Podkarpatská Rus z perspektivy československé fotografie v meziválečném období / The Subcarpathian Rus in Czechoslovak Photography in The Interwar Period

Abstract

The author presents ethnographic and documentary photography from Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the interwar period from the perspective of both Czechoslovak ethnologists and photographers. Subcarpathian Ruthenia was a part of the Czechoslovak Republic in the first half of the 20th century, specifically from 1919 to 1938. The government constantly developed the region, where one of the important moments in terms of policy was to inform Czechoslovak citizens about this new part of the country. This involved using two types of information – textual representation ( literature and reportages) and visual representation in the form of photography, which documented everyday life and cultural heritage in the region. In the modern world, Subcarpathian photography constitutes a representation of Ruthenian cultural memory in the Czechoslovak scopic regime. This means it is possible to analyse and reconstruct the identity of the local population through such imagery.

Keywords

• subcarpathian rus
• rusyns
• czechoslovak photography
• cultural memory
• semiotics
• visual representation