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Iconography as (non)canonical art. “Collective censorship” or “canon”
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-2-12-34
Abstract
The author analyses the popular idea of Byzantine and Russian medieval iconography as a “canonical” art that used to be “canonical”, traditional, rarely subject to change, based on clear visual patterns and authoritative texts, clearly reflecting the Orthodox dogma. Such views are widespread in modern culture and mass media. They circulate not only in popular science, but also in the research literature. The article shows that the concept of “canonicity” in relation to iconography is constructed according to various criteria and the term itself appears to be vague and of little operational. The author focuses on various definitions of the “canon” that are found in scientific, popular literature and on the Internet. In conclusion, it is stated that iconography is a visual language, that is better analyzed with the help of terms used in folkloristic studies – variability, plasticity, ‘censorship of the group’. Having a wide arsenal of traditional (preserved and reproduced in a particular tradition) elements – visual methods, iconographic themes, motifs, figures and signs – and having no prescribed rules and regulations, the iconographic story used to be built and structured in different ways, modernized and varied. All that brings iconography and folklore together and provides new approaches to the analysis of the visual language of Christian art.
Keywords
About the Author
D. I. AntonovRussian Federation
Dmitrii I. Antonov, Dr. of Sci. (History), professor
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
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Supplementary files
For citation: Antonov D.I. Iconography as (non)canonical art. “Collective censorship” or “canon”. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2024;(2):12-34. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-2-12-34
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