[xmca] déjatel'nost'

I wonder if our Russian speakers could indulge me again with
a point of clarification. Déjatel'nost' is the Russian word
for "activity".

1. I understand that in Russian the use of definite and
indefeinite partcles (a and the) is rare, so in the title to
AN Leontyev's famous book, does déjatel'nost' mean "an
activity" or "activity" - with the connotation of substance
that a word has in English if used without a or the. When we
have "act, action and activity," is that third category the
same word, déjatel'nost'?

2. déjatel'nost' can also be translated as "work". How
strong is the connection between "work" and "activity" in
the Russian mind when talking of "activity theory"? Does
that sound like "work theory"? Or is this just like any
ambiguous word. I mean, English speakers would not think
that in this context "activity" referred to autonomous
physiological processes, which can also be called
"Activity". When "Theses on Feuerbach" is translated into
Russian, can Russian readers see the diffrence between
"work" and "activity"?

Andy

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435 
Skype andy.blunden
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca