ICONOGRAPHY OF POSTCARDS OF THE KIEV PUBLISHING HOUSE «NOV’» (1914–1916)

Abstract

The article analyzes postcards of the Kiev publishing house «Nov’» as an iconographic source of the events of the First World War. The images, plots and characters of images placed on mail delivery forms and their symbolic meaning are considered. It was found out that during 1914–1916 they were the main means of communication and an effective way of information propaganda. The evolution of the iconography of the views of postcards published by the publishing house «Nov’» is traced from the humorous vocabulary that is understandable to the majority of the illiterate population of the Russian Empire, which ridiculed the German army, the Kaiser and his allies to the use of patriotic drawings.