Exploring the Political Colors: Cultural History and Contemporary Popular Symbolization – МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ЖУРНАЛ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

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Larisa V. NIKIFOROVA
Vaganova Ballet Academy
2, Ul. Zodchego Rossi, Saint Petersburg, 191023 Russian Federation
Department of Philosophy, History and Theory of Art, Professor
Herzen State Pedagogical University
48, Moika Emb., Saint Petersburg, 191186 Russian Federation
Department of Theory and History Culture, Professor
Doctor of Science (Cultural Studies)
Professor
e-mail: nikiforova_lv@list.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-9811-2411

Nina N. ROZANOVA
Smolensk State University
Ul. Przhevalskogo, 4, Smolensk 214000, Russian Federation
Department of Management
PhD in Pedagogical Sciences
Associate Professor
e-mail: rozznina@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-7243-8197

Exploring the Political Colors: Cultural History and Contemporary Popular Symbolization

Abstract: Russian history of changing chromatic codes of power has a relative independence from changes in pictorial symbolism. The choice of colors and their combinations is often ad hoc, but despite obvious influences and borrowings, the combinations take root in Russian soil and acquire their own characteristics, as for example occurred with the colors of the St. George ribbon. It is useful to divide the highest (professional) level of color symbolization, i.e. the initiators of political symbolism, and the level of popular symbolization. Representatives of both levels in the contemporary era, appeal to history and cultural memory, to archetypes of power, and to donor cultures of traditions of political representation. A comparison between professional and popular levels of political colors symbolization demonstrates some discrepancies. Thus the status of the red is high in popular consciousness, despite the fact that over the past thirty years it has been virtually absent from political symbols. Red serves as a symbol of power in general, of the supreme power. The status of blue is high, which coincides with current preferences at the highest level of political consciousness, as well as with the pacifying role of blue in the political symbolism of recent times. However, in the popular hierarchy of colors, blue is subordinated to red In contrast to M. Pasturo's conclusions about the color preferences of the twentieth century and the dominance of cold tones over warm ones (on the material of Western Europe), the status of warm colors is higher in our material on the popular symbolism of power. Images with high reputational content gravitate towards official symbolism and political branding, and their color palette is reduced to local colors that have an abstract meaning. The palette of critical and creative images is richer, more varied in shades of tone and saturation. The results of the sociological survey of 2022 year served as empirical material for problematization of the political colors and its popular symbolization.

Key words: images of power; political colors; popular symbolization of color; cultural history of color.

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For Citation:

Nikiforova, L., Rozanova, N. (2022) Exploring the Political Colors: Cultural History and Contemporary Popular Symbolization. International Journal of Cultural Research, 4 (49). 131–141. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_4_131

DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_4_131