SEMIOTICS OF THE ARCHETYPAL IMAGE OF KOZAK MAMAI IN THE CONTEXT OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

Abstract

The aim of this article is to conceptualize the image of the Cossack Mamai through a semiotic analysis of
Ukrainian folk paintings, viewed through the lens of C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes.
Research methodology. The methodological foundation of this study is C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes and its
cultural interpretation, supplemented by E. Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms. The study employs a semiotic
approach to the analysis of visual imagery, which allows for the consideration of folk paintings as a system of signs and
symbols that convey collective experience. A comparative-typological method is used to distinguish between the
concepts of “archetype”, “archetypal image” and “cultural hero” while cultural analysis is employed to situate the image
of the Cossack Mamai within the system of archetypal principles of the Ukrainian mentality.
Results. It has been demonstrated that the Cossack Mamai is an archetypal figure – a variable yet semantically
fixed representative of the deep archetypal structures of the collective unconscious. A semiotic analysis of the invariant
attributes of folk paintings has shown that the image’s system of symbols reaches back to archaic pagan beliefs and,
taken as a whole, emphasizes the image’s apotropaic and mediating nature. It has been established that Cossack Mamai
organically synthesizes the Jungian archetypes of the Hero and the Sage and embodies the key principles of Ukrainian
cultural mentality – cordocentrism, sophianism and anteism, establishing himself as an integral component of Ukrainian
national self-awareness and a means of transmitting cultural identity.
Novelty. The scientific novelty of this study lies in conducting one of the first comprehensive cultural analysis of the
image of the Cossack Mamai, combining Jungian archetypal theory, Cassirer’s philosophy of symbolic forms and the
semiotics of invariant attributes in folk paintings. For the first time, the concepts of «archetype», «archetypal image», and
«cultural hero» have been clearly distinguished in relation to the phenomenon, and it has been demonstrated that Cossack
Mamai is a unique synthesis of the archetypes of the Hero and the Sage, specific to the Ukrainian cultural tradition. The
practical significance. The research findings can be applied in educational, museum, exhibition, and cultural-educational
activities. The proposed methodology of semiotic analysis through the lens of archetype theory can be applied to the study of
other images in Ukrainian folk art, and the conclusions drawn can be used in developing concepts for the preservation and
promotion of Ukraine’s traditional cultural heritage.