Маската: чуждото лице като свое
The Mask: Somebody Else’s Face as Your Own

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the essence of the mask in the light of the idea of the double. First, the mask appeared synchronically with man and it may be considered a typical attribute of civilization. At the beginning it had a ritual, symbol-filled essence and it related to immediate human activity. Later the mask passed through the stage of its carnival-grotesque meaning and imitational essence as part of popular beliefs, customs and games. But its truly symbolic essence as a synonym of the double, of the other personality, of the alter ego became a theme of symbolism. Many works of art were dedicated to the double essence of the mask – both as a mask and as a second, spare face. The split personality takes responsibility for creating a second face by means of which as a double often takes the functions of the original and it starts to perceive itself as an original. That is the tragic personality nuance of the mask which hides the original – its own face and its soul.

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