Title of the article:

NIGHT AND DAY SUN AS ATTRIBUTES OF CHRONOTOPE NIGHT IN THE DECORATIVE CARVING OF WOODEN CRADLES

Author(s):

Elena N. Suvorkina

Information about the author/authors

Elena N. Suvorkina — PhD in Culturology, Head of the systematization sector of the Scientific Library, Ryazan State University named after S. A. Esenin, Svobody St., 46, 390000 Ryazan, Russia. E-mail: suvorkina@list.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2018

Volume

Vol. 49

Pages

Рp. 87–93

Received

September 19, 2017

Date of publication

September 15, 2018

Index UDK

008+745.51+392.16(=161.1)

Index BBK

71.1+85.125+63.521(=411)-53

Abstract

The author, drawing on the material of analysis of the Slavic archaic preserved in the wood carving of cradles, explores solar signs, which are not only attributes of the chronotope day, but also night. Night, in contrast to the day — was considered a period of domination of evil, dark spirits that can harm а newborn, which is why it required a system of protective measures. Carving of decorative elements with a special, sacred, meaning acted as one of the most important units of them. The cradle could be decorated with the signs of day`s or night`s sun. In some cases (the Northern sample) master depicted underground passage of the Sun (the night sun) in accordance with the East Slavic worldview, which continued to coexist with the Christian one, although in a significantly modified image. One must not identify the path of the night sun through the world of the dead portrayed on the cradle — as the locus of the first postnatal stay of the baby — with a destructive principle. for the carver did not address death, but called for sleep, a necessary condition for the favorable development of the child.  We find such a synthesis (Southern pattern) in the sign of the day sun (cross in a circle), which can also be interpreted as a Christian cross. Such variability and multiplicity of metaphysical forms of chronotope representation of the night also takes place in lullabies as an element of mother's folklore performed to a child lying in the cradle.

Keywords

cradle, child, childhood, night, solar sign, decorative carving, lullaby, Slavic mythology, chronotope.

References

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