Font size
Site color

Department of South and Southwest Asia

CONTACT INFORMATION

Phone: +7 (812) 328-43-77

DEPARTMENT STAFF

Igor KOTIN, Doctor of Sciences, D.Phil. (Oxon), Head of the Department (Indian history and ethnography, Indian diaspora, Islam and Sikhism in India, Indians in Russia, history of Indian collections of the MAE).

Mikhail RODIONOV, Doctor of Sciences, Chief Researcher (social and cultural ethnography of the Arab world; field experience in Syria, Lebanon and South Arabia, field and theoretical ethnography and museology; Arabic folklore, folk poetry, and oral/written tradition; and essentials of a traditional universe; comparative religion studies and Christian-Islamic dialogue; history of Russian Oriental studies, especially that of St.Petersburg Arabists and Islamologists)

Margarita ALBEDIL, Doctor of Sciences, Chief researcher (proto-Indian civilization, mythology of India)

Yaroslav VASILKOV, Doctor of Sciences, chief researcher (ethnography of India, Indian epics, mythology, comparative epic studies, folklore studies, comparative mythology, various aspects of the “Russia and India” topic (e.g. proto-Indo-Aryan presence in the Eurasian steppe of the Eneolithic and Bronze period, India’s connections with Eurasian steppe tribes in the Scythian epoch); history of Russian Oriental studies, in particular history of Russian Indology; heritage of Russia’s first Indologist N. S. Lebedev)

Nina KRASNODEMBSKAYA,  Doctor of Sciences, lead researcher (Issues of philology, linguistics, ethnography and cultures of India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal; study of the MAE history and the Department’s collections; translation of scientific and fiction literature from English, French, Marathi, Sinhalese, Hindi etc. languages)

Olga MERENKOVA, Candidate of Sciences, junior researcher (history and migration processes, study of India and Bangladesh; analysis of object and illustrative Indian collections of the MAE, publication of research papers related to history of the Museum’s collections and attribution of objects)

Yelena SOBOLEVA, Candidate of Sciences, senior researcher (ethnography of Portuguese-speaking peoples, traditional cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania; museology, museum management and marketing)

Elena TSAREVA, Candidate of Sciences, lead researcher (archeological and ethnographic textile as historical source, especially Eurasian carpet making

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT

The MAE has been conducting research into the ethnography of Middle Eastern countries for nearly 100 years.
Like some other MAE departments, the Department of South and Southeast countries is a relatively new structural. It has existed in its present status since 1993. The two units currently comprised in the Department, those of ethnography of South Asia (Indian subcontinent) and of Southwest (or Western) Asia, functioned separately for a long time.

In the initial period of generation of the South Asian archive, the Museum had no special department, and Indian collections similar to Western Asian were kept in the Department of Asian Culture. A department of India as such was established in the 1920s, after the collections of A. M. and L. A. Meerwarth were received by the MAE, A. M. Meerwarth becoming its first head. In 1937, cabinets were established in the MAE, and in particular the Cabinet of East and South Asia headed by N. V. Kühner, who also headed the Department of India, Indonesia and the Far East.

After the World War II, when the parent Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences was moved to Moscow, the Institute had a sector of East and South Asia. In 1948, it was united with the Western and Middle Asia Sector into one Orient Sector. An East and South Asia team headed by N. V. Kühner was set up in its Leningrad part.

Several generations of researches have worked in the Museum in the last century, many of which left a great imprint in Russian Indology. Academician S. F. Oldenburg, prominent Russian Indologist and organizer of science who headed the Department of Russian and Chinese Turkestan Antiquities in the MAE, worked at the MAE in the first decades of the 20th century. A. M. and L. A. Meerwarth, and T. A. Korvin-Krukovskaya efficiently worked here in the 1920s; later, V. A. Chattopadhyaya, V. Ye. Krasnodembsky etc.

Among the scientists who worked in the Museum in the 1930-1970s were such prominent researchers as I. N. Vinnikov who studies the culture of Central Asian Arabs; E. G. Gafferberg, prominent researcher of the Baloch people and other smaller nations of Afghanistan and Central (Middle) Asia; O. L. Vilchevsky, specialist in the history and ethnography of the Kurds; V. P. Kurylev, turkologist and ethnographer; N. A. Kislyakov who studied the traditional culture of Central Asian peoples, Iran, and Afghanistan, and who headed the Department of Western and Middle Asia of the MAE for many years. The research activity of M. K. Kudryavtsev, B. Ya. Volchok, M. N. Serebryakova, and S. A. Maretina started in the 1940s-1950s.

Currently, the Museum staff includes Indologists M. F. Albedil, N. G. Krasnodembskaya, Ya. V. Vasilkov, I. Yu. Kotin, and O. N. Merenkova; Arabist M. A. Rodionov; museologist and specialist in South Asian mixed groups Ye. S. Soboleva; and textile historian E. G. Tsareva.

ESSENTIAL TOPICS OF RESEARCH

The Department of South and Southwest Asia was established in 1993 after fundamental geopolitical changes in Eurasia. It inherited older traditions of various previous units of the Museum.

The MAE has been conducting research into the ethnography of Middle Eastern countries for nearly 100 years. The two units currently comprised in the Department, those of ethnography of South Asia (Indian subcontinent) and of Southwest (or Western) Asia, functioned separately for a long time.

In the initial period of generation of the South Asian archive, the Museum had no special department, and Indian collections similar to Western Asian were kept in the Department of Asian Culture. A department of India as such was established in the 1920s, after the collections of A. M. and L. A. Meerwarth were received by the MAE, A. M. Meerwarth becoming its first head. In 1937, cabinets were established in the MAE, and in particular the Cabinet of East and South Asia headed by N. V. Kühner, who also headed the Department of India, Indonesia and the Far East.

After the World War II, when the parent Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences was moved to Moscow, the Institute had a sector of East and South Asia. In 1948, it was united with the Western and Middle Asia Sector into one Orient Sector. An East and South Asia team headed by N. V. Kühner was set up in its Leningrad part.

Several generations of researches have worked in the Museum in the last century, many of which left a great imprint in Russian Indology. Academician S. F. Oldenburg, prominent Russian Indologist and organizer of science who headed the Department of Russian and Chinese Turkestan Antiquities in the MAE, worked at the MAE in the first decades of the 20th century. A. M. and L. A. Meerwarth, and T. A. Korvin-Krukovskaya efficiently worked here in the 1920s; later, V. A. Chattopadhyaya, V. Ye. Krasnodembsky etc.

Among the scientists who worked in the Museum in the 1930-1970s were such prominent researchers as I. N. Vinnikov who studies the culture of Central Asian Arabs; E. G. Gafferberg, prominent researcher of the Baloch people and other smaller nations of Afghanistan and Central (Middle) Asia; O. L. Vilchevsky, specialist in the history and ethnography of the Kurds; V. P. Kurylev, turkologist and ethnographer; N. A. Kislyakov who studied the traditional culture of Central Asian peoples, Iran, and Afghanistan, and who headed the Department of Western and Middle Asia of the MAE for many years. The research activity of M. K. Kudryavtsev, B. Ya. Volchok, M. N. Serebryakova, and S. A. Maretina started in the 1940s-1950s.

This determines the priority lines of its research and museum activities. In 2003-2005, all of the Department staff contributed to the project “Ethnographic status of creatures, things, and phenomena in traditional societies of Asia" (supervisor: M. A. Rodionov). In parallel, work was going on for the project “Socium and object world in traditional societies of Asia: Processes of migration, interaction and transformation: History and Modernity" (supervisor: M. A. Rodionov, contributors: E. G. Tsareva, I. Yu. Kotin). In 2005-2008, all the Department staff were engaged in the topic “Cultural spaces in the traditions of South and Southwest Asia (involving the MAE collections)” supervised by M. A. Rodionov. From 2009, the Department staff contributed to all the four research topics of the MAE (2009-2011). Among them are such areas as “Greater and smaller peoples in the South Asian countries" (supervisor: I. Yu. Kotin) for the “State and Ethnos” topic; “Time in the traditional cultures of Asia” (supervisor: M. A. Rodionov) for the topic “Mythic and ritual space of culture;” “Generation of the South Asian archive of the MAE RAS (history, persons, and collections)” (research adviser: N. G. Krasnodembskaya) for the topic “History of the Kunstkamera: collections, collectors, and researchers (for the 300th anniversary of the Museum),” topic research adviser: Yu. K. Chistov, D.Sc.; “World culture masterpieces in the collections of the SSWA Department” (supervisor: E. G. Tsareva) for the topic “The Museum’s collections and archive materials in the history of Russian and world culture (based on the MAE materials);” “Ethnos. Caste. Language” (supervisor: I. Yu. Kotin), “Ethnobotany” (contributors: Ya. V. Vasilkov, M. A. Rodionov, E. G. Tsareva) and “Textile of Eurasia” (supervisor: E. G. Tsareva) for the topic “Cultural and biological aspects of the development of mankind.”

From 2012, the Department’s researchers participated in large research projects of the MAE in the following areas: Generation of the South Asian Archive of the MAE RAS (History, Persons, and Collections) (2012-2014), Military Traditions in South Asia: Armor and Weapons (Based on MAE Collections) (2012-2014), and Space-Time in a Traditional Universe (2012-2014).

In 2013–2015, for RFH Grant No. 13-01-00168, under the supervision of N. G. Krasnodembskaya and with participation of I. Yu. Kotin and Ye. S. Soboleva the topic “The MAE Expedition to Ceylon and India in 1914–1918: History and Collections. Scientific Heritage” was developed. New research data was collected, the personnel worked in archives of St. Petersburg, India, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, France, and Germany, studied the collections of the MAE RAS, and traveled along the routes of the Meerwarth Expedition. As a result, nearly 30 articles and other publications on the grant topic were written and published; also, the book “The MAE Expedition to Ceylon and India in 1914-1918: History and Collections. Scientific Heritage” was edited for print.

Intense work was done in 2014-2016 in the following research areas: “Space-time in a traditional universe” (supervisor: M. A. Rodionov) and “Generation of the South Asian archive of the MAE RAS (history, persons, collections)” (supervisor: N. G. Krasnodembskaya).

In the “Space-time in a traditional universe” area, while carrying out the project, its contributors prepared 10 monographs, for a total volume of 186 author’s sheets; 122 articles, for a total volume of 68.5 author’s sheets. The conclusions made by the team using actual linguistic/ethnographic material extend our vision of ethnocultural identification mechanisms – and of construction of cultural worlds with the aid of orientation in the spatio-temporal continuum. The results obtained are used by Russian and foreign field ethnographers, folklore students, culturologists, museologists, and in lectures and courses for students: philologists, historians, and ethnographers.

In the “Generation of the South Asian archive of the MAE RAS (history, persons, and collections)” area, while carrying out the project, its contributors prepared 3 monographs, for a total volume of 40 author’s sheets, and 40 articles, for a total volume of 30 author’s sheets. The methods of Russian researchers’ museum and ethnography work became more demonstrative in the first third of the 20th century, and we studied the experience of concrete field practice of our predecessors.

THE DEPARTMENT’S RESEARCHERS CONTRIBUTE TO THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS:

1. “History of the MAE RAS and its collections in the context of the development of human science.” 2017-2019. Research adviser: Yu. K. Chistov, D.Sc.

The Department contributes to the research areas:

  • “Textile as historical and cultural source.” Research adviser: E. G. Tsareva, Cand.Sc.
  • “Culture of South Asian peoples as represented in the MAE collections (based on the materials of the expedition of L. A. and A. M. Meerwarth in 1914-1918).” Research adviser: N. G. Krasnodembskaya, D.Sc.
  • “Pictures of the history of the MAE in the 1920s-1930s” Research adviser and contributor: Ye. S. Soboleva, Cand.Sc.

2. “Ethnocultural text in a traditional and modern universe, in a synchronous and diachronous aspect.” 2017-2019. Research advisers: Ya. V. Vasilkov, D.Sc., and M. F. Albedil, D.Sc.

 The Department contributes to the research area:

  • “Ethnocultural text in a traditional universe.” Research adviser: M. A. Rodionov, D.Sc.

Research Effort 3. “The interaction of civilizations, ethnic history, and diversity of the cultural heritage of the world’s Islamic peoples in historical dynamics.” 2017-2019. Research adviser: Ye. A. Rezvan, D.Sc.

The Department staff are carrying out projects for this topic.

An important aspect of the Department’s work is preparing and holding seminars.

On the Department’s initiative, the Museum’ textile seminar was set up (supervisor: E. G. Tsareva), as well as the seminar “Traditional crafts and art handicraft of peoples of the World” (held in the SSWA until 2010) (supervisor: Ye. N. Uspenskaya and M. A. Yanes the history of the MAE collections and collectors is persistently studied (“Builders of the Kunstkamera” project, idea originator: N. G. Krasnodembskaya). In 2011, the working seminar “Space-time in a traditional universe” was launched, dedicated to methodological and practical issues related to spatio-temporal beliefs in ethnic traditions (supervisor: M. A. Rodionov).

This broad coverage of research topics is explained by high skills and scientific potential of the Department staff. Researchers of the Department of South and Southwest Asia have won awards and prizes, in particular for the best articles (Ya. V. Vasilkov, V., E. G. Tsareva, M. A. Rodionov) and monographs (M. A. Rodionov, Ya. V. Vasilkov, E. G. Tsareva, I. Yu. Kotin), and the total list of works and papers of reports at Russian and international conferences published by the Department exceeds 400 titles.

ESSENTIAL PUBLICATIONS

An indicator of efficient work of the Department staff is the nNumerous papers published by the Department’s staff can be found in  them, starting from the volumes (in Russion) of “Peoples of Western Asia” (Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1957, 615 pp.) and “Peoples of South Asia” (Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1963, 964 pp.) in the 18-volume “Peoples of the World" series. Later, a MAE collection titled “Traditional culture of peoples of Western and Middle Asia” was published (MAE Collected Works, Vol. XXVI. Leningrad: Nauka, 1970, 385 pp.). InterestingValuable information on the Western and South Asian collections of the MAE can also be found in other MAE Collected Works, in issues of the “Kunstkamera. Ethnographic Notebooks” journal, and in 5 volumes:сборниках [I] “Asian bestiary: Animal images in the traditions of South, Southwest, and Central Asia” (Publication editor: M. A. Rodionov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN, 2009); “Bestiary II. Zoomorphisms of Asia: Movement in time” (Publication editor: M. A. Rodionov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN, 2012);, and “Bestiary III. Zoomorphisms in a traditional universe” (Publication editor: M. A. Rodionov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN, 2014): “Bestiary IV. Earth and sky in a traditional universe” (Publication editor: M. A. Rodionov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN, 2017), and “Bestiary V. “Togather with Humans” (Publication editors: M. A. Rodionov, O.N. Merenkova. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN, 2019)  .

In 2015, the Department’s huge volume collection “Images and signs in the traditions of South and Southwest Asia” was published released (MAE Collected Works, vol. LXI). It is based on the MAE collections and rich field materials brought collected by to the Museum’ bys researchers, donators, etc. Traditional images and signs are reviewed by the example of the socio-normative culture and life support culture of South and Southwest Asia.

Of the monographs and most important articles by researchers of the Department of South and Southwest Asia, the following should be noted:

  • Tsareva E. G. Fabrics and Carpets / The History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Part 3, Ch. 21, v.V, UNESCO. Paris, 2003. P. 680-699.
  • Tsareva Elena. Turkmen Carpets: The Neville Kingston Collection. London: Hali Publications, 2016. 238 p.
  • Tsareva Elena. With Perfection and Many Tricks – Tibetan Rugs in the Context of the Eurasian Carpet-Weaving Tradition // J. and M. Buddeberg, at el. From the Land of the Snow Lion. Tibetan Treasures from the 15th to 20th Centuries: The Justyna and Michael Buddeberg Collection. Munich: Hirmer Verlag GmbH, 2016. P. 58-127; 302  -340
  • Kotin I.Yu., Krasnodembskaya N.G., Soboleva E.S. The First Russian Ethnographic Expedition to Ceylon and India (1914–1918). In Russian and English // RUDN Journal of Russian History 2019 Vol. 18 No 3, P. 619–641 http://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history  Web of Science.
  • Albedil M. F. Protoindiyskaya tsivilizatsiya: Ocherki kultury [Proto-Indian civilization: Essays on the culture]. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 1994, 295 pp.
  • Albedil M. F. Induizm [Hinduism]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 2001, 256 pp.
  • Albedil M. F. Induizm. Glavnaya religiya Indii [Hinduism. India's main religion]. St. Petersburg: Piter, 2006. 208 pp.
  • Albedil M. F. Buddizm [Buddhism]. St. Petersburg: Piter, 2006, 208 pp.
  • Albedil M. F. Vechnaya Indiya: dukhovnyi putevoditel [The eternal India: A spiritual guide]. St. Petersburg: Vektor, 2013, 256 pp.
  • Albedil M. F. Buddizm: religiya bez boga [Buddhism: Religion without a god]. St. Petersburg: Vektor, 2013, 256 pp.
  • Vasilkov Ya. V. Stranichka mifologicheskogo bestiariya: otryakhivayuschiysya vepr [A page of the mythological bestiary: The boar shaking off water] // Kultura Aravii v aziatskom kontekste. Sb. statei k 60-letiyu M. A. Rodionova [The culture of Arabia in the Asian context. For the 60th anniversary of M. A. Rodionov]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 2006, pp. 250-262.
  • Vasilkov  Ya. V. “Bhagavadgita” sporit s buduschim: “Gita” i “Anugita” v kontekste istorii sankhya-yogi [Bhagavad Gita arguing with the future: Gita and Anugita in the context of the Sankhya Yoga history] // Vsevolod Sergeevich Sementsov i rossiyskaya indologiya / Compiled by V. K. Shokhin. Moscow: Vostochnaya litewratura, 2008, pp. 212-261.
  • Vasilkov Ya. V. Mif, ritual i istoriya v “Makhabharate” [Myth, rite, and history in Mahabharata]. St. Petersburg: Yevropeiskiy dom, 2010, 397 pp.
  • Makhabharata. Zaklyuchitelnye knigi. XV-XVIII [Mahabharata. Final books. XV-XVIII] / Edited by S. L. Neveleva and Ya. V. Vasilkov. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2005, 235 pp.
  • Mahmud, Hayat. Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev. Translated from Bengali. Yaroslavl: OOO Akademiya 76. Scientific editing, notes, and preface article by Ya. V. Vasilkov, 2012, 455 pp.
  • Shabdaprakasha. Zografskiy sbornik [Shabdaprakasha. Zograph’s collective essays] / Publication editors: Ya. V. Vasilkov and S. V. Pakhomov. St. Petersburg: Lema, Issue I. 2011.
  • Zografskiy sbornik [Zograph’s collective essays] / Publication editor: Ya. V. Vasilkov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN. Issue 2. 2011, 244 pp.
  • Zografskiy sbornik [Zograph’s collective essays] / Publication editor: Ya. V. Vasilkov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN. Issue 3. 2013, 308 pp.
  • Zografskiy sbornik [Zograph’s collective essays] / Publication editors: M. F. Albedil and Ya. V. Vasilkov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN. Issue 4. 2014, 336 pp.
  • Zografskiy sbornik [Zograph’s collective essays] / Publication editors: M. F. Albedil and Ya. V. Vasilkov. St. Petersburg: MAE RAN. Issue 5. 2016, 311 pp.
  • Makhabharata. Kniga XIV. Ashvasmedhikaparva, ili Kniga o zhertvoprinoshenii konya. Seriya “Literaturnye pamyatniki” [Mahabharata. Book XIV. Ashvasmedhikaparva, or Horse Sacrifice Book. “Literary Monuments” series]. Edited by S. L. Neveleva and Ya. V. Vasilkov. 2nd edition. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2016, 308 pp.
  • Makhabharata. Zaklyuchitelnye knigi. XV – XVIII. Seriya “Literaturnye pamyatniki” [Mahabharata. Final books. XV-XVIII. “Literary Monuments” series]. Edited by S. L. Neveleva and Ya. V. Vasilkov. 2nd edition. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2016, 235 pp.
  • Kotin I . Yu. Pobegi banyana. Migratsiya naseleniya iz Indii i formirovaniye “uzlov” yuzhnoaziatskoi diaspory [Banyan sprouts. The Migration from India and generation of South Asian diaspora “hubs”]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 2003, 272 pp.
  • Kotin I. Yu. Islam v Yuzhnoi Azii. Mechom i molitvoi [Islam in South Asia. By sword and prayer] St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie-Azbuka, 2005, 253 pp.
  • Kotin I. Yu. . Islam v Yuzhnoi Azii i v Velikobritanii [Islam in South Asia and Great Britain]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 2008, 288 pp.
  • Kotin I. Yu., Uspenskaya Ye. N. Sikhizm [Sikhism]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie-Azbuka, 2007, 356 pp.
  • Kotin I. Yu. Tyurban i “Yunion Dzhek”. Vykhodtsy iz Yuzhnoi Azii v Velikobritanii [The turban and the Union Jack. South Asian immigrants in Great Britain]. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2009.
  • Kotin I. Yu. “Indiytsy v Rossii” (Indians in Russia). Lap Academic Publishing. Saarbrucken, Germany, 2011, 97 рp.
  • Kotin I. Yu. Lektsii po istorii indiyskogo natsionalisma (Noveishaya istoriya Indii) [Lectures on the history of Indian nationalism (Contemporary history of India)]. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011, 149 pp.
  • Krasnodembskaya N. G. Тraditsionnoye mirovozzrenie singalov (obryady i verovaniya) [Traditional worldview of the Sinhalese (rites and beliefs]. Moscow: Nauka, 1982, 213 pp.
  • Krasnodembskaya N. G. Ot Lvinogo ostrova do Obiteli snegov (rasskaz o kollektsiyakh MAE po Yuzhnoi Azii) [From Lion Island to the Abode of Snow]. Moscow: Nauka, 1983, 108 pp.
  • Krasnodembskaya N. G. Budda, bogi, lyudi i demony [Buddha, gods, humans and demons]. St. Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika, Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 2003, 320 pp.
  • Krasnodembskaya N.G., Kotin I.Yu., Soboleva E.S. The MAE Expedition to Ceylon and India in 1914-1918. History. Collections. Academic Heritage. (In Russian). St. Petersburg. 2018.
  • Etiket u narodov Yuzhnoi Azii [Etiquette of South Asian peoples] / Science editor: N. G. Krasnodembskaya. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedenie, 1999, 299 pp.
  • Maretina Sofia A. The Kachari State. The Character of Early Statelike
  • Merenkova O. N. Bangladeshtsy v Velikobritanii. Mify i realnost [The Bangladeshi in Great Britain. Myths and reality] // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. Issue 4. Moscow: Nauka, 2011, pp. 32-35
  • Merenkova O. N. “Britanskiye bangladeshtsy” v poiske identichnosti [“The British Bangladeshi” in search for identity] // Etnograficheskoye obozrenie. No. 5. Moscow, 2011, pp. 109-117
  • Merenkova O. N. Istoriya bangladeshskoi immigratsii [History of Bangladeshi immigration] // Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstevennogo universiteta. Ser. 13. Vostokovedeniye, afrikanistika. St. Petersburg: SPbGU, Issue 4, 2011, pp. 42-50
  • Merenkova O. N., Kotin I. Yu. Bangladeshtsy v Londone: Etnokonfessionalnaya gruppa in a multiculltural megapolis [The Bangladeshis in London: An ethnoconfessional group on a multicultural; megapolis. St. Petersburg: Kunstkamera Petropolitana. MAE RAN, 2016, 244 pp.