Information about the author:
Elizaveta S. Apalkova
Elizaveta S. Apalkova, PhD student, Department of New and Modern Russian Literature and the Modern Literary Process, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, bld. 51, 119991 Moscow, Russia/
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0042-9494
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Abstract:
The article discusses the concept of the poetic word by S.A. Esenin, set out in his works “The Father’s Word” (<1918>), “The Keys of Mary” (1918) in the context of the artistic and philosophical searches of his contemporaries. The subject of the comparative analysis was the article by A. Bely “The Magic of Words” and the lecture “Aaron’s Rod (On the Poetic Word in Poetry)” (1917), the works of Vyach. Ivanov “Our Language” (1918), S.D. Krzhizhanovsky “Idea and Word” (1913). Both similarities in the creative and philosophical pursuits of writers and significant differences due to different aesthetic views are revealed. Comparison of the views of seemingly different writers reveals not only differences, but also significant typological similarities, showing the universal value of the creative potential of the word. Esenin conducted a polyphonic dialogue with his contemporaries, an appeal to which allows us to identify the following aspects: 1) the philosophy of the poetic word and its sources, the life-creating nature and magic of poetic language; 2) poetic imagery and the means of its creation; 3) living and dead words: a return to the lost inner form. The article considers Bely’s ideological and philosophical theory as the most important source of Esenin’s views. It is shown that poetic concepts go back to national self-determination and folk imagery. The author of the article emphasizes the importance of folk forms of creativity for Esenin: parables, spells, riddles, etc. For the first time, the echo of the poem “The Fields are Compressed, the Groves are Bare...” (1917) with the images of a folk riddle is noted. A real poetic word synthesizes the heavenly and the earthly. This idea is dear to all writers. Returning to a lost internal form allows one to create a new living image. Esenin and Ivanov write about their attitude to the Russian language and its origins. Krzhizhanovsky has a more reserved attitude to language (he puts forward the thesis about the “inexpressibility” of thought in words). All these writers, one way or another, see the value of a pure, living image, strive to turn to internal meanings, to reveal the creative possibilities of language, which will allow transforming the world through words.
