Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

Perusing of the Internet sites allowed the authors to retrieve 300 different types of pandemic masks representing “mask fashion trends”. This “production surplus” of created/produced masks has led the authors to see the need of introducing their typology. Hence, the aim of the article is not only to present the history of the mask, which has always been a form of communication, but also to classify the collected artifacts. The authors propose two criteria of classification: (1) into original masks (sometimes characterized by their outright eccentricity) and non-original, typical masks (mainly decorative), and (2) into thematic and semiotic masks. Within the main categories, the authors delineate subcategories. The method adopted in the research is content analysis.