Editorial Board article
The journal Philological Class was founded in 1996 by the outstanding Russian specialist in literary studies, Professor of Ural State Pedagogical University Naum Lazarevich Leiderman. The scholar treated the title of the journal as a combination of two meanings: it should be a certain “class” – a “school by professionals and for professionals” – and a concrete form of implementation of new educational conceptions.He also suggested the basic sections: "Concepts, Programs, Projects..."; "Invitation to Dialogue"; "Rereading the Classics"; "The Image of Modern Language: The Rhetorical Aspect"; "Slow Reading"; "Preparing for the Lesson". N. L. Leiderman invited like-minded authors, such as the famous philologists N.E. Boguslavskaya, I.V. Kukulin, M.N. Lipovetskiy, M.E. Rut, V.P. Sinyachkin, N.D. Tamarchenko, V.I. Tyupa, Yu.N. Chumakov to take part in the work of Philological Class. Philological Class was the favorite creation of Naum Lazarevich. He was a strict and demanding editor, and the high level of professionalism, set by the scholar, made it possible for an interesting and useful journal to be born.
A regional publication for teachers of Russian and Literature at the time of its creation, the journal has long surpassed the regional Ural level. At present, the journal deals with the issues of modern linguistics and literary studies, publishes serious reflections on innovative technologies, discusses urgent problems of the study and teaching of the language and literature, and poses research hypotheses.
Philological Class strives to organize and promote scholarly convincing dialogue between the supporters of various theoretical-methodological approaches, which has called forth the creation of new sections and the specification of information boundaries of the existing ones: "Problems of Modern Linguistics"; "Trajectories of the Modern Literary Process"; "Issues of Global Literature Poetics"; "Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language".
The Department founded by Naum Lazarevich, Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication, and the Founder “Ural State Pedagogical University” have contributed much for development and promotion of the journal.
Journal Structure
The following sections constitute the journal profile:
- Conceptions. Programs. Hypotheses.
The section publishes promising scientific hypotheses in the field of literary studies and linguistics, called upon to create the journal field of discussion as well as author's projects of teaching language and literature at university and school. Research materials can match other topics published on the journal site in case they are considered interesting for the academic community.
- Problems of Modern Linguistics
The section publishes articles on urgent issues of modern linguistics, and specifically: theory and history of the language, linguocognitology and communicative studies, lexicography and corpus linguistics, as well as on questions of linguistic investigation of text and discourse. Special focus is given to conceptual works presenting the results of fundamental research developing the theory and methodology of urgent areas in linguistics.
- Literary Russian Studies in the countries of Eastern, Western Europe and the USA
Researches in this section is determined with sections headed by Lead Guest Editors. These works are researches in the field of Russian literature by foreign authors. The sections may represent a dialogue between Russian scientists and specialists from other countries.
- Rereading Russian Classics
The section focuses on new interpretations of works of classics undertaken on the basis of modern analytical strategies and new approaches to well-known texts in the context of perceptive esthetics.
- Problems of Poetics of Foreign Literature
The section is dedicated to the articles that research the work of bright representatives of world literature. Preference is given to materials made in English, French, and German languages and analyzing works of foreign literature in the original language.
- Trajectories of the Literary Process of the 20th – early 21st Centuries
The published materials explore the Russian and foreign classics of the 20th -21st centuries offering new interpretations and analysis of “landmark” and contemporary works of literature from the positions of comparative studies, genre theory, and discursive and narratological analysis. The papers devoted to the alternative history in the dynamics of genre embodiment and the genre of literary studies reconstruction of classical works of fiction are welcome.
- The Mystery of a Children's Book
Children's reading helps to awaken a sense of personality, gives an idea of human dignity, allows you to start a conversation about a large and complex, not always fair world.
- From the Writing Table of a Scholar / a Young Scholar
The section covers research materials distinguished by the novelty of methodological approaches and hypothetical orientation, and representing urgent areas of linguistics and literary studies.
- Slow Reading
The aim of the given section is to publish literary text research based on the modern theoretical ideas and original methods of analysis. Such analyses, demonstrating top quality skills of text interpretation, may serve as benchmarks of philological proficiency, and may be used in practical teaching at higher and secondary school.
- Theory and Methods of Teaching Philological Disciplines at Higher and Secondary School
The section presupposes exploration of the main problem areas of modern methods of teaching language and literature, and functions as a forum for discussion with relation to controversial issues of teaching philological subjects at higher and secondary school.
- Russian in Multicultural Interaction
The section presents scholarly papers dealing with the issues of the study of the Russian language in comparison to other world languages and with the problems of multicultural communication. Attention is also paid to the works focusing on the study of the socio-cultural status of the Russian language in the intercultural space and to enhancing the impact of the Russian language abroad.
- Reviews
The section carries analytical reviews of conferences and academic and scholarly-methodological research works.
Journal Mission
The mission of Philological class is to enter a new level of presentation of research results and educational conceptions and to bring academic research closer to the theory and practice of teaching philological disciplines at higher and secondary school. The task to ensure a broad international scope of the papers and to deepen contacts with the global academic community in various fields of the humanities is equally important for the journal. This fact explains the journal policy to invite Lead Guest Editors to supervise the work of the sections oriented towards the modern science trends and to prepare research results for publication.