TRADITIONAL FORUM OF RUSSIAN AFRICANISTS

T. M. GAVRISTOVA

Doctor of Historical Sciences, P. G. Demidov YarSU

A. Y. ZHELTOV

Doctor of Philology, Faculty of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg State University / MAE RAS

russian School of African Keywords:, D. A. Olderogge

On April 24-26, 2013, the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University hosted Readings in memory of D. A. Olderogge*, which are among the most representative scientific events in the field of African studies held in Russia over the past few decades. This year's Readings coincided with the 110th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding scientist. The conference was attended by researchers specializing in the problems of the African continent, who came from different cities of our country and abroad: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Paris. The Readings are organized by the Department of African Studies of St. Petersburg State University and the Department of African Ethnography of the MAE RAS.

Recently, the conference has been held every two years as an integral part of the forum "International Scientific Conference on Source Studies and Historiography of Asian and African Countries", held this year for the 27th time and entitled "Current problems of historiography of Asian and African countries:" Traditionalism "and" Revolutionism"in the East". The successful holding of the Readings was facilitated by the publication of a collection of theses, 59 of which related to various sections of African studies.

The conference program included 55 reports, the vast majority of which actually took place, and both well-known African scientists and young researchers were represented. The readings included a plenary session and three sections - "History and international relations of African countries", "Ethnography, Art, literature of the peoples of Africa" and "African Linguistics".

During the plenary session (chaired by Professor N. V. Gromov, Ph. D., Lomonosov Moscow State University), Academician A. B. Davidson of the Russian Academy of Sciences (HSE, Moscow) presented reports on "Dmitry Alekseyevich Olderogge - as I knew him for 40 years, since 1948"; Professor, Professor Philip Cassuto (University of Provence, France) "Hausa Versions of the Old Testament in Typological light"; Professor V. F. Vydrin (Faculty of SPbU / INALCO-LLACAN, Paris) " New Trends in African Linguistics: a Corpus Professor, Doctor of Philology A. Y. Zheltova (Faculty of SPbU/ MAE RAS) "On recent expeditions to Africa: results, problems, prospects".

Academician A. B. Davidson shared his memories of D. A. Olderogge, the recognized founder of the Russian School of African Studies, and spoke about the influence of the historical (Soviet) era on the scientist's scientific work.

In the report of V. Ya. Porkhomovsky and F. A. The theoretical and methodological aspects of Old Testament translations were also considered. The authors analyzed their specifics in the context of the African material.

V. F. Vydrin, who is the head of an international research project on creating a corpus of the Brahman language, focused on the current state of one of the most promising areas of modern linguistics - corpus linguistics in the context of its application to African languages.

A. Y. Zheltoe spoke about the latest field studies of St. Petersburg Africanists who participated in the expedition to Adamaua (Nigeria), presenting an overview of the materials obtained on the languages, ethnography and material culture of the region.

The work of the sections, which took place on April 25-26, was characterized by the participation of not only recognized specialists in African studies, but also young scientists - undergraduates and postgraduates from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Paris. This circumstance pos-

* D. M. Olderogge (23.04.1903-30.04. 1987)-Russian Africanist, ethnographer, historian and linguist, one of the founders of African studies in the USSR and organizer of the museum business; corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1960), winner of many orders and medals. Author of works on Egyptology, as well as on the history, ethnography, culture, art and languages of the peoples of Tropical Africa.

It allows us to hope for the continuation of the traditions laid down by D. A. Olderogge.

At the section "History and International Relations of African Countries", which was chaired by Doctor of Historical Sciences Yu. N. Vinokurov (IAfr RAS, Moscow), Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences T. M. Gavristova (P. G. Demidov YarSU, Yaroslavl), Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences E. S. Lvova (ISAA MSU, Moscow), reports of participants from Moscow, Yaroslavl, St. Petersburg were heard, problems of source studies and historiography, political, social, cultural history of the continent and the diaspora were considered.

Yu. N. Vinokurov's report "Sources on the modern history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: speech of the DRC President L.-D. Kabila to representatives of the People's Power Committees on January 21, 1999" was devoted to a poorly studied document. In addition to his detailed analysis, the author made an attempt to reconstruct the biography of L.-D. Kabila in the context of the history of the state and the continent.

T. M. Gavristova in her report "The formation of modern historical science in Africa: the search for identity" focused on the study of the phenomenon of historical research. In her opinion, the specificity of historical science in Tropical Africa consists, on the one hand, in its absolute undifferentiation, and on the other - in the fact that the development of scientific infrastructure is faster than the development of science itself, which determines the activation of attempts by writers and artists to integrate into the field of research.

In the report of Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences A. L. Yemelyanov (MGIMO, Moscow) "The Malagasy Embassy to Europe and America 1882-1883 based on the materials of the Madagascar Archive", the issue of "historical rights in the territory"acquired a new sound. The author managed to reconstruct the situation that developed in Madagascar at the end of the XIX century, identify the main activities of the embassy and interest the audience with entertaining sketches from the life of Malagasy people.

E. S. Lvova's report "Dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the First Congress of the Peoples of Africa" touched upon the problem of interrelation of African ethnic groups, their cooperation and consolidation.

The report of K. I. I. L. V. Ivanova (IVI RAS, Moscow) "Information society in Africa: modernization and tradition (mobile technologies in Africa)"aroused great interest and wide resonance. The distribution and use of mobile communications in Tropical Africa, in urban and rural areas, was examined in the context of socio-economic and gender history.

The report of V. Maniragen (Faculty of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg State University) "The war in Rwanda 1990-1994: the source of the current instability in the Great Lakes region of Africa" was devoted to the tragic events of the continent's history. The author's testimonies, based on personal experience and personal observations, when-

they attracted the audience's attention and resulted in a discussion of the problems of genocide and the Holocaust.

Graduate student N. A. Vlasova (YarSU) in her presentation on "Social significance and foundations of cooperation between international humanitarian organizations and national art associations (on the example of Sudan)" proposed an original version of the actualization of creative activity in a country with a low level of literacy, where the visual arts are actually "put at the service of society".

Graduate student E. G. Tsvetkov (YarSU) in his report "Yaroslavl Region in the system of Soviet-African relations in the 1960s - 1980s" demonstrated that the use of regional materials in the study of contacts between the USSR and Africa is not only possible, but can also lead to very interesting results. The use of prosopography techniques * allowed us to reveal a number of important details of the everyday and ethno-political history of Africa, reconstruct the lifestyle and thinking style of Soviet citizens who worked in Tropical Africa.

Graduate student A. S. Sharova (YarSU) focused on the history of this people living on the territory of Mali in her report "Catch-up under the rule of the French". Identification of the mechanisms of interaction between the French colonial administration and local rulers, a detailed study of the influence of the colonial authorities on the life of the tribe made it possible to conclude that the Dogon subjugation process was long and "sluggish", which was largely due to the specifics of their traditional way of life. Graduate student N. E. Khokholkova (YarSU) in her report "Afrocentrism in the context of globalization: a mechanism for replicating ideas", accompanied by a fascinating presentation of visual materials, not only outlined the main directions for spreading the teachings of Molefi Kete Asante (one of the radical forms of Afrocentrism in the United States), but also identified cross-cultural connections and interactions that are possible in the context of globalization contributes to the unity of African-Americans and Africans.

As some general results of the section's work, it is possible to mention the obvious updating of the methodological base of research through the use of methods of multi-factor analysis, as well as sociological, psychological and linguistic tools.

The section "African Linguistics" presented reports based on field linguistic work and related to African language families: Bantu, Adamaua, Kwa, Atlantic, Semitic. The study of Mande languages was most widely presented, which is explained by the successful work of the linguistic expedition to West Africa, which has been going on for more than ten years under the leadership of V. F. Vydrin.

The section "Ethnography, Art, literature of the peoples of Africa" covered the traditional topic of traditional culture in its most diverse manifestations-from social organization and traditional cults to art, written monuments and folklore. Different geographical areas were represented, with Ethiopian studies dominating.

A scientific conference is not only meetings and reports, but also an opportunity for free informal communication and open discussion: Discussions, which were characterized by friendliness and freedom, continued during round tables and on the sidelines of the forum.

With the end of the conference, scientific life should not stop. At the end of 2013, it is planned to publish a traditional edition related to the Readings - the "African Collection". "African Collection -2013" will be the fourth edition of the series. Its publication will reflect the achievements of modern Russian African studies in the widest possible thematic range.

Prosopography is a special historical discipline that studies the biographies of historical figures belonging to a particular era. The name comes from Greek. 0æ00ø000 - "person, person", and ^a æ00ø - "writing". The prosopographic method is used in the process of studying biographies within the boundaries of historical and scientific research. This is a method of creating collective biographies; a method of reconstructing images of prominent figures of the past and present.

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