohemia; Moravia; early medieval era; transcription of Latin texts;
"The monograph focuses the onset of the Latin written culture in Bohemia and Moravia, especially its sources. Its focus lies on the presentation of manuscript fragments of the early medieval era, which were usually excluded from the codicological discourse or marginalised; most of them are published for the first time. The intrusion of the Latin caroline script in the Bohemian lands is presented on the base of a complex palaeographical and codicological anlysis as a phenomenon, that accompanied the Latin trend of christianisation, which came into the central Danubian region from the ecclesiastical centres of Bavaria during the IXth Cent. From mid-11th century on, the preserved sources show an important transformation: the initial passivity (i. e. dependence of the Bohemian lands upon the import of books from other countries) is transforming into an active participation of Bohemia in the transcriptions of Latin texts. In this period the oldest identifiable scribe school in the Bohemian lands can be traced – the scriptorium in Břevnov monastery founded during the long abbotship of Meginhardus. The book includes coloured pictures of all relevant sources including diagrams visualising the codicological conclusions; codicological and palaeographical registers are added."
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Keywords: Charles Louis de Secondat; Montesquieu; "On the spirit of rights"; "Persian Letters"; enlightenment
The work concerns Montesquieu's relations with Poland from the 18th century to modern times. On the one hand, the author presents the views of the French philosopher and lawyer on the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century, on the other - the reception of his political reflections in Polish Enlightenment journalism. In addition, he discusses the approach to Montesquieu's thought during the partitions of Poland and today. The translations of Montesquieu's works into Polish as well as the resulting directions and the state of research conducted around Poland about his characters were treated separately. The publication ends with own thoughts on the biography and work of the author On the spirit of rights.
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Keywords: post-industrial heritage;artistic freedom;adaptation;transformation,revitalization;architectural heritage;redefinition
The author of the present book reveals the importance and complexity of problems and challenges resulting from the introduction of a new function into an architectural object, when the latter constitutes a part of important cultural heritage. The modern phenomenon of adaptation to a new function has been shown on the one hand as a consequence of the shifting perception of heritage and its protection, and on the other – as an important factor stimulating changes, transformations and redefinitions, not only at the level of interfering with the integrity of material substance, but also in reference to the role of heritage in the social and cultural significance of contemporary cities. The scale of this phenomenon and its impact on the current and future appearance of cities, as well as whether or not the next generations will be able to read the original meaning of its architectural heritage, vital both for the city and its culture, makes these issues particularly interesting today.
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Keywords: neo-Kantianism; Ernst Cassirer; Martin Heidegger
The monograph constitutes a comparative analysis of two different philosophical projects. These projects share a common denominator of neo-Kantianism. This philosophical movement allows to juxtapose the analyzed concepts in relation to both Immanuel Kant’s system and possible post neo-Kantianism, understood as ontological interpretations of transcendentalism. For this reason, Kant’s philosophy is discussed through the prism of Ernst Cassirer’s scheme as a critic of cognition and Martin Heidegger’s theories as a philosopher of the establishment of metaphysics. Taking into account the pre-critical and critical aspect of Kant’s thought, I try to indicate the difference in the intellectual approaches. I reveal the differences in some measure, underpinning the historical and problem analysis (systematic analysis). The monograph consists of five chapters and constitutes an extended version of my doctoral dissertation.
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Keywords: Poland;Jewish culture;history;
A great panorama of the years leading up to the Russian Revolution. The novel focuses on St. Petersburg, Warsaw, and Moscow, and how various people deal with these earth shaking events. They range from powerful millionaires to penniless intellectuals. They are revolutionaries, capitalists, landowners, teachers, students, society women, fighters and political leaders. Warschau is the second volume of the trilogy.
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Keywords: education; language; Latin; basic course; morphology; grammar;
The textbook Basic course in Latin I is designed for beginners. It is divided into 24 units, each of them containing explanation of grammar rules, vocabulary, exercises, and (from unit 7 onward) a short adapted passage of Latin. The grammar explanation includes practical guidelines for translation. The exercises focus not only on practising Latin morphology, but also on understanding relations between morphological forms and the system of Latin grammar. An e-learning workbook with key is available on-line.
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Keywords: podejmowanie decyzji;decyzje kierownicze;zarządzanie;organizacja;praca menedżera;intuicja;proces decyzyjny;
Monografia "Intuicja w podejmowaniu decyzji kierowniczych" stanowi interesującą poznawczo i oryginalną pracę dotyczącą problematyki intuicji w procesach podejmowania decyzji. Przemawia za tym ważkość podjętego problemu i jego wnikliwe ujęcie, oparte na solidnych podstawach teoretycznych, wzmocnione rzetelnymi badaniami empirycznymi. Na podstawie szeroko zakrojonej analizy literatury przedmiotu dokonano udanej konceptualizacji i operacjonalizacji intuicji w praktyce podejmowania decyzji poprzez zaprojektowanie autorskiego narzędzia umożliwiającego pomiar poziomu potencjału intuicyjnego oraz stopnia jego wykorzystania w procesach decyzyjnych. Narzędzie to może być z powodzeniem wykorzystane przez praktyków zarządzania w celu określenia braków kompetencyjnych w tym obszarze. W wyniku realizacji części empirycznej pracy zidentyfikowano i stworzono także typologię determinant wykorzystania intuicji w procesach decyzyjnych oraz dokonano hierarchizacji sytuacji i warunków decyzyjnych wymagających odwołania się do intuicji. Otrzymane w tym obszarze rezultaty mają także wymiar aplikacyjny poprzez uświadomienie decydentom szczególnej roli intuicji w określonych sytuacjach decyzyjnych. Za kolejny wkład w rozwój nauk o zarządzaniu uznać można nakreślenie i empiryczną weryfikację profilu intuicyjnego decydenta. Jako bardzo wartościowy recenzenci wydawniczy monografii ocenili opracowany przez autorkę konceptualny model procesu podejmowania decyzji integrujący intuicję z racjonalną analizą. W trakcie realizacji postępowania badawczego model ten został poddany rekonstrukcji, w wyniku której został sformułowany model empiryczny. W tym modelu sprecyzowano poszczególne etapy oraz podjęto próbę odtworzenia przebiegu procesu decyzyjnego zakładającego współistnienie podejścia intuicyjnego i racjonalnego w praktyce podejmowania decyzji. Zidentyfikowano etapy wspólne dla obydwu podejść oraz te, które je różnicują. Opinie menedżerów przyczyniły się do wyróżnienia faz procesu, w których szczególną rolę odgrywa intuicja, oraz tych o charakterze analitycznym. Efektem dialogu z decydentami było także zidentyfikowanie występujących między poszczególnymi fazami sprzężeń zwrotnych. Dodatkowo model ten został uzupełniony o determinanty, które decydują o przewadze podejścia intuicyjnego lub racjonalnego w realizowanym procesie decyzyjnym. Uzyskane w tym obszarze rezultaty poznawcze z pewnością mogą stanowić punkt wyjścia dla przyszłych zamierzeń badawczych podejmowanych przez przedstawicieli nauki. Przeprowadzone studia literaturowe oraz badania empiryczne na reprezentatywnej grupie przedsiębiorstw pozwalają na sformułowanie implikacji dla praktyki gospodarczej. Podstawową kwestią w tym aspekcie jest uświadomienie decydentom roli intuicji we współczesnych procesach decyzyjnych oraz możliwości jej doskonalenia, a także sformułowanie rekomendacji dla kadry zarządzającej dotyczących perspektyw wykorzystania intuicji w przyszłości. Podsumowując, można stwierdzić, że uzyskane rezultaty poznawcze wnoszą nowe treści do nauk o zarządzaniu, a opracowana monografia jest pierwszą w Polsce pracą, która gruntownie przedstawia problematykę intuicji w procesach podejmowania decyzji kierowniczych w wymiarze zarówno teoretycznym, jak i empirycznym.
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Keywords: theory of culture; cultural history; cultural transformations; social imaginarium; multimedia communication; digital culture
Series: Media i Kultura (1), ISSN 2719-9789 The texts composed in the monograph, however different in assumptions, in the adopted methodology, in the choice of (sometimes point) material that has become the basis for the diagnoses, enter into mutual interactions, creating a space for the participation of cultural researches and and cultural practices. The articles collected in the first part of the volume present a variety of conceptualization of cultural texts, recognize moduses and effects of joining its heritage, point out aspects of its co-creation and use, exhibit and critically analyze the variety of ways of participating in culture. The second part of the volume was dominated by reflections on the situation (and transformation) of the subject, culture, its recipients, and finally: the entire humanities in contemporary media reality. The basic context of the phenomena discussed here by the authors is the digital revolution, the effects of which are still not fully perceptible to us. This situation not only forces researchers to develop new tools and methodologies, but also provokes to ask questions about the opportunities and threats posed by new technologies in building (post) human identity, modifying social communication principles and establishing relationships between high and low culture.
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Keywords: censorship; literature in Post-War Poland; confidential bulletins for censors; censorship offices
Wiśniewska-Grabarczyk’s monograph is based on rich source material and is of great intellectual value. The publication of the book in English will further research on communist censorship in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of comparative analysis.
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Keywords: language; lexis; place names; trees; bushes; Czech language; landscape;
The aim of the publication is to list the chosen Czech, Moravian and Silesian place names which reflect the names of trees, bushes and shrubs. Trees and bushes, especially solitary ones, have drawn people's attention for centuries, for which reason they have served mainly for specifying location, direction or orientation in an area. The book contains the list of some places named after woody plants. In addition, the related municipal locations are recorded in the form of public online maps for the further use of readers. All gathered data must be treated with caution, because the proper names show a specific linguistic characteristic. The author explains that the purpose of the selected proper names is not to transmit an image of the past or contemporary landscape, but she stresses that the proper names themselves can help a great deal to reveal either a past or contemporary mutual relationship between the landscape and its inhabitants.
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Keywords: Francophone African authors; Sub-Saharan Africa; migrations; globalization;
The aim of the book is to look closely at writings of contemporary Francophone African authors from Sub-Saharan Africa by providing their critical analysis in an appropriate historical, social, cultural and literary context. More specifically, on a well-delimited and logically justified corpus of texts it tries to shed some light on crucial contemporary issues of this writing such as postmodern hybridity, métissage, migrations and exiles on the background of contemporary globalized and increasingly interconnected world.
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Keywords: Altaic languages; research history; classification; comparative grammar sketch;
The present monograph represents a manual, summarizing state-of-the-art of the Altaic diachronic linguistics, concentrates on development of linguistic research in the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic and Japonic branches, first descriptive, later comparative. A special attention is payed to history of both the partial and general models of classifications, overview of etymologies of the main ethno- and choronyms and process of establishing the phonetic correspondences within and among the individual branches. For illustration of the common heritage the nominal and pronominal case systems were chosen as examples of the stables subsystems. In details is mapped a history of etymological analysis of the Altaic numerals, including new solutions. The monograph is for linguists, historians, anthropologists and archaeologists interested in Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East.
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