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Дороги и перекрестки. Сборник статей к 85-летию С.Ю. Неклюдова
We have titled this collection “Roads and Crossroads”, referring to the academic landscape and, above all, to Sergei Yuryevich’s own trajectory within it — the evolution of his scholarly thought, from his earliest publications of abstracts for presentations at the Tartu schools to the monographs of the 2010s and 2020s. The honoree’s scholarly paths form a network that begins with narrow trails and then broadens into wide roads, all of which are interconnected in one way or another. These roads have many intersections — between the plots and motifs of various oral traditions; between folklore and literature; between his own discoveries and those of his colleagues. These intersections and coincidences are often surprising, stimulate the mind, set new directions, and determine the trajectories of movement. And in this sense, the title “Roads and Crossroads” also describes the scholarly paths of Sergei Yuryevich’s colleagues and students — many of whom he inspired to study folklore, suggesting directions of movement and warning them of dangers along these paths; while crossing paths with others at various points in this magical space — whether folkloristic-mythological or scientific-research-oriented, though is there really a need to distinguish between them? And, of course, the title of the collection reflects its content—it features those branches of folklore studies and those themes that are close to the honoree’s heart and into which the authors were inspired to delve by his influence, whether direct or indirect. Indeed, all the articles in this collection reveal points of intersection with Sergei Yuryevich’s works and ideas.