National images and symbols of visual Ukrainian cinematography in the works of foreign scholars

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of historical symbolism in the visual language of Ukrainian cinema. The focus is on the foreign historiography of the problem, which today is one of the most relevant areas in the general scientific discourse of the problem. The author notes that at present, the understanding of national imagery and symbolism in cinematography continues within the framework of two parallel strategies: 1) as the still active deconstruction of existing historical images and visual narratives (especially in cinematography and in general within the framework of audiovisual art) of the Soviet era; 2) as the formation of a new look at the models of national imagery. Within these limits, foreign historiography of the problem is extremely important, in which the analysis of the visual language of Ukrainian cinematography presents many reflective characteristics. The studies analyzed by the author make it possible to single out three areas within which the research of national images and symbols in the visual language of Ukrainian cinematography is being actively continued. First of all, this direction of analysis is the symbolic imagery of Ukrainian cinema in an interpretive way. No less important for foreign historiography is the comparative direction. Finally, within the framework of a complex direction, foreign researchers are making an attempt to accumulate the experience of analyzing Ukrainian cinema and, on this basis, to give its evolution a systemic character, to fit it into the pan-European context. The article ends with conclusions. The author notes that modern Ukrainian cinema is an organic part of the pan-European and world context of cinema. In this form, its presentation as a national pattern of symbolism often emerges in a universal and systemic vision. Within the framework of the first one, which is the earliest in terms of time, the symbolic imagery of Ukrainian cinema is studied in the historical and chronological context. In works. B. Berest, J. Fest, J. Gurg and other scientists, the symbolism of the visual language of Ukrainian cinema is represented linearly. Within the framework of the second direction, national images and symbols in the cinematic language are considered as objects of comparative practices of comparison and comparison with the parallel national spaces of European cinema: Polish, Baltic countries, Moldova, etc. O. Pressitch, A. Narushito, Rzh. Sandal, S. Lewis S. Brower and other researchers. The third direction combines the research of foreign scientists focused on the search for universal schemes for analyzing European and world cinema, within which domestic cinema is often given an important, but secondary role. In the works of K. Portugues, K. Farmer, M. de Valk, K. Celli and other scientists, national images and symbols in the visual language of Ukrainian cinema play an instrumental role that allows to determine the pain of typological and systemic processes in the development of European cinema.