DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE QUARANTINE IDEATIONS OF UKRAINIANS: A BRIEF REPORT

Purpose of the study. Research aims at clarification of linguistic semantics of quarantine concept and how it perceived by Ukrainians. Design and Methods. Discourse analysis of written quarantine definitions provided by the 104 russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians (47.1% of women; average age – 41.5). Discovered discourses were classified, quantified and processed with binary logistic regression method. Results. Covid-19 related quarantine is represented in the linguistic consciousness of russian-speaking Ukrainians by a discursive field, which includes at least seven recognizable, semantically autonomous and interconnected discourses: “Contact restriction”; “Sanitation and hygiene”; “Isolation of infected”; “Virus dissemination”; “Lifestyle changes”; “Bureaucratic response”; “Health preservation”. According to the research results, the listed discourses have been specifically interacting with each other and with some non-discursive factors, which creates the discursive formation of the quarantine concept. Implications. Established that the actualization of some discourses is accompanied by the deactivation of specific others, what makes quarantine perception one-sided and biased. The results obtained have an important and potentially useful practical application perspective. Thus, effective epidemiological informing should consider discursive features of quarantine semantics for particular ethnic group of people.

Heirs of Yu the Great: Flood Relief in 1740s China

This article presents a case study of the bureaucratic response to devastating floods that struck northern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces in 1746. It is based on the detailed official directives preserved in an anonymous casebook of administrative correspondence. The work offers revealing glimpses into the world of a senior official striving to balance correct bureaucratic procedure with prompt, meticulous attention to the pressing needs of over 800,000 flood victims. The article highlights some noteworthy features of the approach to flood relief reflected in the casebook, thereby complementing previous scholarship on the state's response to drought in the same period and refining our understanding of some points of procedure. The material arguably represents Qing famine-relief efforts at their peak of conscientiousness, on the eve of a long era of decline. Concluding reflections place the study in a larger, cross-cultural framework, identifying possible implications for the diplomacy of human rights in our own day. L'étude de cas présentée dans cet article porte sur la réponse de la bureaucratie aux inondations dévastatrices qui affligèrent les provinces du Jiangsu et du Anhui en 1746. Elle s'appuie sur les directives officielles détaillées conservées dans un recueil anonyme de correspondance administrative. L'ouvrage livre des aperçus révélateurs de l'univers d'un haut fonctionnaire s'efforçant de jongler entre l'application correcte de la réglementation et une attention immédiate et méticuleuse aux besoins urgents de plus de 800 000 victimes d'inondations. L'article met en lumière quelques traits remarquables des méthodes adoptées pour secourir ces dernières, ce qui permet de compléter les travaux antérieurs consacrés à l'action contre la sécheresse pendant ces mêmes années et d'affiner notre compréhension sur certains points de procédure. Les matériaux analysés représentent probablement les efforts pour combattre la famine sous les Qing au maximum de leur efficacité, avant une longue période de déclin. Les remarques de conclusion replacent cette étude dans une perspective interculturelle plus large et suggèrent de possibles implications pour la diplomatie des droits de l'homme aujourd'hui même.