The Aesthetics of Dream and Fairly Tale at the Service of a New Russia Founding Myth. The Opening Ceremony of Sochi Olympics 2014

Abstract

The article is dedicated to decoding signs and symbols that were included in the artistic performance at the opening ceremony. The author starts with rendering a definition of a fairy tale and with the terms and conclusions proposed by Bruno Bettelheim, in the Konstantin Ernst's show, the author unveils elements of a fairy-tale aesthetics: theme, delivery, protagonists, objects, and the aim. Also, the artistic performance bears many features of the poetics and language of a dream, which correspond with the works of Erich Fromm dedicated to this topic. The aesthetics of a dream and a fairy tale used in the show are utilized, as the author maintains, to create a founding myth of "new Russia" under the governance of Vladimir Putin. Subjectively selected elements from history, use of symbols, music, historic and literary figures, pieces of art, colors - all of these were the ingredients of the base of Russia's founding myth, a state reborn after the demise of the Soviet Union. The author argues that the show which opened the athletes' Olympic competition was an element to build an image of imperial Russia, a performance in the service of the state propaganda.