Transcript Ei dian otsikkoa

The Bear as a Russian
National and Militarist Symbol
The Bear and the Finnish Maiden
Vesa Matteo Piludu
2009
University of Helsinki
Department of Art Research, Semiotics
National symbols as taboo
 National symbols are taboo
 In a negative sense (general prohibition: for Italians it is quite
uncommon postulate that Dante was a mediocre poet)
 In a positive sense (they include general rules of behavior: the
Bulgarians enjoy if the Bulgarian football national team defeat
Germany 2-1)
 Generally national symbols are part of Doxa (Common sense), are
not object of discussion, are accepted and celebrated as a matter of
faith
 The semiotic analysis of national symbols includes a deconstruction
and often a critic of the ideological use of the national symbols
 Semiotics as taboo-breaker
Deconstruction - Construction
 the so-called deconstruction of the national symbols includes the
knowledge of the historical and cultural construction of the national
symbols
 Often the national symbols are based on folk or ethnic culture
 The modern nationalism is based on the national romantic
philosophy that idealized folklore as the true soul of the nations
 Many scholars and artists participated in the nationalization of folk
symbols (Grimm, Wagner, Lonnrot, Sibelius…)
 The nationalization of the folk symbols includes a complete
redefinition, simplification and sometimes falsification of folklore
Ethnosemiotics and semiotics of popular culture
 The semiotics analysis of National symbols could include
 Ethnosemiotic for the analysis of the symbols in their original folk
culture
 Cultural and social semiotics for the process of nationalization of the
symbols
 Semiotics of popular culture and media for the study of the sprawl of
national symbols in different contexts (advertising, satirical
magazines…)
Ethnosemiotics
 Using methods of semiotics in the traditional fields of cultural
anthropology, ethnology, ethnography, folk studied
 Anthropology and semiotics are related field of studies
 (Auge is popular in semiotic studies)
 Today cultural anthropology and folkloric studies includes the study
of modern societies
Animals as national symbols
 Part of the study of the cultural representation of animals
 Cultural semiotic
 Significational Anthropological biosemiotics according to Dario
Martinelli
 According to cultural anthropologist, animals are one of the most
important sources of symbols and significations
Nationals animal symbols in Russia and Finland
 In Finland and Russia the bear is an unofficial national symbol
 The Finnish coat of arms has a Lion
 The Russian coat of arms has the Imperial Eagle
 But the bear, in both countries, is more popular
Bear: a national symbol rooted in folklore
 The identification between Russia and the bear is deeply rooted in
the Russian folklore
 The identification between Finland and the bear is deeply rooted in
the Finnish folklore
 The bear compares often in the Russian rituals and wonder tales
(volshebaia skazka)
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The bear had a great importance in the Finnish oral poetry:
In epic poems (Kalevalaic songs)
In ritual songs to hunt the bear (karhunpeijaiset)
In rituals to summon female power (lempi)
In healing songs, as a helping-spirit of the Finnish healer (loitsut)
In folk tales
Veles or Volos: the Master of the Animals, protector of cattle and bears
The constellation of Volos (Volosynia, Pleiades)
St. Nicholas, protector of cattle from bears
St. Nicholas, carring a teddy bear
The bear hunt by Gorbatov
The bear hunt in Russia
 In Russia there were hunters which bagged bears with a spear
(Russian word for the bear spear is "rogatina" and the hunter is
called "rogatchik"). Different people of Russian society from the
ordinary peasant up to the noble aristocrat were keen participants of
this very dangerous method of hunting, with a few people being
professionals.
 They have to be a brave and strong person, and have to anticipate
the unexpected bear behavior.
 The great specialist of bear hunting was the main huntsman of the
great duke Nikolay Romanov - Mihail Andrievskiy. In the magazine
("Nature and Hunting" 1894) he published a well known and very
interesting article about bear hunting with "rogatina". He described
every detail and all aspects of this hunting: bear behaviour,
psychology and strategy fighting, construction of spear and so on.
Vadim painted this picture according to this article and following
some advice with bear specialist zoologists.
St. Sergius of Radonezh: protector of the bears
Seraphim of Sarov feeds a bear
Seraphim of Sarov feeds a bear
St. Seraphim and the bear
 One day a nun coming to visit St. Seraphim at his hermitage in the
woods near Sarov, found the old monk being visited by a bear.
 Terrified, the nun let out a scream.
 But the bear lay down by Seraphim’s feet.
 “I was as terrified as before,” the nun later recorded, “but when I saw
Father Seraphim, quite unconcerned, treating the bear like a lamb,
stroking him and giving him bread, I calmed down.”
The female bear cub (bride)
Wonder tale Ivan the bear son
Viktor Vasnetsov: Ivan's Battle with the Three-Headed Serpent (1912)
The Soviet Olympic bear: Misha (Moskow, 1980)
Bear politics:
United Russia party (the party of Putin
Bear Politics:
Oh when the bears are marchin’ in …
Other sportive Russian Bears …
Hokey bears
The great game: Russia, England, India
The Russian bear and the Queen of England
Russian Bear and Uncle Sam
Bear president 1
Bear president 2
The Russian bear and Ukraine
Bear oil politics
The Russian bear’s crutches: oil and gas
The bear and Georgia
The bear and Georgia 2
The bear president 3
Appling Lotman to the national symbol analysis
 Long ”memory” of the national symbols
 Diacrony: vertical cut
 Sincronicity1: adaptation to the (contemporary) cultural context
 Sincronicity 2: the same (national) symbol could be idealized in a
context (Soviet Olimpic – United Russia) and ridiculized in others
(foreign newspapers’ articles about the Russian agressive foreing
politic)
Finland, Helsinki: National Museum
Finland Helsinki: Maiden of Finland 1 (Esplanadi)
Helsinki: Maiden of Finland 2 (Senate Square)
Helsinki (National Museum): Satakunta’s Bear
Finland, Helsinki: Pohjola-building’s bear