Abstract
In the present article, we study more issues of color semantics and symbols. Our research is based on the analysis of mainly Daghestani folklore and ethnographic materials and colour characteristics of traditional textiles, including carpets. We examined two methods of gathering evidence about associations of colours in the minds of people. The first is to use some kind of psychological tests. The second is to use ideas incorporated in folklore and folk litera- ture, as handed down through generations of narrators and listeners. During this process, successive narrators have unconsciously filtered the material to ensure its relevance to their audience. This is clearly an indirect meth- od: nobody actually answers the questions from today’s experimenter, so any colour associations must be inferred from the context. Colours in oral tradition were considered, not in isolation, but rather in contrasting pairs or in sequences. It was found that a specific colour could have different associations in different conditions, and that generally the associations were more abstract than concrete. In surviving woolen rugs and felts and silk embroideries, colours appear to be linked with availability of dyes or decorative preferences rather than symbolism.
Highlights
The interest of ethnographers in the study of color symbolism as one of the expressive forms of peoples and religions is natural
It is explicable by the fact that both the formation and function of symbolism occurs in particular natural, geographical and socio-ethnic environments
In spite of all the disciplinary nuances in the theory and methodology of cognition, the analysis of traditional material culture, folk art, fairy tales, myths, and legends often lead to similar conclusions
Summary
The interest of ethnographers in the study of color symbolism as one of the expressive forms of peoples and religions is natural. Carpets can be viewed as a carrier of information, as a reflection of the memory of the skill of the creators of certain objects, evidence of skill, knowledge, consciousness, understanding of the universe, perception of the departed (and living) generations, the universe, habitats, specific ecological niches It is locally widely known, for example, that swastikas and spinning wheels symbolize the Sun. The names of types of Daghestan carpets (rukzal/ houses (Avar.), Azhdaha/ dragon (for all Daghestani languages) and ornamental elements (katilbet'er / cat head, (gozo / beak (Avar.), (gyulyagdin kval / snake house (Lezgin.), directly indicate what they symbolize. 5m long Davaghins and Dums (Fig. 4), long tapestry-woven woollen rugs hung horizontally by leather loops on mountain-side home walls Their typical palette is an indigo blue ground with red designs outlined in yellow white and or brown, with small use of other colours. If there had been a symbolic significance in the colours of Caucasian rugs and textiles, it has been lost for several hundred years
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