Aim. We demonstrate the modern development of humanitarian and cultural geographic branches within the framework of the interdisciplinary seminar “Cultural Landscape”, (Cultural Geography commission of the Russian Geographical Society), operating since 1993.

Methodology. The research relies on the analysis and generalization of the accumulated experience in determining the relevant topics, forms of presentations and their discussion and organization procedure of the seminar. The answer to the challenges of the time is the implementation of the seminar simultaneously in two formats: face-to-face and online.

Results. The study reflects the publication activities of the seminar, as well as the implementation of projects within the framework of grants from the RFBR, the Russian Foundation for Humanities, the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, the Russian Geographical Society. Three stages of the seminar activities, formed as a response to the requests of the practice, are outlined. The most striking thematic presentations at the seminar are presented.

Research implications. The theoretical significance of the seminar is in the deepening of interdisciplinary scientific research in the field of humanitarian and cultural geography. Its practical significance is the performance of an institutional function, being an integration platform for scientific knowledge of geographers, ethnologists, cultural scientists, museum studies specialists, local historians, etc.

Aim. We analyze the emergence and development of interrelated concepts of economic and cultural types and historical and cultural areas in Soviet ethnography and related fields of American cultural anthropology of the 20th century. A review is presented of the development of interpretations of these terms. A number of regionalisation schemes based on these concepts are critically analyzed and some of the problems and prospects for the possible use of these concepts in historical and cultural geography are assessed.

Methodology. This work is historiographical in nature, and is based on the analysis of the most important publications in the studied fields of domestic ethnography and, in parts, American cultural anthropology.

Results. Some flaws in existing schemes of regionalisation of Eurasia, based on these concepts, are noted; the antecedents of the emergence of these concepts in Soviet ethnography and similarities or differences with the schools of “cultural ecology” and “culture areas” in American cultural anthropology are clarified.

Research implications. The prospects for applying the concepts of economic and cultural types and historical and cultural areas in cultural geography and regional studies are identified; proposals for modifying the terms used to denote these concepts are developed further.

Aim. The purpose of the paper is to develop the concept of geocultural texts on the example of the Black Sea text of Russian literature.

Methodology. Various concepts of local texts based on the research of Russian literature are analyzed. Problems are identified from the point of view of historical and cultural geography. The research relies on the use of such methods as the method of system analysis, historical and geographical method, the cartography method, the mapping method, the semiotic method and the comparative-descriptive method.

Results. The basic provisions of the concept of geo-cultural texts, including their development and interaction, are formulated. The role of geographical imagination in the formation of typical geo-cultural texts is revealed. The primary grounds for the formation of multiple geo-cultural texts are investigated on the example of the Black Sea text of Russian literature.

Research implication. The concept of geo-cultural texts on the example of literary works is proposed. The primary material on the Black Sea text of Russian literature is summarized using the concept of geo-cultural texts. The problems of examining local texts within the framework of historical and cultural geography are outlined. The proposed concept of geo-cultural texts can be used to study various regional texts, i.e. both Russian and other cultures.

Aim. The purpose of the paper is to assess the potential of the creative heritage of the ChineseAmerican geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in the context of the problems and research directions of modern humanitarian geography.

Methodology. The content analysis of Yi-Fu Tuan’s works is performed in connection with studies on the humanist and cultural geography of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which to varying degrees are based on his works or debate with him. Methods of comparative-historical, as well as interpretive and comparative analysis are also used.

Results. We demonstrate the determining role of theoretical and methodological approaches proposed by Yi-Fu Tuan for the study of landscapes through a wide range of human senses, as well as for further research in the field of humanist geography. Tuan adheres to the concept of the dichotomy of space and place, where in an undifferentiated space there are places that arouse some feelings in a person, i.e. affection, fear, and dislike; thereby, these places become subjective, i.e. “humanized”. Using this concept, Tuan proposed the term “topophilia,” which means the liking for a place, and this feeling is not idiosyncratic: most often it is due to historical and cultural reasons (including the iconic system of culture and cosmography) and personal experience. This term and concept formed the basis of numerous studies of the meaning, sense and image of a place. Tuan’s conceptual studies also included examination of the causes of fear of the environment and specific places, which are also due to historical, cultural and personal reasons. In this paper, Tuan’s studies are presented in a broad cultural and geographical discourse. Parallels are also drawn with new scientific directions related to the perception of a place, both static and dynamic (including different tourism directions).

Research implications. The theoretical and/or practical significance of this work is to reveal the significance of the theoretical heritage of Yi-Fu Tuan for certain areas of modern geography and humanities related to the perception and un

Aim. We investigate the patterns of changes in urban landscapes in connection with the renaming of the city.

Methodology. On the basis of the geoconceptual approach and approaches of critical toponymy, the experience of renaming cities in the world is investigated. The main problematic points are identified. Use is made of the method of system analysis, as well as historical-geographical and toponymic methods.

Results. Renaming is considered as a cultural and geographical process characteristic of our time and covering almost all countries and regions. A new place name, or geoconcept, should be considered as a landscape-onomastic innovation. A geoconcept as an innovative place name has connotative meanings reflecting a new idea and revealing a new associative image of a place. Over time, as it is mastered by the local community, the geoconcept becomes a toponym, acting as a basis for the formation of a new territorial identity. In relation to the renaming of cities, we propose a model of the landscape-onomastic cycle, describing the movement of onomastic innovation from its beginning to completion. The cycle includes four phases: origin, design, formation and maturity. The model has been tested on the material of St. Petersburg. With regard to this city, the city of three renaming, we note that, unlike Petrograd, the first Petersburg and Leningrad landscape-onomastic cycles turned out to be complete: they managed to form stable identities (Petersburg and Leningrad) and are well read in the cultural landscape of the city.

Research implication. A conceptual model of the urban landscape-onomastic cycle is developed; it can be used to study the process of renaming not only cities, but also countries, as well as in the study of intra-city and regional renaming. The results of the study are of interest to specialists in cultural and social geography, teachers, students of higher education, and anyone interested in the problems of renaming geographical objects.

Aim. We present an analysis of the correlation of functional and ideological components in the formation and development of the urban landscape.

Methodology. Use is made of the landscape-cultural approach (the study of the associativity of the urban landscape, its understanding as the arena of life and activity of the creators of culture and the appearance of certain cultural phenomena) and landscape-dynamic approach (urban landscapes are considered in the aggregate of more stable components and more variable components, i.e., urban sites and the states of urban landscapes, respectively).

Results. Examples of various cities in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Norilsk, Yoshkar-Ola, etc.) and other countries (Rome, Paris, Helsinki, Skopje, etc.) show (i) how the idea determines the structure of the urban environment, and the change of ideas forms the palimpsest of urban space, and (ii) how the ideas underlying the formation of cities affect the functions performed by the city, and vice versa. The main factors of the formation of urban landscapes, which influence the ratio of the role of function and idea in the space of the city, are considered. The role of the idea (concept) is especially significant in shaping the landscapes of the capitals of states at crucial moments in history. It is shown that the implementation of such ideas by means of urban planning, architecture, monumental sculpture often leads to radical changes in the appearance of the largest cities, especially in their central parts. Quite often, ideas, which are usually carried by the authorities, influence the formation of non-metropolitan cities, especially administrative centers. The centers of cities that bear the imprint of the dominant idea or ideology to the greatest extent may shift in the space of the city over time. In the history of any city, the relationship between an idea and a function is a complex process, during which the ratio of their impact on the formation of the landscape of the city can repeatedly change.

Research implications. The obtained results contribute to the study of patterns of formation and development of urban landscapes in connection with socio-political processes in the respective countries. Application of the results is possible in the field of urban landscape planning.

Aim. We identify the features of the manifestation of the ethnic factor of the imagined capital city in the cultural landscape on the example of Likhoslavl and Olonets.

Methodology. Use is made of field political-geographic expedition, in-depth semi-structured and unstructured interviews, and narrative analysis. The focus of the study is a comprehensive examination of the narrative about the imagined symbolic capital in the context of the ordering of individual experience in accordance with the chain of events or its perception.

Results. In the course of field research in the city of Likhoslavl, in the villages of Chashkovo and Tolmachi, and in the city of Olonets, a total of 20 in-depth interviews were collected for narrative analysis. In this work, the analyzed data are presented in a generalized form. Based on the results of the interview analysis, it is possible to conclude that the respondents perceive the “capital” area as an unfinished (incomplete) narrative, in relation to which a representation is created. In our case, the imagined capitalness’ narrative exists as open to a multitude of perceivers, open to the outside.

Research implications. In the conditions of small towns, the application of cultural and sociopolitical practices to endow the space (cultural landscape) with the meanings of an imagined capital area is considered. The presence of functional relations of the existing narrative about the imagined capital city in Likhoslavl and Olonets with the practices of “generation stages” is revealed. The specificity of the imagined capital positioning of sub-ethnoses of Karelians is determined from the position of local narratives for the incidents of Likhoslavl and Olonets. The imaginary capital of Likhoslavl and Olonets is not inert, but mobile, moving in the symbolic context of spatial subjectivity.

The study of the functioning of the narrative of the imagined capital city of sub-ethnoses of the Karelians opens up a new research field for studying the cultural landscape and socio-political relations at the regional and sub-regional level, which has the potential for further research.

Aim. We identify and conceptualize the symbolic geopolitical capital of the territory, represented by monumental urban space.

Methodology. We examined 515 monuments related to geopolitical topics in 9 model cities of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation. By studying the hierarchies of occurrence of geopolitical dedications in monuments—”geopolitical traces” left by monuments in model cities, an attempt was made to compare the significance for urban symbolic politics of such factors as the capital city status legacy, a specific geopolitical position, the experience of foreign control, and a change of sovereignty.

Results. It is found that the specifics of topics and the parameters of representation of geopolitical symbols correlate with the degree of involvement of the city/region in certain geopolitical events. Geopolitical symbolic capital, represented by the resources of the monumental space in different cities of the North-West of the Russian Federation, is very significantly differentiated by the factors described in the paper. The factor of change of sovereignty over the territory turned out to be by far more significant than the capital city legacy. Symbols of the communist / Soviet expansion are more characteristic of regional capitals. Russian geographical research/discovery/development with a regional connotation (except for Kaliningrad) is the most significant in the monuments of all coastal cities in the sample.

Research implications. In the context of increased attention to geopolitical issues, monuments bearing such a connotation represent a resource for its interpretation and use in order to achieve political dominance in symbolic politics, as evidenced by the large-scale “war of monuments” that has unfolded in the world. At the same time, the significance of urban symbols, fixed and thus “legitimized” in the urban material space, significantly increases the effectiveness of symbolic management based on them.

Aim. We consider literary landscapes that have developed over the past 50 years in such settlements as Polevskaya, Visim and Vsevolod-Vilva, and define the contribution of fiction literature to the formation of the cultural landscape authenticity.

Methodology. Each of the considered landscapes has common structural elements: memorial museums, literary places, historical monuments, natural attractions, development history and development methods. The study of landscapes is based on the literary-geographical approach, as well as historical-functional and geopoetic analysis of the text and tourist product design approach. The research material is the creative heritage of D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak, P.P. Bazhov, B.L. Pasternak, as well as the project activities of literary museums in Visim, Polevskaya and Sysert, Vsevolodo-Vilva.

Results. The literary landscape of Visim is connected with the work of D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak: it is memorial and “realistically authentic” as the work of the writer. It develops through traditional methods of museumification. The literary landscapes of P. P. Bazhov have an associative character, are connected with the heroes of fairy tales, and are evolved in the direction of natural territories development and of industrial area revitalization. In the literary landscape of B. L. Pasternak, natural landscapes are of particular importance; they line up in a series of poetic images of the Urals as a primordial world that is close to the origins of existence. Continuous processes of cultural designing are important for the life and development cycles of each of the literary landscapes, which, in this case, retain their attractiveness.

Research implication. For the first time, landscapes associated with individual periods of the life of D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, P. P. Bazhov, B. L. Pasternak are presented as examples of a single mining landscape. The strategy of successfully developing literary landscapes is applicable to other similar ones.

Aim. We determine the specifics of mapping complex territorial systems, i.e. ethno-cultural landscapes, in order to meet the challenges of preserving languages and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples.

Methodology. The paper uses the cartographic method to study ethnocultural landscapes of indigenous peoples. It examines and analyzes theoretical foundations and various approaches to ethnocultural landscape mapping. The specifics of ethnic culture and regional features of the territory under study are analyzed and thematic datasets are defined. The basic principles of mapping are proposed to be considered on the methodological basis of the systematic approach, which ensures the integrity and interconnectedness of all components of the ethnocultural landscape in mapping.

Results. The need for a special approach to mapping ethnocultural landscapes of indigenous peoples of Russia is identified. The main mapping units are established to display the modern state of ethnocultural landscapes.

Research implications. A comprehensive approach to mapping contemporary ethnocultural landscapes of small indigenous peoples is proposed, making it possible to identify patterns of spatial differentiation and gain insight into the development and transformation of ethnocultural territorial systems. This, in turn, will make it possible to solve a number of strategic tasks for the preservation of unique cultural heritage of Russia’s indigenous minorities.

Aim. The purpose of the paper is to identify the spatial component of the development of Catholicism in China in the 14^th – early 21^st centuries.

Methodology. The historical and geographical analysis of the peculiarities of the development of the Roman Catholic Church within China is employed as the main method. Structural changes in the confessional space of Catholicism in the country are revealed using available statistical data for the period of the 20^th–21^st centuries.

Results. A conclusion is made that the pulsation of Catholicism in the religious landscape is determined by the nature of relationship between the Holy See and secular authorities of China. On the basis of the analysis of statistical sources, we identify the main structural elements of the space of Catholicism in China, i.e. five confessional regions, namely, Northern, Eastern, Southern, Central and Western.

Research implication. A scientific view on the spatial development of Catholicism in China as a result of the interaction of the globalist strategy of Catholicism and the nationally oriented policy of the country’s authorities is justified.

Aim. We analyze the conceptual cultural anthropology of the landscape.

Methodology. Use is made of theoretical and geographical morphology of the cultural landscape, semiotic culturology of Yu. M. Lotman, and concepts of glossematics. Landscape is interpreted in three ways as a component, a projective test and a model of cultural space and culture as such.

Results. The existence of culture in the landscape, the landscape status of culture and the cultural status of the landscape are considered. The morphology of the cultural landscape is interpreted both as the morphology of cultural space and as its model. The methodological metaphor “reading the landscape” is developed.

Research implication. The theoretical significance lies in the final conclusion of the work: the dangers of culture fragmentation consist in the gap between the layers of culture rather than in semiotic “troubles” trivial for culture, local gaps and lacunae, loss of even essential components, difficulties in translating components and a multitude of local loci of semantic chaos due to untranslatability, mutual annihilation of meanings at borders, and inappropriate flows.