Geographical Problems in Climatology,Hydrology and Glaciology over the Last 50 Years

A survey of Soviet research focuses on climatic fluctuation and its causes, the geographical aspects of hydrology, and work on Arctic, Antarctic and mountain glaciation. The Physical-Geographic Atlas of the World, published in 1964, is used as an illustration of the result of Soviet research in these fields. Problems of transformation of the water budget and of climate are viewed as research fields of the future.     

Futurology in Soviet Geography

A review article of recent Soviet futurological articles in the geographical literature, suggesting the increased activity of Soviet geographers in the prognostication of the environmental effects of human activity. Several of the papers under review appeared in Soviet Geography: Review and Translation.     

Soviet dilemmas

Archie Brown and Michael Kaser (eds), Soviet Policy for the 1980s, London, Macmillan, 1982, pp.282. £7.95 (paper)

David Childs, The GDR: Moscow's Ally, London, Allen & Unwin, 1983, pp.346. $19.95 (paper)

Ferenc Fehér and Agnes Heller, Hungary 1956 Revisited. The Message of a Revolution — a Quarter of a Century After, London, Allen & Unwin, 1983, pp.174. $29.95 (cloth)

Paul G. Lewis (ed.) Eastern Europe: Political Crisis and Legitimation, London & Sydney, Croom Helm, 1984, pp.202. $33.95 (cloth)

Borys Lewytzhyj, Politics and Society in Soviet Ukraine 1953–1980, Edmonton, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1984, pp.219. Can. $6.95 (paper)

Roy Medvedev, Khrushchev, Oxford, Blackwell, 1982, pp.292. $15.95 (paper)

Zhores Medvedev, Andropov: His Life and Death, Oxford, Blackwell, 1984, pp.255. $12.95 (paper)     

Some Achievements and Problems in Soviet Cartography

A review of the last 50 years finds that the traditional breakdown of Soviet cartography into its specialized research disciplines no longer conforms to current needs. Soviet cartography has been divided historically into mathematical cartography, map science (the study of maps and their uses), map compilation and editing, map design and production. A growing specialization in cartography by thematic disciplines (geomorphic mapping, agricultural mapping, etc.) with widely differing requirements and principles of compilation and editing suggests the need for a restructuring of the research disciplines. In addition to mathematical cartography, concerned with map projections and map measurements, the new structure would include: technical cartography (the study of source materials, map design and production); natural-historic cartography (principles of compilation and editing of maps of the physical environment), and socioeconomic cartography (concerned with the mapping of human phenomena).     

Soviet Cultural Legacy in Tajikistan

This paper is a report on the Soviet cultural legacy in Tajikistan. It takes an in-depth look at the institutions that were created to manage artistic and cultural activities, budgeting, training and promotion under the Soviets. The paper suggests that, except for art and culture related to religion, other genres were enhanced, albeit with an emphasis on ideology. However, independence in 1992, along with the civil war that erupted immediately afterwards, had a devastating effect on art and culture in Tajikistan and on the lives of the artistic community. The paper is part of a comprehensive study of post-Soviet art and culture in Central Asia in the critical years immediately after the Soviet collapse. For this study, over one hundred interviews were conducted with officials, musicians, dancers, writers and singers, as well as visits to centers of art and culture in those republics.     

浪下三吴求庄重 云横九派自飘逸——谈概述的体式、文风与写作

文章认为概述体裁的形成经历了六个阶段;首轮志书概述体武名称五花八门,应当庄重统一;概述的文风不同于记、志、传,可以使用述而有作的“快笔”和述而有论的“论笔”,注重文采,注重叙事,适当运用赋比兴等修辞手法;同时概述写法上要继承叙故事的史家法度。     

苏区时期的"赤白对立"--阶级革命中的非阶级现象

赤白对立是指苏维埃区域与非苏维埃区域之间的对立,出现于苏区周边地区,它不是由土地革命加剧的阶级间的对立,而是一种非阶级的由多种因素引发的以地域为中心的冲突。赤白对立的出现,既有中共自身的原因,也有国民党方面的推波助澜,还缘于社会革命与社会组织间的内在冲突。就中共方面看,前期和后期造成这一现象的原由也不尽相同。赤白对立给中共开展革命造成很大不利影响,某种程度上成为苏维埃时代的一个痼疾。