The object of the article are aspects of penitentiary system of Russian Federation based on two pints of view: Polish and Russian. The aim is to highlight the essence, the content and range but also conditioning and tendencies for changes in the context of international ambitions and role of Russia but also widely knowing term like security of nation I case of penitentiary system of such country. Popularised and worked out in 2006 by European Prison Rules (Recommendations Rec (2006)2) the idea of normalisation, meaning minimalization some effects of imprisonment, will have a long way to find appropriate using in Russian penitentiary practice, which is directed mostly on giving a penalty for somebody. It is such seen both by the society and the government. The most accurate opinion is management policy of Federal Prison Service became as it were the model of country in which monopoly to rule belong to weight structures. In all, there is no humanisation of current justice, because the cult of prison is constantly observed and judicial reform transpired strongly illusory. The lack of control for penitentiary system by the social organisation is the effect of many omissions. In the source literature is appeared many opinions that in Russia the prison culture permeated to the every spheres of life.

Activities of the Ukrainian Military-Sanitary Mission in Czechoslovakia (1919–first half of 1920)

The article presents the main areas of activity of the Czechoslovak branch of the Ukrainian Military-Sanitary Mission in Czechoslovakia (from 1919 to the first half – first half of 1920). The arrival of the mission contributed to the rapid organisation of the repatriation process of Ukrainian prisoners of war in 1919. The arrival of the mission contributed to the rapid organisation of the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war in 1919, both directly from Czechoslovakia and from large parts of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. Throughout 1919, the mission provided consular assistance to repatriates by issuing them with passports and repatriation documents. In addition, returnees who ended up in Czechoslovakia also received limited material assistance, which greatly facilitated the process of their return home. The closure of the Ukrainian borders, which was effected by the war and the occupation of part of the URL in the autumn and winter of 1919–1920, almost completely paralysed the repatriation process. In this situation, the Czechoslovak office was forced to open separate ‘transit’ camps for the reception and temporary stay in them of repatriates. In many respects, the humanitarian treatment of the Czechoslovak government of repatriates (both Ukrainians and representatives of other Slavic peoples) was a model for solving the problems of this category of persons on a state scale.

In Defense of Identity – an Interpretation of Camp Stylization in the Selected K-pop Songs of the First Decades of the 21st Century

The paper presents partial results of my research on Korean popular music (K-pop) in the first decades of the 21st century, with a particular emphasis on the analysis and interpretation of the work of BigBang and the solo work of Kwon JiYong (G-Dragon). The aim of my research was to identify the source of a certain stylistic exaggeration and grotesque as well as to find a possible interpretation of that phenomenon. I will start with presenting the complexity of socio-cultural structures in South Korea. Despite the common belief in the Korean society being ‘modern’ and liberal, they are still deeply rooted in traditional Confucian, patriarchal values. As a consequence, issues such as feminism and gender are considered taboo topics. Approaching those aspects from the perspective of music studies is important not only because of the geo-cultural contexts but also due to an impact of social conditions on the analysis of works through the prism of camp stylistics. In spite of widely emphasized high complexity of the notion of camp, I attempt to explain its definition and provide characteristics of that phenomenon. As its universalization was unfair and unjust, camp sparked a great number of disputes referring especially to the contextual location and unambiguous definition. Camp has spread all over the world along with the works of western popular culture, leaving behind non-obvious, sometimes highly surprising traces which I decided to identify on the South Korean scene of popular music. As Korean pop is a phenomenon that results from a certain adaptation of western popular culture, I assumed that it must have been using its tools and stylizations, though sometimes in new versions, as ‘distorted reflections’ leading to absurdity that often results from cultural contexts. While drawing conclusions, I was constantly accompanied by the thought that I was dealing with a different cultural circle and therefore it was not valid to apply the usual patterns and definitions to the phenomena under study. That led me to use camp as a kind of ‘optical apparatus’ and a suggestion for a possible interpretation. The analyses included selected songs and music videos created in the first decades of the 21st century, available on streaming platforms such as YouTube or Spotify. I relied heavily on the literature on popular music, mainly by Roy Shuker, and articles on American pop, especially the songs of Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani, studied from the perspective of camp works.