Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi (Jan 2017)
An Academic Exploration of Marc Chagall’s “I and the Village”
Abstract
In this study, the information concerning academic criticism was primarily given and then "I and the Village", a painting by Marc Chagall, was examined as an example of academic criticism. The examination was carried out by following the stages of "Pre-iconographic Description (Natural Meaning)", "Iconographic Analysis (Negotiation of Meaning)" and "Iconological Interpretation (Original Meaning-Content)". As in all of the works of Marc Chagall, his work, "I and the Village", is a reflection of his memories and outlook on life as well. The figures, forms, geometric arrangements and use of colour in this work contains symbolic meanings. The explicit objects on the painting, geometric spaces between them and the events that are evoked by these constitute a different profoundness on the surface of the twodimensional painting in terms of form and content. The artist, a Russian of Hasidic Jewish lineage, has a moderate attitude in terms of religion and politics, however; he has always remained loyal to his past and reflected this by means of the symbols on the paintings. His work "I and the Village" is one of these examples. The cultural past of the artist, his love of nature and human and his expectations from the future are described in a naïve language in this work.
