The Ornamentation of Ceramics of the Left-Bank Ukraine as a Semiotic System (The History of Studies)

• Main Author: A. L. Shcherban
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kharkiv State Academy of Culture 2018-04-01
• Series: Культура України
• Online Access: http://ku-khsac.in.ua/article/view/133774

The aim of this paper is to analyze the works of researchers of the early 20 — 21st centuries on the ornamentation of ceramics, as a semiotic system. Research methodology. Eight major publications on the subject (monograph, scientific journal) have been reviewed. Results. The author gives a summary of the information on the most important for the understanding of the iconic content of the traditional ornamentation of ceramics of the Left-bank Ukraine publications. Attention is paid to the fact of its study mainly in the context of the analysis of individual archaeological communities (with wider borders than the territory under study) as an information carrier about individual beliefs and beliefs with an increase in the reasoning of the conclusions. The dynamics of the development of this phenomenon has not been explored before. The paper concentrates on the process of finding scientific approaches, on the basis of which researchers have sought, on the one hand, to study the structure of the ornament, motives, and on the other — to identify the semantics of various elements. The most systematic study of the semantics of ornaments of a logical cultural and historical community has been with the focus on the artifact proper to it. The use of materials in the Left-bank Ukraine began in this context by publishing the articles and a single monograph. The reasons for the solution of the issue expressed by Vasily Gorodtsov have been obtained in the twentieth century. In the «calendar» ornaments on the ceramics, a generalized representation of the main segments of time during the year is displayed. Since it was impossible to use such ornaments as calendars in the modern sense of the word, the inhabitants of the Left-Bank Ukraine depicted them in order to facilitate the successful passage of certain economic cycles through magical actions with the use of clay products. Novelty. An attempt is made in this paper to show the information on the ornamentation of ceramics of the Left-bank Ukraine as a semiotic system in the history of its studies. The practical significance. Scholars can use this article to write papers on the history of Ukrainian culture.