Cultural Forum

Integrating topic-based and cause-and-effect approaches in geography education: A psycholinguistic perspective on cultural learning

2025-04-15T08:32:52+00:00

This article explores the integration of topic-based and cause-and-effect approaches in teaching culture through geography at Interclass, a bilingual school in Ukraine. By combining these methods, students develop a deeper understanding of how geography influences cultural development while enhancing their cognitive and linguistic skills. The psycholinguistic perspective highlights how structured knowledge delivery supports students in processing complex information, fostering critical thinking, and strengthening bilingual literacy. The study demonstrates that integrating thematic exploration with causal reasoning enriches students’ learning experiences, making geography more engaging and meaningful, leading to a deeper understanding of culture through metacognitive schemes.

Neuroplastic narratives under scrutiny: A critical medical humanities investigation of brain adaptation, psychosocial stressors, and gendered subjectivities in contemporary speculative fiction

2025-04-15T08:40:20+00:00

This article examines the intersection of neuroscience and literature through a critical medical humanities lens, focusing on how contemporary speculative fiction depicts neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to adapt, in relation to psychosocial stressors and gendered experiences. By exploring narratives that critique neuroscientific perspectives, highlight structural inequalities, and reimagine gendered experiences of neurological resilience and vulnerability, the study underscores speculative fiction’s ability to challenge dominant biomedical frameworks. It emphasizes the genre’s role in bringing sociocultural dimensions of brain adaptation to the forefront, fostering connections between scientific exploration and humanistic critique, and opening pathways for interdisciplinary dialogue.

Human-divine communication in “The Nine Songs”: A symbolic anthropological perspective

2025-05-23T06:49:01+00:00

This paper focuses on the theme of human-divine communication in the shamanic rites in Chu ci, uses “The Nine Songs” as the object of study, and discusses the functions and cultural connotations of four types of symbols in the process of human-divine communication, namely natural symbols, animal symbols, artifact symbols, and behavioral symbols. Natural symbols, such as thunder and lightning, as well as the sun and the moon, reflect the reverence and worship of the Chu people for the natural world. Animal symbols, such as dragons and phoenixes, symbolize sanctity and dignity. Artifact symbols, such as sacrificial vessels and musical instruments, serve as mediums in the rituals and strengthen the connection between humans and divinities. Behavioral symbols, such as dances and singing, embody the ways in which shamans interact with divinities. These symbols not only enrich the artistic expression of Chu ci, but also profoundly embody the unique religious beliefs, cultural concepts, and social structure of Chu.

The concept of the universal folk culture by M.M. Bakhtin in the optics of modern times

2025-05-28T09:23:10+00:00

M. M. Bakhtin, a 20th-century Russian philosopher and literary critic, brought his ideas about carnival and polyphony to the analysis of literature and art. And one of the unexpected examples in which the influence of his thought can be seen is the novel “The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin” by V. N. Voinovich. The story of Ivan Chonkin’s life and his prodigious adventures presents an interesting and multifaceted image that can be viewed through the prism of some ideas of M.M. Bakhtin. The reader watches the miraculous transformation of the hero—from an ordinary soldier to a lieutenant colonel. The paper analyzes Bakhtin’s famous concept of the universal folk culture originating from the folk laughter culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The authors trace parallels between the ideas of M.M. Bakhtin and the ongoing adventures of V. N. Voinovich’s hero and illustrate their theses with examples showing active interaction between culture and society of different time periods. The lack of controversial discussions on the concept of ‘folk culture’ in the 21st century has weakened the depth of its theoretical application; thus, the article contributes to elaborating on this vector of study.