Topical Issues of Philology & Linguistic Didactics Discussed at ASU

On May 17, an international scientific conference dedicated to the current anniversary of Honorable Professor Emma Kopylova of Astrakhan State University took place at ASU.

Researchers from a large number of Russian cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Belgorod, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Saransk, Astrakhan, etc.) and from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, the Czech Republic, and Japan came to take part in this conference. About 100 papers in a number of fields were presented.

Prof. Liudmila Kasyanova, Dean of our Department of Philology & Journalism, gave a welcoming speech. Prof. Tatyana Vostrikova told about the milestones of Professor Emma Kopylova’s research activities. As for Prof. Kopylova herself, she shared her memories when she developed the Dictionary of Fishermen of Volga-Caspian Region, which is well-known for national philologists and ethnographers. Prof. Zukhra Agleeva paid special attention to the significance of Prof. Kopylova’s anthropologic research and analyzed the present-day statistics of naming babies in our multicultural region. Prof. Gennady Isaev commented on elements of theological stylistics by Ryurik Ivnev, who was a Russian poet, novelist and translator. Mr. Shamil Sirazhetdinov, who wrote a number of books and articles related to Astrakhan Region’s history, told about influence that Prof. Kopylova’s research exerted on dialect lexicography; he also commented on collection of authentic folklore of the village of Novye Bulgary. Dr. Victor Victorin emphasized necessity of further research of specific linguistic and cultural features of ethnic communities residing in Astrakhan Region. Mr. Alexander Ilyushko from Volgograd and Ms. Svetlana Sokadzho, a school teacher, have been collecting materials about Mikhail Lukonin’s life and artistic works to make a film about this poet; it was the theme of Mr. Ilyushko’s report at the conference.

In their reports, the speakers concerned the significance of Prof. Kopylova’s research, as well as topical issues of anthroponomics, toponymy, language and culture studies, regional lexicography, literary critique, and regional studies.

Both mature researchers and young students spoke at the section sessions. The agenda of the section “Works by Astrakhan Region’s Writers & Poets” included laureates of the international conference “My Literary Land”, researches of artistic works by Gaziza Samitova, an Astrakhan poetess, and students of Secondary School #74.

Reports by the conference participants concerned various issues; the speakers applied interesting approaches to solve topical issues of modern philology and linguistic didactics.