Reference:
Agafonova V.K..
The Visual Features of Military Monuments in Russia of the Late 19th - Early 20th Centuries
// History magazine - researches. – 2018. – ¹ 3.
– P. 13-23.
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Abstract: The aim of the presented study is to determine the main functions of the visual attributes of military monuments erected during the period between 1881 - 1917 in the formation of the image of the events of the past and their heroes. The subject of this study is the commemoration of war, while the object is the visual features of the military monuments created between 1881 - 1917 and tied to the events of the Russian Empire's military history and its heroes: triumphant victories, heroic defensive actions, victims of military events and outstanding military figures. All indicated monuments are directly related to the commemoration of war, they possess a number of visual attributes, the main function of which is the creation and development of certain emotions and ideas regarding military history in the viewer and, consequently, of the subsequent generations. This article uses the interdisciplinary approach since the analysis of military monuments requires recourse to the history of art and cultural geography. Additionally, the historical-comparative method was used in order to determine the common and distinct features among the analyzed monuments. Turning to the typological method has allowed the author to identify certain groups of symbols, artistic and visual means, common features and differences among the considered monuments. In Russian historiography, military monuments have never been considered as individual and independent components of the process of forming historical memory. However, a partial study of this topic in modern historical science and the popularity of studies in the field of memory studies highlight its interdisciplinary nature and its clear current relevance. The visual features of military monuments had a number of functions: the formation of the cultural landscape, the establishment of the topographical and historical fixation, the formation of the scale and importance of the event, the symbolic presence of the empire and its participation in a particular event, the formation of the image of the enemy.
Keywords: double eagle, symbols, military monuments, comemmoration, Russia, visual qualities, monuments, height, memory, memory studies
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