POS Materials as an Instrument for Forming Visions of Kharkiv in the Second Half of the 20th – the Early 21st Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of POS materials as a tool for shaping the visions of Kharkiv in the second half of the 20th – the early 21st century. The primary sources are Soviet and modern envelopes, stamps and coins dedicated to Kharkiv. It was found that in the Soviet times, several key images of the city were shown by means of the visual culture: industrial and theatrical images of Kharkiv together with Kharkiv as a university city. Such architectural structures and monuments as the main building of O. M. Horkiy Kharkiv State University, T. G. Shevchenko monument, the South Railway Station and the Railway Station, etc. tended to appear on the soviet envelopes, stamps and coins. At the present stage the images of the city are being transformed in some ways on the envelopes, stamps and coins, in contrast to the Soviet visions which remained unchanged for decades. Above all, Kharkiv is losing its image of a large industrial city due to the economic crisis which has caused a significant decline in the capacity of the plants in the city. Today, the dominating images on the envelopes, stamps and coins give us an idea of Kharkiv as one of the largest educational and tourist centers in Eastern Ukraine. Especially, one of the main business cards of Kharkiv on coins, envelopes and stamps are Assumption, Annunciation, Intercession Cathedrals, Derzhprom (the House of State Industry), the fountain «Mirror Stream». An analysis that was aimed to measure the dynamic of the appearance of the envelopes, stamps and coins dedicated to Kharkiv self-presentation showed that the increase in the image numbers is associated with the anniversary celebrations. During the Soviet period, in particular, 1954, which was the year of the 300th anniversary of Kharkiv, became such a date. At the present stage, the sharp increase in the appearance of coins, stamps and envelopes happened in 2004 as it was the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Kharkiv National University and the 350th anniversary of Kharkiv.