Local traditions of the Soviet icon. Field research methodology
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-4-70-91
Abstract
Since 2021 The Educational and Scientific Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times of the Russian State University for the Humanities carries out research on a still little-studied phenomenon – Soviet folezhnyi (foil) icons. These are prayer images of various types (most often photographic or chromolithographic), placed under glass in a homemade kiot (icon case) and variously decorated with foil and paper decor. In the Soviet decades, during the era of the illegal existence of icon craft, different areas and «handicraftsmen» of villages developed their own artistic manners and traditions of creating icons in kiots with different technologies, ornaments and types of decor. One of the main tasks for researchers of the Soviet icon is to identify and describe these local traditions, their characteristic stylistic and material features. The article is intended as methodological guidelines for the organization of field research in local traditions of the Soviet icon. It article complements the previously developed thematic guide questionnaire and D.I. Antonov’s methodological article on the principles and general program of work on the study of Soviet icons in different regions. The order of presenting methodological recommendations in the article is consistent with the course and tasks of organizing expeditionary work. The following stages and directions of field research of Soviet icons are consistently considered: a) planning a research expedition; b) the specifics of fieldwork with local communities; c) the specifics of fieldwork with local traditions; d) the research ethics of fieldwork with Soviet icons.
About the Author
D. Yu. Doronin
Russian State University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dmitrii Yu. Doronin
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
References
1. Antonov, D.I. (2022), “Wells and furnaces. Ritualized disposal in post-Soviet Orthodox tradition”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 2, pp. 30–43.
2. Antonov, D.I. (2022), “Soviet icons as a research project”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 9, pp. 155–164.
3. Antonov, D.I. (2024), Soviet icons. Principles of research and organization of works, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 4, pp.
4. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2022), Ikony sovetskoi epokhi: liki traditsii [Icons of the Soviet era. Faces of tradition], Indrik, Moscow, Russia.
5. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2022), “Soviet icon. From birth to ‘funeral’ ”, Zhivaya starina, no. 1, pp. 29–33.
6. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2023), Sovetskie ikony: istoriya i etnografiya Nizhegorodskoi traditsii [Soviet icons. History and ethnography of the Nizhny Novgorod tradition], Indrik, Moscow, Russia.
7. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2023), “Soviet icons. A thematic questionnaire for collecting data on local traditions”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 9, part 2, pp. 162–171.
8. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2023). “Soviet icons and village shrines”, Shagi/ Steps, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 320–333.
9. Antonov, D.I. and Doronin, D.Yu. (2023). “An icon in a foil frame. About the preservation of artisanal icons of the Soviet era”, Nizhegorodskaya starina, vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 122–127.
10. Antonov, D.I. and Tyunina, S.M. (2022), “The post-Soviet fate of Soviet icons”, RSUH/ RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 4, pp. 94–109.
11. Doronin, D.Yu. (2022), “Soviet icon of the Nizhny Novgorod Southwest. Genesis and local traditions”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 3, pp. 70–93.
12. Doronin, D.Yu. (2023), “Shiloksha – a village of icon makers. Between the monastery and the highway”, Zhivaya starina, no. 1, pp. 35–40.
13. Doronin, D.Yu. (2023), “Foil icon of the Nizhny Novgorod Southwest. The origin of a local tradition”, in Domodedovskaya belokamennaya storona: Al’manakh: Materialy Kruglogo stola “Isklyuchennoe iskusstvo. Fenomen fol’govogo ubranstva ikony”, aprel’ 2023 g. [Domodedovo white stone country. An almanac. Proceedings of the Round table “Excluded art. The phenomenon of foil decoration of the icon”, April 2023], Domodedovo Historical and Art Museum, Domodedovo, Russia, pp. 98–104.
14. Doronin, D.Yu. (2024) “The mass peasant icon in Russia. The history of criticism and semiotic ideologies”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 2, pp. 35–60.
15. Doronin D.Yu. and El’-Faki, M.Kh. (2023), “Icon craftswomen from Shiloksha. Biography of the craft”, Zhivaya starina, no. 1, pp. 41–46.
16. Doronin, D.Yu. and Zav’yalova, A.I. (2023), “Flowers from the village of Lipovka. Soviet foil icons of the Ardatov region”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 2, pp. 32–55.
17. Goryushkina, L.P. (2021), “Icon decoration. People and traditions (based on the materials of the Tambov expedition 2018–2020)”, in Vorontsova, E.V., Allenov, A.N., Elagina, V.S. and Korshikova, E.A., eds., Derevenskie svyatyni: sbornik. statei., interv’yu i dokumentov [Village shrines. Collected articles, interviews and documents], Pravoslavnyi Svyato-Tikhonovskii gumanitarnyi universitet, Moscow, Russia, pp. 59–66.
18. Stomachenko, K.V. (2003), “The folk tradition of the foil decoration of icons. According to field observations in the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions”, Traditsii i sovremennost’, no. 2, pp. 98–102.
Review
For citations:
Doronin D.Yu. Local traditions of the Soviet icon. Field research methodology. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2024;(4):70-91. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2024-4-70-91
Views:
57
Email this article 