Postmemorial Aesthetics: Synthesis of the Literary and the Visual in the Works of Outsider Artists (on the Example of the Works of Euphrosyne Kersnovskaya) – МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ЖУРНАЛ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

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Denis D. PODLEDNOV
HSE University
123A, Kanala Griboedova Embankment, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 190068
Lecturer at the Department of Media Studies
e-mail: denis.podliodnov@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0003-3500-8603

Elena D. KAZANTSEVA
State Budgetary Institution of Culture of Perm Krai “The Memorial Reserve Museum of the History of Political Repression Perm-36”
10, Gagarin Boulevard, Perm, Russian Federation, 614060
Head of The Exhibition Department
e-mail: helenakazantseva@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-1656-8138

Postmemorial Aesthetics: Synthesis of the Literary and the Visual in the Works of Outsider Artists (on the Example of the Works of Euphrosyne Kersnovskaya)

Abstract: In the process of implementing Stalin's policy, various stratums of the population were subjected to repressions: from ordinary workers to representatives of the creative and scientific intelligentsia. The art created by the artists during their imprisonment in the forced labor camps of the USSR and after their release is gradually going through the process of legitimation in contemporary artistic discourse. During the imprisonment in the camps, as well as after the release and restoration of civil rights, artists and poets reflected on the events experienced in the Gulag. For many of them, in conditions of lack of freedom, creativity became a kind of reaction to trauma. In the 20th century, the information transfer mechanism that contributes to overcoming trauma began to be called the term “postmemory” (postmemory) and used in studies of the memory of traumatic events for generations of eyewitnesses (participants) and postgenerations. The works of visual culture, broadcasting narratives associated with the structure of post-memory, have post-memorial aesthetics. Painting or literature, created in conditions of captivity or after liberation, was not just an instrument of escapism, but also had an important psychotherapeutic function, contributing to the process of retraumatization. Even after the death of the eyewitness himself, who captured his traumatic memories on paper, these narratives of history and the emotional layer of information about the past, albeit indirectly, are transmitted to representatives of post-generations, transforming their role from spectators to witnesses. At the same time, such art often differed from the recognized canons of Soviet aesthetics, which is partly due to the fact that it was created by both professional artists and outsider artists (self-taught, amateurs). One of the clearest examples is Evfrosiniya Kersnovskaya's memoirs “How Much Does a Man Cost” illustrated by the author, written by her in the 1960s and published in the 1990s. A distinctive feature of the memoirs is the combination of the literary language with fine art, which contributes to a deeper immersion of the reader into the context of not only the personal history of Euphrosyne Kersnovskaya, but also the history of the Gulag.

Key words: Euphrosinia Kersnovskaya, GULAG, outsider artist, postmemory, postmemory aesthetics, cultural memory, cultural trauma, Soviet art.

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For Citation:

Podlednov, D., Kazantseva, E. (2023) Postmemorial Aesthetics: Synthesis of the Literary and the Visual in the Works of Outsider Artists (on the Example of the Works of Euphrosyne Kersnovskaya). International Journal of Cultural Research, 3 (52). 24–45. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_3_33

DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_3_33