Search

VISUALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN EPOS IN THE URBAN SPACE (BY EXAMPLE YERVAND KOCHAR) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2016. Issue 3 (9). P. 82-96

In this article the principles of the Armenian epos visualization in urban space are analyzed. The material for the analysis is the work of the Armenian sculptor, People’s Artist of USSR Ervand Kochar. The thesis of this article is: Armenian epos is always in the field of the collective consciousness of Armenians and is visualized in the “high” art always reflexively and on a deep level – according to the “laws” of the art. The main methodological premise of understanding the material became semiotics and discourse analysis. The analysis of empirical material showed that the Kochar’s sculpture, dedicated to the epic hero David of Sasun, is a strong marker of the Armenian epos in the urban space and is many times multiplexed in the Soviet and post-Soviet period. In the historical perspective, analysis of the sculpture in the context of the epic has been interpreted in different ways at diverse times, and the “fate” of the statue and the artist Kochar became a prominent “sign” indicating the realities of the Soviet period and the post-Soviet Armenia.

Keywords: epic visualization, urban space, public space, collective memory, the Soviet and post-Soviet era, the epic, the Armenian epos, postfolklor, semiotic translation, interpretation of the epics, equestrian statue, sculpture

VISUALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN EPOS IN THE URBAN SPACE (BY EXAMPLE ARTASHES HOVSEPYAN) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2016. Issue 4 (10). P. 23-31

The principles of visualization of the Armenian epos in urban space are analyzed in the present article by example of Armenian sculptor Artashes Hovsepyan. Thesis of this article is: Armenian epos in the Soviet and post-Soviet period in the collective consciousness is active, and its visualization and presentation in the ‘high’ art is an occasion for reflection and activation of Armenian epos reception in the Armenian socio-cultural world. The main methodological premise of understanding of the material become semiotic ideas of Charles Sanders Pierce and discourse analysis. The analysis of empirical data has shown that the bas-reliefs by Artashes Hovsepyan, dedicated to the Armenian epos, can be seen not only in the public, social and cultural space of the city, but also in the museum (metro station ‘David of Sasun’, Brandy Factory, Cafesjian Art Center), i.e. in the open space for local residents and tourists. Comparative-typological analysis of the primary text (epos) and visualization (bas-relief, cartoon, graphics) show that every form of art ‘speaks’ with his language. The multiplication of epic text is ‘an extension’ of perception Armenian epos in the Armenian society, which in turn helps to keep the epic text in the light field of the recipient consciousness. Factual material ‘high’ art has shown that it was taken only from the second (Mher the Elder), the third (David of Sasun) and fourth (Mher Junior) epic branches. But, of course, the third branch has been and remains the most favorite branch with David of Sasun as the most beloved hero of the collective memory.

Keywords: epic visualization, urban space, public space, collective memory, Soviet and post-Soviet era, epos, the Armenian epos, postfolklor, semiotic translation, interpretation of the epos, Artashes Hovsepyan, bas-relief

ARMENIAN EPOS IN SOCIAL AND COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET ERA (BY EXAMPLE OF KITSCH GOODS OF YEREVAN VERNISSAGE) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2017. Issue 2 (12). P. 92-108

The article is devoted to problems of interpretation and pictorial manifestation of the mystical concept farr-i izadi which was an integral part of the Mughal ideological programme. The crucial idea of this conception is to proclaim the divine origin of the Great Mughals’ power and their legal right to the heavenly patronage. Theoretical concepts and verbal formulas of farr-i izadi were visually represented in the official Royal portraits in the form of halo that adorned the head of a Mughal ruler. For allegorical portraits of the Mughal emperors were also developed more sophisticated pictorial forms.

Keywords: visual representation, divine light, king’s farr, holiness, halo, mughal painting, Great Mughals

THEMES AND MOTIVES OF VISUALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN EPIC POEM IN THE COLLECTIVE AND CULTURAL MEMORY OF THE SOVIET ERA OF THE 1980S (based on the story collection for children “To Be Like David of Sasun” by Victoria Vartan and the film “The Road to David of Sasun”) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2017. Issue 4 (14). P. 11-27

The article presents the problem of visualization and its relation to memory types on the example of the series of stories by writer Victoria Vartan “To be similar to David of Sasun” and visual “translation”, that is, the film “The Road to David of Sasun” (1987). The theoretical premise of this article was the ideas of Aleida Assmann and Jan Assmann, which made it possible to trace and describe the types of memory (individual / subconscious, social, collective and cultural) on the in-text and extra-textual levels of the selected empirical material. The analysis showed that the Armenian national epic does not lose its vitalism and always manifests itself thanks to individual and social memory. In its turn, social memory is “refracted” into a sign form (artistic text, film text) and becomes an asset and part of culture, that is, cultural memory. Impact for the manifestation of the epic material was the didactic intentions of Victoria Vartan with the aim of inculcating the education of the future generation to universal values (humanism, readiness to help the weak and defenseless and the elderly, etc.). In addition the film, in turn, becomes an implicit propaganda tool for raising the spirit on the eve of the maturing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the late 1980s.

Keywords: individual memory, social memory, collective memory, cultural memory, visualization of the epic, Armenian epic, epic and cinema

NEW YEAR AND ITS ATTRIBUTES IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET TEXTBOOKS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF ARMENIA AND RUSSIA) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2018. Issue 1 (15). P. 10-33

The article describes both the transformation and the invariance of the “New Year” holiday and of its attributes. The empirical material of the study was the textbooks published in Soviet and post-Soviet Armenia and Russia. The choice of the empirical material was determined by the consideration that textbooks, especially the ones published in totalitarian and authoritarian states, are the indicators of political change since the education system is the most dependent upon the political field. The analysis of the empirical material testified to the fact that in the selected texts Santa Claus manifests itself in multiple roles: the evil, Frost punisher, the gift-giver, the wise old man who knows the cyclic order of seasons, the bearer of folk wisdom, the demiurge, and the one fulfilling the function of decoration of winter nature. The Snow Maiden in the educational materials of the Soviet and post-Soviet era is represented in the framework of folklore and is the “background” character of Santa Claus. In the educational materials of the Soviet era, the New Year tree decorations are featured as animals without any ideological value. Gastronomic decorations-gifts in the Soviet era were utilitarian in their nature and were the signs of “abundance” of the epoch; they were given to children as gifts for holidays. New Year tree decorations of the post-Soviet era are mainly visualized in the style of minimalism and in geometric shapes. The most distinctive feature of the post-Soviet textbooks is the presence of vividly expressed Christian motifs in the Armenian textbooks and their absence in the Russian textbooks.

Keywords: New Year, Santa Claus, Snow Maiden, New Year tree decoration, New Year tree, Christmas tree as a kind of holiday, holiday and leaders of the proletariat, Soviet textbooks, post-Soviet textbooks, microhistory

MUSICAL AND CARNIVAL SPACE OF OLD TIFLIS (BY THE EXAMPLE OF VANO KHOJABEKYAN, VAGHARSHAK ELIBEKYAN, AGASI AIVAZYAN) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2019. Issue 2 (20). P. 63-80

The article analyzes the musical and carnival space of Old Tiflis since late 19th up to early 20th century. Mainly visual and artistic texts of Armenian artists and writers – Vano Khojabekyan, Agasi Ayvazyan, Vagharshak Elibekyan served as an empirical material for this article. In the course of the reasoning, the following thesis is substantiated: Old Tiflis was a multicultural, musical and carnival city, in which a dance language was formed (Kintauri, Bagdaduri). Old Tiflis was a ‘hybrid’ space in which ritual (sacral) and profane dances (kintauri, baghdaduri, lezginka, etc.) could be seen simultaneously. The article briefly presents the basic approaches to the analysis of the Tiflis text: the Tiflis text of Armenian literature, the Tiflis text of Georgian literature, the Caucasian text of Russian literature. The author explains the connotative difference between the designation of the toponym Tbilisi versus Tiflis, which is key in the discourse “Tiflis text of Armenian literature”. Old Tiflis was a multinational city in which musical instruments of the West (piano, violin, mandolin) and the East (drum, zurna, duduk, kamancha, etc.) ‘met’ and ‘lived’ together. Social ‘top’, the elite was oriented towards Western music and invested in teaching their children to play the violin, piano, etc., while the social ‘bottom’ (kinto, carachocheli) turned to the Eastern, Caucasian instruments and melodies. At this very juncture the language of social ‘bottom’ dances (kintauri, baghdaduri) was formed. The article presents also the functions of the Eastern instruments and the scope of their use. Duduk and zurna were the most ‘omnivorous’, used during weddings, revels, christenings, commemorations, and in oriental baths during rest and parties. The main ‘heroes’ of Old Tiflis were mainly the representatives of the social ‘bottom – kinto and carachocheli. The article also describes the inner world of kinto, his lifestyle, the psychological state of his soul and appearance. The material of Vano Khodjabekyan’s graphic drawings (“Clown in Ortachali”, “Drunk Bear”, “Cout in Boat at Kura”), Vagharshak Elibekyan’s “Meeting with the writer Raffi”, “Zurnachi” and paintings introduces the language of clothing and the spirit of revels. The Old Tiflis dance language is so vital and lively that it was retransmitted in Soviet cinematography (G. Danelia “Don’t Cry”, “Mimino”) and at the present stage, is presented by different dance groups all over the world (for example, Ramishvili & Sukhishvili). In addition to the profane dances, the article also presents a ritual (sacral) dance, when the groom dances on the burial stone of his deceased father (Khojabekyan “The dance of the groom on the burial stone of the deceased father and circular dance with unmarried friends”) is an echo of the archaic, mythologized thinking. The ritual dance shines through Armenian, Georgian and Caucasian dances. Chronologically this dance was documented for the first time in letters of an Armenian scholar and cleric Grigor Magister (XI century), but the last manifestation of such ritual dance performed by Armenian groom is seen only in graphic drawings of Khojabekyan on Old Tiflis whereas in other Western and Eastern regions it wasn’t perceived. An empirical analysis of the primary texts showed that Old Tiflis being a carnival and musical space where different values, customs and traditions of various peoples were ‘cooked’, had its urban flavor, the language of dances, feasts, and revels. Old Tiflis of the late XIX and early XX century still remained at the junction of the national, mythical and European mixture. Old Tiflis was an interesting example of cultural ‘interspace’.

Keywords: kinto, kintauri, baghdaduri, lezginka, sacral dance, ceremonial dance, dance of the groom on the burial stone, zurna, duduk, barrel organ (organ), reveling, visual semiotics, microhistory, urban anthropology, semiotics of the city

SERGEI PARAJANOV AS A TEXT: MAN, HABITUS, AND INTERIOR (on the material of visual texts) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2019. Issue 3 (21). P. 197-215

The article is devoted to the great film director Sergei Parajanov (1924–1990), his Habitus (sociocultural behavior), and unique personality. Special attention is paid to the semiosis of privacy and of social space. Parajanov’s photographs, as well as textual and visual artifacts (collages, movies, letters, and scripts) are comprised the main empirical material for the present paper. The methodological basis for the description was theory of Pierre Bourdieu and semiotic metalanguage. In the course of describing the Habitus of S. Parajanov, the author presents him as a representative of cultural border, a hybrid human, since Parajanov was a carrier of different cultures (Armenian, Georgian, Russian, and Ukrainian). A special place in the article is given to the interior of his Tbilisi apartment, the “real” component, as well as to the syntagmatic series of cultural artifacts. Special attention is also paid to the semiotic space of the toilet, its ironic, humorous and political context. The visual material provided an opportunity to analyze the structure of the Italian courtyard in Tbilisi, as well as the performances, the photo session of the great director in his own social space. S. Parajanov turned his vivid space into a holiday, aestheticized food, invented performances for guests. An important point for describing Parajanov’s Habitus was also prisoner “atavism”, a subculture of the Soviet camp, as well as a description of its hierarchical status in the zone. The reasons of the “aggression” of the Soviet establishment against. S. Parajanov are outlined and described as being connected with his playful-political performance (greetings of the demonstrators through L. Brezhnev’s eye) and a speech in front of cultural figures which “prepared” the ground for the fabricated criminal case, culminating in an eventual five-year term in a strict regime colony. An analysis of the empirical material showed that the great director worked not only while making masterpiece films, but also in the utilitarian space. His Tbilisi apartment was not only a living space, but also a creative laboratory, a workshop, a wardrobe room, and finally, a theater. Parajanov’s habitus and biography are a brilliant example for describing the repressive Soviet power of not only the Stalinist, but also the Brezhnev era, which was intolerant in relation to creative individuals. The «volcanic» nature of S. Parajanov became a prerequisite for the destruction of genre and value traditions. His outrageous, humorous, ironic thinking created performances, breaking the boundaries of the real and virtual. It was in this context that his apartment turned into a theater, a museum and a studio. With his way of thinking he destroyed the generally accepted functions of the private space; the toilet was turned into a museum, a gallery for the presentation of his diplomas, a space of outrageous, ironic and humorous texts (some sort of a “luggage room”). Parajanov’s self-irony, irony, sarcasm, extraordinary outrageous thinking became prerequisites for playing with the Soviet “sacred” values, for creating an anti-text of his era, and it was also a generator of his unique cultural habitus, performances and poetics.

Keywords: Sergei Parajanov, semiotics of behavior, semiotics of interior, private space, semiotics of toilets, hierarchy of thieves, microhistory, Old Tiflis

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SPACE OF YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY: SEMIOTIC ASSESSMENT // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2020. Issue 1 (23). P. 104-120

The article is semiotic-typological analysis of Yerevan State University (YSU) interior space and external grounds. It is a part of Yerevan City discourse, which depicts separate part of Yerevan downtown, and fragments of the interior and exterior space of YSU. Moreover, this article is a continuation of the discourse “University Space”. YSU cultural artifacts are described both by culturalhistorical as well as by a semiotic method. Russian reviews have described the semiotically labeled spaces of the university mainly by a cultural-historical approach. The cultural environment has become the meta-language concept of this approach. The cultural-historical methodology does not imply a semiotic metalanguage and analysis. This reveals psychological and cultural values, different historical eras and signs of identity, etc. The article is a detailed description of the starting point of the university exterior grounds represented by the central sculpture, interior works of art and bas-relief of the YSU Library. The central space of Yerevan State University is semiotized by various sculptures, monuments, and bas-reliefs. These are signs of social and cultural memory, referring to different cultural eras: from the Middle Ages to the Soviet Empire. The principal sculpture of the university garden represents the founder of Armenian alphabet Mesrop Mashtots and other prominent representatives of the Armenian medieval university traditions. The figures depicting Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Partev refer to the past, pointing to the antiquity of the Armenian alphabet and the deep roots of the Armenian scholastic university tradition. Among medieval cultural figures, we see other renowned poets and writers of New and Contemporary Armenian Literature such as Abovyan, Nalbandyan, Tumanyan, and Charents. They played an important role in the formation of public and literary life, leading to the Europeanization of Armenian literature, as well as to paradigmatic cultural transitions. The analysis of empirical material demonstrated that the range of historical artifacts also incorporates the Soviet era (socialist realism). Detailed study of the basrelief of socialist realism showed that it is a stereotypical artifact of the Soviet era, a visual propaganda of Soviet totalitarian ideology.

Keywords: semiotics of space, university space, Yerevan State University, visual semiosis, Mesrop Mashtots, Sahak Partev, socialist realism.

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

THE PARADIGM OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND VISUALIZATION OF MUSIC PERFORMANCES IN OLD TIFLIS: PAINTING, CINEMA, LITERATURE // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2023. Issue 4 (38). P. 143-166

The article presents the paradigm of musical instruments of Old Tiflis in the 18th century and its evolution before the Sovietization of Georgia. The visual texts of Niko Pirosmani, Vagharshak Elibekyan, and Giovanni Vepkhvadze, as well as the video texts of Sayat-Nova and The Color of Pomegranate, are analyzed. The object of the study is the paradigm of musical texts of Old Tiflis as a cross-cultural space. The semantics and functional peculiarities of musical instruments in poetic and visual texts are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the visualization of musical “performances”. The article argues the following thesis: the description of the paradigm of musical instruments in visual and artistic texts provides an opportunity to reveal the spirit, the material world of Old Tiflis, the evolution of musical tastes, as well as implicit functions, visual syntagmas, and connotative semantics of musical instruments. The empirical study of the material showed that the visualization of musical instruments in painting and film art is an important poetic technique for conveying the spirit of Old Tiflis. The analysis of the film by Sergei Parajanov revealed an allusion to the works of Pirosmani. The detailed analysis of Sayat-Nova’s poem revealed the semantic and functional features of the beloved instrument (kamancha). The analysis of the visualization of the kamancha in Parajanov’s film The Color of Pomegranates showed that many metaphors of Sayat-Nova’s poem were recoded into the language of cinema. The kamancha became the key player revealing the poetic battles in the film Sayat Nova by Kim Arzumanyan. The detailed analysis of the works of Khojabekyan, Pirosmani, and Elibekyan revealed that the musical trio (two zurna players and one drummer) is a classical set for all festivities, weddings, and revelries. At the same time, the zurna, accompanied by church bells in Parajanov’s film, changes its function to mourning. In Elibekyan’s paintings, the organ grinders with their instruments became not only a compositional trick, a method of representation, a communicative element of Old Tiflis’ inn culture of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, but also a sign of European musical influences, an artifact of the city and a visual marker of the urban public space.

Keywords: Old Tiflis, music, painting, cinema, urban culture, oriental musical instruments, visualization of everyday life, Elibekyan, Parajanov