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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
No Mere Reflection: Mirrors As Windows On Russian Culture, Julia Chadaga
No Mere Reflection: Mirrors As Windows On Russian Culture, Julia Chadaga
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
This essay traces the development of mirror use in Russia from the medieval period to the modern day with particular attention to the dynamic interplay between the utilitarian and symbolic functions of this object. I examine how the discourse around mirrors in Russia was shaped by a preoccupation with border-crossing and identity that is distinctive to Russian culture as well as by mirror lore from other world traditions; and I demonstrate that the presence of mirrors shaped the production of imaginative literature in profound ways. The essay focuses on several key functions of the Russian mirror: as a site of …
The Mirror In Art: Vanitas, Veritas, And Vision, Helena Goscilo
The Mirror In Art: Vanitas, Veritas, And Vision, Helena Goscilo
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Humankind’s venerable obsession with the mirror, traceable to the ancient myths of Medusa and Narcissus, is copiously attested in Western art, which historically relied on the mirror as both practical tool and polysemous trope. While the mirror’s reflective capacities encouraged its identification with the vaunted mimetic function of literature and film, its refractive quality enabled artists to explore and comment on perspective, in the process challenging the concept of art’s faithful representation of phenomena. My radically compressed and selective overview of the mirror’s significance in Western iconography focuses primarily on visibility, gaze, and gender, dwelling on key moments and genres …