『도모스트로이』로 본 러시아 복식 문화의 특징과 러시아성(Russianness) 의 원형 읽기

Abstract

Domostroi, the household rules for the nobility class in the middle of the medieval period of Russia (cc. 1553), is an essential text representative of both mirror and touchstone for the class' everyday lives,domestic business, including clothing, eating, serving religious persons,servants, and even daily chores, etc. The main target of this article is to explore the whole text of 63 chapters, drawing upon a scrutinizing analysis of each chapter. While examining the text, our focal points pay to the problem of why this text does not contain any word for 'extravagance,' 'splendor,' and 'multi-color.' Interestingly enough and amazingly, Domostoi, in fact, uses the word svet (light in English) and pyshnye (extravagant in English) only one time, respectively. This demonstrates, obviously in advance, the fact that in the second part of the 16th century, Russian Tsar proclaimed and made sure a law that did not permit any noble class person to wear priceless clothes on the streets. This regulation, at the same time, designates that the class should consider the unprivileged, the poor, not think themselves shame, compared to the rich. An equal importance was paid to the question of the so-called 'Russianness,' through which this article argues that in the Domostroi, the reader finds numerous unique cultural characteristics, particularly of clothing culture. For this right reason, this paper aims to examine the general contour of cultural diversities and characteristics in the Domostroi, thereby figuring out the essential part of the medieval Russian culture. No less important points this paper has focused on is that Domostroi is the archetype that serves to form a ‘made culture from the top.’ The text, that is, is not just a compelled culture to be observed, but the first Russian document that designated the subordination of the sacred to the state throughout Russian history. To this end, this study employs interdisciplinary approaches such as theology of Russian Orthodox Church, cultural theories, folklore, European history, and the humanities in general.