Visual codes at the crossroads of tradition and digital media practices

Abstract

Dear readers!

The second issue of the online scientific and practical publication "Experience Industries. Socio-Cultural Research Technologies" (EISCRT) presents the results of scientific reflection by Russian researchers on current trends in the formation of the modern media space.

The issue opens in the "Traditions" section with an article by St. Petersburg researcher Elena Okladnikova, who examines the evolution of the dramatic structure of visual narrative. Her research focuses on a comparative analysis of the principles of visual narrative found in Paleolithic paintings and modern comics. Ultimately, the author concludes that comics, as popular media products of mass culture, are direct heirs to the archaic traditions of ancient societies, as they are based on communitarian symbolic codes.

Ivan Suslov, representing the Saratov State Law Academy, offers an original analysis of werewolf images, characteristic of American cinema at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their cinematic visualization allows us to uncover the meaning of symbols of bodily otherness, as they seek to understand the contradictory practices of restoring social norms. At the same time, it is the biopolitical context that develops around these stories that allows us to grasp the full depth of the anthropological drama of modern civilization.

Significantly, contemporary cinematic images are becoming not only focal points of global meanings but also enable the analysis of glocal narratives. Vsevolod Shipulin examines their patriotic aspect, focusing on images and symbols that, on the one hand, directly reference the myth of the "golden age," but, on the other, are also abundantly represented in contemporary Russian cinema. The author identifies three successive stages in the promotion of such patriotic visual discourses, clearly illustrating the dynamics of shifting cultural policy models in relation to patriotic values.

The "A Matter of Taste" column, curated by Crimean philosopher Oleg Shevchenko, presents a study devoted to an attempt to introduce cosmological mythology into the philosophical and cultural discourse on wine. The cosmic age, which began in the second half of the 20th century, urgently demanded a symbolic accompaniment to new realities of truly universal scale. Therefore, wine, as the drink of the gods, can naturally become the cultural code that seamlessly intertwines ancient earthly mythologies, wine sensory characteristics, and modern marketing strategies.

In the "Horizons" column, Vadim Lapatin offers insight into the results of his research into the transformation of visual imagery in music videos under the influence of psychedelic practices. On the one hand, the formation of a recognizable visual aesthetic is an example of an attempt to delve deep into an individual's consciousness, and on the other, it also allows us to understand how such practices have influenced the transformation of the media sphere and become an integral part of it.

Futuristic trends in media culture are becoming the subject of scholarly analysis by Novgorod researchers Sergey Malenko and Andrey Nekita. Drawing on a systemic analysis of the American film industry, the authors identify several basic symbols whose consistent and persistent reproduction allows for the construction and promotion of images of the near future to the consumer masses. As a result, Hollywood cinematic models of the future are traditionally constructed within the spectrum of communication between crime, government, and powerful corporations, with robotic machines and cyborgs becoming the leading tools for their effective reproduction, protection, and transmission.

Vladislav Chirkov and Andrey Burovsky examine the specific communicative paradigms of creolized media texts. It turns out that their figurative component is the dominant one, while the verbal component merely complements the implementation of advertising strategies. The authors substantiate the need to construct effective creolized advertising texts based on the specific communicative objectives addressed by various Russian campaigns.

The editorial board of the publication "Industry of Impressions" is pleased to present to readers the latest research by Russian scientists and invites all interested parties to continue the interesting and impressive scientific discussions on its pages.