Gender Aspects of the Image Semantics of Belarusian Ornament According to M.S. Katser
For the first time, the article posed and investigated from the point of view of gender theory the problem of differentiation in the decorative and applied art of female and male images of the ornament of Belarusians according to the only surviving copy of the manuscript album-“alfact” of the first Belarusian art historian, Doctor of Art History, Professor M.S. Katser (1906-1995) “Images of the Ornament of Folk Art Weaving of Belarus”, which is currently in the personal archive of the Belarusian art critic and ethnologist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor E.M. Sahuta. The author identifies four main types of patterns. Firstly, these are patterns in which only the feminine is present. Secondly, patterns in which the feminine is dominant, but complemented by the masculine. The third group includes patterns that identically combine the masculine and feminine principles in an inseparable integrity. This is most clearly manifested in image patterns of love. The fourth group should include those patterns in which the gender principle is intentionally absent. In a purely anthropological dimension, these are patterns associated with infants.