DOI: հttps://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2025-5(1)-70-78
The image of the city in the narratives of artists (based on the material of the Chelyabinsk text)
Elena Kanishcheva
South Ural State University (National Research University), Chelyabinsk, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0002-0294-2312
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to the specifics of the image of Chelyabinsk in the narratives of artists. The stereotypical idea of the city, ingrained in mass consciousness, is rethought in the works of Chelyabinsk artists and writers, each of whom creates their own vision and ways of representing urban space. Methods of interviewing and questioning made it possible to expand ideas about narratives by referring to the text interview, thereby correlating the specifics of the city's image in the work of artists and personal associations. Two types of tasks related to mental mapping techniques (K. Lynch) were used to conduct interviews and questionnaires. This methodology focuses on creating a subjective creative space of the city, identifying the specifics of artists' perceptions of individual city loci or the overall image of Chelyabinsk. The first type of tasks was associated with the ability to build a unique author's march around the city, focusing on free movement in space, the choice of any «points of attraction» significant for the creative person. The second type of tasks involved choosing the direction of movement and places to stop within the territory defined by the framework, which is the tourist center of the city. Based on the compilation of mental maps, the article analyzes the features of the embodiment of the image of Chelyabinsk in the narratives of the artist N. Bulaeva, as well as the Chelyabinsk poets – I. Argutina and Y. Grants, who are representatives of different generations of Chelyabinsk poetry. The work of Natalia Bulaeva focuses on the narrative of the fairy tale, specifically on the special acceptance of the city as a magical, creative, and protective entity. Irina Argutina perceives the city as a personal space, comprehended through the prism of subjective experience, childhood memories, and family history. In the works of Janis Grants, the city is represented in a specific spatial locus, limited to a separate area of the city. The image of the city in the writer's work is created with the help of sound and visual landmarks, and it is filled with a sense of loneliness and homelessness that the lyrical hero seeks in the city. Creative concepts of envisioning the city's image make it possible to correct the stereotypical perception of harsh, industrial Chelyabinsk and form an idea of the city as a space of creativity.
KEYWORDS: mental mapping, image of the city, image of Chelyabinsk, narratives of artists, work of N. Bulaeva, work of I. Argutina, work of Y. Grants, Chelyabinsk text.
References
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Avanesov, S. S. (2020). City as a cultural myth. In A. V. Stavitsky (Ed.), Myth in history, politics, culture. (pp. 57–61). Lomonosov Moscow State University Branch in Sevastopol. (In Russian).
Irina Argutina (2025). Virtual Museum of Writers of the South Urals. https://writersmuseum.susu.ru/ирина-аргутина/ (In Russian).
Janis Grants (2025). Virtual Museum of Writers of the South Urals. https://writersmuseum.susu.ru/янис-грантс/ (In Russian).
Lindner, R. (2017). Texture, imaginary, habitus: key concepts of cultural analysis in urbanism. Cities' own logic. New approaches in urbanism. New Literary Review. (In Russian).
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Information about the author
Elena V. Kanishcheva
Cand. Sci. (Philology)
Associate Professor of Russian Language
and Literature Department
South Ural State University
(National Research University)
76, Lenin Ave., Chelyabinsk, 454080,
Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-0294-2312
Web of Science ResearcherID: ABD-9140-2020
e-mail: [email protected]
For citation:
Kanishcheva, E. V. (2025). The image of the city in the narratives of artists (based on the material of the Chelyabinsk text). Urbis et Orbis. Microhistory and Semiotics of the City, 5(1), 70–78. հttps://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2025-5(1)-70-78
