“I write with green paste”: ink color as an element of presentation and interpretation of epistolary documents (based on the material of the cycle of letters by V. M. Shukshin to M. S. Yakutina)

This paper shows the role of ink color as one of the elements of the graphic component of the epistolary text in interpreting letters and presenting them in the process of publishing and museum exhibiting. The analysis was made of a cycle of letters by famous Russian writer V. M. Shukshin to M. S. Yakutina. It is proved that different ink colors create an entire spectrum of semantic connections and intertextual echoes, allowing the writer to express his thoughts, feelings, impressions of dreams, and memories inspired by communication with a friend of youth in a more comprehensive way. The unity of the addressee and thematic commonalities and regular references from later letters to earlier ones allows uniting them into a cycle of three letters. For each letter, Shukshin uses a different ink color: black, green, and red, with each color implying certain semantics: black - the restoration of communication; green - hope and youth; red - repentance and death. The analysis results provide a conclusion that when publishing significant epistolary texts for the first time, it is necessary to attach facsimile and indicate the color of ink and/or other graphic features in the commentary, for example, way of writing: ballpoint pen, pencil, typed/printer; the presence of drawings, the type of paper: writing or drawing paper. In addition, when photocopies rather than originals are exhibited in the museum, color photocopies should be used.