2026 № 1 (56)
Absurdity in Art: Concept and Context
UDC 7; 8
LBC 81; 85.1
DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2026-1-332-351
For cit.: Zlydneva N.V. Absurdity in Art: Concept and Context. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2026, no. 1, pp. 332–351. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226-0072-2026-1-332-351. (In Russian)
Zlydneva Nataliya V.
D.Sc. (in Art History), Head of the Cultural History Department, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 32A Leninsky Av., Moscow, 119991, Russia; Leading Researcher, Central Europe Art Department, State Institute for Art Studies, 5 Kozitsky Lane, Moscow, 125375, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0000-7153-3101
ResearcherID: B-2211-2015
Scopus Author ID: 1580821132407
Absurdity in Art: Concept and Context
Abstract. This article examines the applicability of the concept of absurdity to the analysis of visual art. Based on a structural-semiotic text analysis developed in literary theory, the avant-garde is analyzed from the perspective of figures of speech. In particular, catachresis is examined as a representative of the category of contradiction, which best describes the characteristics of this artistic movement. The article presents the characteristic features of the semantics and syntax of the avant-garde in painting and graphic art, including breaks in space-time connections, the metamorphosis of forms, the randomness of fragmented compositions, semantic shifts and elements of mythological thinking. The author outlines the phenomena in art history that are typologically similar to the avant-garde, and addresses the problem of paradox in the semiotic nature of visual representation.
Keywords: absurdity, painting, avant-garde, figures of speech, catachresis, semantics, mythopoetics
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Received 28.08.2025
Revised 10.12.2025
Accepted 24.12.2025
