The foreign literature in Russian school: the quotation minimum of reader-schooler

Introduction. The equality of cultures and civilisations are emphasised in the United Nations General Assembly resolution (2021) and in the declaration of the Saint Petersburg Cultural Forum (2024). At all times the foreign literature was and is a significant part of the national cultural code for Russia. The aim of the article is to raise the problem of the quotation minimum of reader-schooler in the field of foreign literature on the material of precedent texts of English-speaking literature included in the school curriculum. Materials and methods. Russian Federal working curriculum of basic and general education in literature; Russian and foreign scientific publications on the problems of studying world literature at school; quotations from precedent texts of English-speaking literature included in the school curriculum; the results of three surveys of students from different faculties of Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University. The first survey aimed at identifying the reader's choice. Its participants were 108 students. The second survey aimed at attributing and interpreting quotations from Shakespeare's works – 604 students. The third survey aimed at attributing 25 quotations from texts of English-speaking literature from the school curriculum, the selected texts were for both compulsory and for supplementary study. 134 students of the Philology Faculty took part in the survey. KEYWORDS Results. The research has shown that one of the difficulties of foreign text perception for students is the lack of confidence in the accuracy of translation. A survey on attribution and interpretation of Shakespear’s quotations revealed student’s insufficient level of knowledge and understanding: recognisability of the 4 suggested quotations from Shakespeare's tragedy «Hamlet» ranged from 16 % to 60%; and the quotation from «Romeo and Juliet» was recognized by 18% of recipients. The student’s interpretation was determined more by the students' life experience rather than literary experience. A list of 25 quotations from the school curriculum was compiled to appropriate a possible quotation minimum of English-speaking texts. The results of the survey showed that the most recognizable citation were the quotations from Shakespeare's texts, as well as from other English-speaking literature texts on which popular among children and young people movie and cartoon versions were created («The Hobbit» by J. R. R. Tolkien, «The Jungle book» by R. Kipling, etc.). One more recognisable groups of quotations were the quotations in which names and words are contained the same names and words in book’s title («The Gift of the Magi» by O. Henry, «Brave new world» by A. Huxley, etc.). A quotation from Shakespeare's Sonnet 66, was given in different translations, it remained almost unrecognised. As well the quote from J. D. Salinger's novel «The Catcher in the Rye» was also unidentified. Attention in the article was also paid to erroneous attribution and its causes. A brief review of foreign studies at the lessons revealed that the purposes of work with text in Western countries are students’ socialization and mastering the skills of working with information. There aren't scientific works, which are aimed at understanding and interpreting precedent texts from literary works. Conclusion. The national cultural code is not only Russian precedentic texts, but also a part of precedent texts of world culture. The resarch actualises the problem of the quotation minimum in the field of foreign literature and proposes a list of 25 quotations of English-speaking authors. This list is approximate and creates a space for discussion.