Сакрализация визуальных образов прошлого в открытке советского времени: история и мифология

Abstract

The paper addresses the illustrated postcard of the Soviet era as a means of representing the heroes of Russian history. It is noted that the processes of sacralization of certain characters significant in a specific cultural and historical context, understood in a broad sense, occurred in several directions — creation of the myth of the “hero of the people”, the myth of a leader, as well as the reinterpretation of folklore and mythological plots. The images of folk heroes were associated with people's liberation movements, or feats committed during current events, such as the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War. Another key section of the visualization of history using a postcard came to be the creation of mythotexts dedicated to the leaders of the state, primarily V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin. Along with the real historical characters, the heroes of Russian fairy tales and epics were used in the creation of a historical picture. The study shows how, using a postcard, elements of the visual image of the hero were formed, highlighting how illustrated postcard acted as an ideal means of broadcasting and animation of visual images, a tool for creating stable visual clichés. The author comes to the conclusion that in the case of a historical postcard, the compensatory function of culture was carried out — the replacement of the religious system of values with a set of sacralized images of a different origin — as well as that the postcard of the Soviet era may be considered at present as an artifact of historical memory and a significant visual source of historical information.