The Possibilities of Ethnomethodology in Modern Art Studies
197
took part in the formation of the region’s professional fine art. For this
reason, the problems of historical roots, ethnocultural originality and cross-
cultural dialogue are all present when considering the contemporary art of
the territory.
The analysis of ethnocultural traditions in the works of artists in Altai
allows us to specify the degree of influence of those traditions on the
formation of the image-bearing systems of the art, as well as on its creative
methods and style. Thus, the first reference to ethnographic sources is the
practice of painting scenes of the reclaimed Siberian territories. The
interaction of the ethnocultural traditions of Altai with the principles of the
Russian Realist school became a defining tendency in the course of the
formation of professional fine art in the region. Among the sources that
define the ethnocultural specificity are: 1. a worldview based upon
principles connected to pride at belonging to the sub-ethnos, clan (seok) or
local motherland, and the worship of nature and its symbolisation; 2. the
combination of the traditions of Russian Realist tonal painting with a
mythopoetic model of the world of the Altai ethnoculture in the structure
of the artistic image.
The transformation of cultural contexts has led to specific
expressions of ethnicity in art: firstly, the unintended manifestation, based
on the mental grounding in ethnocultural traditions; secondly, the deliberate
realisation of ethnic origins as a programmatic thread in the work of art. If
the artists of the second half of the 20
th
century, inspired by ethnocultural
heritage, strove for realistic accuracy, artists at the turn of the 21
st
century
have formed a new artistic space for the picture: the sign-symbolical.
The Possibilities of Ethnomethodology
in Modern Art Studies
(Abstract)
Globalisation and, acting in a counterbalance to this, the processes of localisation have
brought forth the necessity of studying ethnic mentality, including its manifestation in the
formal-content and image-bearing structure of works of fine art. This problem arises
because the human sciences still lack the theoretical substantiation of the role of ethnicity
in art. The study of the possibilities of ethnomethodology is necessary for the all-round
development of art studies, for the study of historical compositions of schools of art and to
understand the modern tendencies of artistic processes.
Based on the analysis of theoretical principles, the object of this study is to highlight
the possibilities inherent in the application of ethnomethodology to ethnic art studies. E.
Husserl’s theory of intentionality, H. G. Gadamer’s hermeneutic principles of
understanding and interpretation and H. Garfinkel’s theories form the basis for achieving
this objective.
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L. I. Nekhvyadovich
198
The possibilities of ethnomethodology in modern art criticism are revealed in the
following research structure: the historical-ethnographical characteristics of the region; the
revelation of origins and factors influencing ethnocultural distinctiveness in artistic
traditions; the description of tendencies in the fine arts in the context of a problem of
ethnocultural distinctiveness; the analysis of ethnic art influences in the formal-content and
image-bearing structure of works of art.
The significance of the results of this study lies in the possibility of their use as a
theoretical-methodological and source studies basis of research devoted to the problem
of ethnicity in art, and to in-depth study of art culture. Further research might focus
upon the development of ethnic art studies as a theoretical-methodological basis for the
study of arts and crafts and architecture, through the revelation of the correlation
between distinctive ethnocultural characteristics and artistic traditions in the history of
art.
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www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html / www.cimec.ro