Search

SYNTACTICS OF STORY TRAJECTORIES IN A UNIVERSITY RECREATION COURTYARD // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2022. Issue 1 (31). P. 103-126

The article is dedicated to the semiotic analysis of the exterior space using the example of the contemporary sculpture park in the courtyard of the Faculty of Philology, Saint Petersburg State University. The relevance of this discourse is in the fact that a cultural-semiotic description of the university space can become an impetus for such local studies of the first level. In addition, due to the analyzed empirical material, cultural and semiotic constants of the university space, as well as the structure of social and cultural memory, are derived (second level). The article was written using a semiotic method. The semantic and pragmatic aspects of the sculptures are analyzed as not only a holistic text, but also emerging syntagmatic chains. A special place is also given to the pragmatic (superstitious) sculptures of the university space, to which students attribute miraculous qualities. The empirical material is also described in a typological way. The sculptures are clustered according to different parameters and themes: sculptures of cultural representatives, literary heroes of the park, transnational sculptures of the park, scientists and philosophers of the park, pragmatic sculptures of the park, sculptures of the park as indicators of faculties and offices, religious sculptures of the park, comprehension of time and history in the park, historical sculptures of the park, pragmatism of the park. The typologization of the empirical material shows the structural and thematic outlines of the exterior of the space and identifies important markers of social memory and the importance of its animation and transmission to the next generation. In addition, it is proposed that Russian researchers would conduct studies of the third level – this is the level of the description and analysis of the typology of the university space not only of Russian universities, but also of universities in the countries of the Soviet and post-Soviet space. The analysis of the empirical material shows that the university park is semantically and pragmatically loaded. Each sculpture becomes an object of decoding and comprehension by recipients. Moreover, each new generation of students gets acquainted with the social, cultural and historical memory; forms their own traditions, such as “superstitious” monuments bringing luck. The university park, in fact, becomes a space for relaxation, romantic and intellectual exploration. Thanks to the inspiring authors (Bogdanov, Avetisyan), the university park has become an “interior” space in the open air, a materialized example of the concept of “education-upbringing”, since there are many sculptures dedicated to famous figures of culture, literature, as well as literary heroes, key historical events. In addition, cultural artifacts endow the university space with a new function – an open-air museum, which includes not only different cultural and religious layers, but also historical events such as the Great Patriotic War and the tragic events of the Soviet era (repressions). All the encoded cultural, historical and religious values, in fact, become important soft power constants for modeling the national, cultural and political identity, which in emergency (military) situations manifests itself as a sense of patriotism.

Keywords: Saint Petersburg, axiology of city space, university, university space, pragmatics of park, cultural monuments, semantics of sculptures, pragmatics of sculptures, social memory, cultural memory, historical memory