Semantics and poetics of the Russian costume in “The histоry of the Russian state” by N. M. Karamzin

The costume in the artistic world of N. M. Karamzin is an important semiotic system. It appears as a means of characterizing the hero's social status, social role, his connection with a sacred reality, and in this way, the costume is certainly symbolic. The material world is a tool of idealization of everyday life, it has a symbolic completeness related to ritual and ceremonial aspects, its image serves as a method of visualization of history. The details of the costume are always clearly marked and have no random character. With the help of the hero's costume the national color is reconstructed, the spirit of the era is transmitted, historical reality is modeled. The peculiarity of poetics of “The Histоry of the Russian State” is conveyed through the description of the costume, which is characterized by attention to details, the change of close-up and long-distance plans while creating portraits of the characters as well as biblical allusions. The deceleration of the action by the introduction of a character's costume puts corporeal ekphrasis in the same line of historical events. Thanks to the ethnographically accurate description of clothes, the historical interpretation is perceived by the reader as a historical reconstruction.