Sefardske štampane ketube na Balkanu: vizuelna dekoracija kao odraz ideja bračne harmonije i privatno-javnog jevrejskog identiteta

Abstract

Jevrejski bračni ugovori - ketube, imaju mnogovekovnu i bogatu tradiciju vizuelnog ukrašavanja i iluminacije. Ketube nastale krajem XIX i početkom XX veka, postaju serijski štampani obrasci, podražavajući ideale savremenih građanskih država i modernog društva. Same jevrejske zajednice širom Balkana u ovom periodu prolaze kroz niz kulturnih i društvenih transformacija. Vizuelna dekoracija ketuba, stoga, ima privatno-javni karakter, uobličen prema običajnom jevrejskom pravu i konkretnim društveno državnim okolnostima. U dekoraciji balkanskih ketuba iz velikih sefardskih gradova poput Beograda, Sofije, Sarajeva i Soluna u periodu s kraja XIX veka i u prvim decenijama XX veka, koje su realizovane u litografskim štamparijama, jasno su izražene ideje bračne harmonije, kao i jevrejskog identiteta, uz koje se javljaju i zvanična državna obeležja. Likovnom formulacijom ketube, sadržajem i njenom strukturom, štampani obrazac postaje slika progresa jevrejske zajednice i savremenog, građanski shvaćenog braka.

The Jewish community in the Balkans goes through a sequence of “transformations during the 19 century. For Jews who live in the territory of Serbia, changes begin with the process of liberation from Ottoman rule, followed by the founding and development of the Serbian state. The community had to function firstly in the Principality and later on the Kingdom of Serbia, as well as under the turbulent circumstances of the dynastic changes at the beginning of 20 century that led to the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Each of these phases influenced the shifts in the shape of the cultural model and directed the relation between communal privacy and public identity integral to the wider sphere of the society. Ketubbot made by the end of 19 and the beginning of 20 century became serial printed prototypes, which support the idea of the contemporary civil state and modern society. They were produced all over the Balkans in lithographic printing offices. Their visual forms inherited the old tradition of representing the triumphal arch with symbolic decoration. They carry Jewish symbols like Magen David, Decalogue, or menorah, but also include state symbols like Serbian coat of arms, as well as emblematic pictograms of civil marriage and marital harmony like Concordia Maritalis, then putto and symbols of love - hearts. The illustration of this thesis is the examples of ketubbot printed in large Balkan cities: Belgrade, Sarajevo, Sophia and Thessaloniki from the end of the XIX century to the beginning of XX. By replacing illuminated ketubbot with serial lithographic prints, Balkan Jews were participating in the contemporary social trends, but also creating their own visual culture, according to their personal needs. Holding on consistently to the emphasizing of an outstanding identity, they