The Project Members

Svetlana Borisovna Adonyeva was born in Leningrad in 1963. In 1986 she graduated from Leningrad State University. In 1990 she defended her  thesis for the Candidate of Science degree (“The Wonder Tale in the Context of Traditional Culture”/«Волшебная сказка в контексте традиционной культуры»), and in 2004 her thesis for  the Doctor of Science degree (“The pragmatics of Folklore" /«Прагматика фольклора»). Since 1989 she has been teaching in the Department of the History of Russian Literature at St. Petersburg State University and has been in charge of  field- work research in the Russian North. She created one of the first informational resources (1998), dedicated to Russian traditional culture and present-day symbolic practices: www.folk.ru. She is the author of numerous scientific publications, including the books “Category of the Non-present Tense”/«Категория ненастоящего времени» (2001), “ The Pragmatics of Folklore”/«Прагматика фольклора» (2004), “Spirit of the Folk and Other Spirits”/«Дух народа и другие духи» (2004), “Symbolic Order”/«Символический порядок» (2011). She is a philologist, folklorist and cultural anthropologist, Doctor of Philological Sciences, professor of the Department of the History of Russian Literature (Philological Faculty, St. Petersburg State University), and a leading researcher of the Russian Institute for  the History of the Arts. She was co-founder of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture” and since 2011 she has been head of the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”.

Inna Sergeyevna Veselova was born in Volgograd in 1971. In 1994 she graduated from the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University and in 2000 defended her thesis for the Candidate of Science degree (“The Genres of  Contemporary Urban Folklore: Narrative Traditions”/«Жанры современного городского фольклора: повествовательные традиции») at the Russian State Humanitarian University. She is a philologist, cultural anthropologist, Candidate of Philological Sciences, docent of the Department of the History of Russian Literature (Philological Faculty, St. Petersburg State University). She is a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture”. She leads the annual Philological Faculty folklore-anthropological expeditions to the Russian North and head  a number of scientific projects, funded by Russian and international grants. Inna Veselova has developed a number of thematic electronic resources, including: “Russian Folklore in Contemporary Recordings”/«Русский фольклор в современных записях», “Museum of Biographies: The Russian Provinces in the XX Century”/«Музей биографий. Русская провинция. ХХ век» and is the author of numerous scientific publications, editor and compiler of several co-authored monographs and collections of articles, including “Contemporary Urban Folklore”/«Современный городской фольклор» (2003), “Speech and Ritual Culture of the Russian North. Philological Practicum”/«Речевая и обрядовая культура Русского Севера. Филологический практикум» (2012), “The Cheburashka Complex, or Society of Obedience”/«Комплекс Чебурашки, или Общество послушания» (2012). Since 2011 she has been co-leader of the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”.

Yuliya Yuryevna Marinicheva was born in Leningrad in 1984. In 2007 she graduated from the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. In 2009 she defended her thesis for a Master's degree at the Faculty of Anthropology of the European University in St. Petersburg (“Names and Forms of Address in Russian Animal Tales”/«Именования и обращения в русских сказках о животных»). In the same year she defended a thesis for a Master's degree at the Philological Faculty of the St. Petersburg State University (“Correct” and “Incorrect” forms of praise in  the Russian North: Notes on Speech Etiquette”/ «Правильная» / «неправильная» похвала на Русском Севере: заметки о речевом этикете»). In 2012 her thesis for the degree Candidate of Science was accepted (“Russian Animal Tales: Historiography, Plots and Characters”/"Русские сказки о животных: историография, сюжеты и персонажи"). She is a philologist and cultural anthropologist, Candidate of Philological Sciences, senior lecturer in the Department of the History of Russian Literature (Philological Faculty, St. Petersburg State University). She is a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture” and a permanent participant in the folklore-anthropological field work of the Philological Faculty in the Russian North. She is the author of a number of scientific articles, including those in the collection “The Cheburashka Complex, or Society of Obedience”/«Комплекс Чебурашки, или Общество послушания» (2012). Since 2011 she has participated in the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”.

Andrey Victorovich Stepanov was born in Leningrad in 1972. In 1996 he graduated from the Bonch-Bruevich St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications and in 2008 from the Historical Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. He is an anthropologist and works for the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. He is a curator of the thematic Internet-resources: www.folk.ru, www.folk.spbu.ru, www.pragmema.ru. He is a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture”. His research interests include the ethno-phenomenology of the Russian North, the anthropology of space and visual anthropology. He is the author of a number of articles and publications devoted to the culture of the Russian North.

Liliia Fyodorovna Petrova (Matvievskaya) was born in Leningrad in 1988. In 2012 she graduated from the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. She is a philologist, cultural anthropologist and designer-illustrator. She is a curator of the thematic Internet-resource www.pragmema.ru, co-author and designer of the production series “Russian Clay Toys” and a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture”. Since 2013 she has been involved with the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”, becoming a permanent member of the project in 2015.

Olga Levitski is an independent scholar, affiliated with The Centre for Humanities-based research in the Sphere of Traditional Culture named after V.Y.Propp. Olga has obtained her graduate degree from the University of St.-Petersburg, Russia, specializing in comparative folklore under Professor V.I. Eremina. Olga also holds an MA in Theoretical linguistics from York University, Toronto, Canada, and is a member of The International Society for Folk Narrative Research. Olga has taken part in the folklore and ethnography expeditions to Archangel and Vologda regions (1980-1987; 2001). In 1992, she has conducted a field work in Kiryat-Ata, Israel (project name “Yiddish proverbs in Soviet orthography”), as well as conducted socio-linguistic field research on trilingual code-switching in Toronto, Canada (2003-2005, York University) and on immigrant languages - the project “Heritage Languages” (2009, University of Toronto).

She has been teaching various courses in Linguistics in York University, University of Ottawa and University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. She has authored several publications on comparative folklore.

Co-authoring and publication of research communications in English

Sofia Kupriyanova is a folklorist, an anthropologist,  born in Leningrad in 1986. In 2010 she graduated from the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. In 2012 she defended her master's thesis on the topic "Culture of Rocking in the Cradle and the Tradition of Lullabies." In 2016 she defended her graduation classification work “The Tradition of Lullabies in Russian Culture” at the graduate school of the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University in the direction of “Folkloristics”. Since 2004, a participant of expeditions to the Russian North of St. Petersburg State University. An author of scientific articles and reports on lullabies and the practice of childbirth in the Russian North. An independent researcher by non-profit organization «The Propp Centre for Humanities-based research in the Sphere of Traditional Culture» (St. Petersburg, Russia).
Field of the interest: folklore of motherhood and childhood, body techniques, daily routine practices

Liubov Golubeva is a folklorist and anthropologist, born in Vologda in 1984. In 2008 she graduated with a B.A. from the Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. In 2010 she defended her master's thesis on the topic " The Initiating and Initiated in the Rite of Giving Birth: The Conflict of  a Discourse and a Practice» («Посвящаемые и посвящающие в родильном обряде: конфликт дискурса и практики».). In 2017 she defended her graduation classification work “Textile collections in Female narratives and practices” (Тканевые коллекции в женских нарративах и практиках»). Since 2003, a participant of expeditions to the Russian North of St. Petersburg State University. Since 2017 - an independent researcher at the non-profit organization «The Propp Centre for Humanities-based research in the Sphere of Traditional Culture» (St. Petersburg, Russia). A coauthor of the monograph Rituals of Disaster: Anthropological Sketches. A member of  the editorial board  of the series «Traditional folklore in contemporary records»

Angelina Potasheva was born in Saint Petersburg in 1998. In 2021 she graduated from St. Petersburg State University. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Russian Philology after having defended a graduation thesis "Attributes of magic rituals". Since 2018, she is a participant in the folklore expeditions to the Russian North, organized by St. Petersburg State University. She is a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture”. Since 2021, she has participated in the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”.

Nadezhda Kurzina was born in Saint Petersburg in 1992. Since 2010, she is a participant in the folklore and ethnography expeditions to the Russian North, organized by St. Petersburg State University. In 2015 she obtained her Bachelor's degree after having defended a graduation thesis: "Folklore and ritual context of social status: Molodka. Russian North". In 2017 she defended her thesis for a Master's degree on the topic: "«Maiden’s will and woman’s trouble»: Female characters in the fairytales of the Russian North". Since 2018 she is a member of the Non-profit Organization “The Propp Centre: Humanitarian Studies in the Sphere of Traditional Culture” and a participant in the research project “Primary Signs, or Pragmemas”.