  Vartazarova-ZhA-vestnik-2025-2-ru.pdf |
- 11
- Representation of the traditional motif of the “struggle of life and deathˮ in the early lyrics of Konstantin Balmont
- Vartazarova Zh.A. Representation of the traditional motif of the “struggle of life and deathˮ in the early lyrics of Konstantin Balmont. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2025, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 82–89 (In Russ.). https://doi. org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-2-82-89
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-2-82-89
- УДК: 821.161.1.09“19/20ˮ
- EDN: ELIESH
- Publish date: 2025-04-15
- Annotation: The scientific article is devoted to the study of the traditional motif of the “struggle of life and deathˮ in the works of Konstantin Balmont. Using comparative analysis, we establish the most common features between the formulaic stereotypes inherent in folklore and the poetic formulas characteristic of the realisation of the motif of the “struggle of life and deathˮ, focusing on those like vision, dreaming, conversion and prayer. As a result of the research, we came to the conclusion that in his works, the poet actively would use the following archetypal elements – visions, dreams, prayers and appeals – which serve as tools for revealing deep philosophical contradictions between life and death. These traditional forms help to express complex existential experiences through the prism of universal symbols and images. In the lyrics of the early period of his work, Konstantin Balmont created a unique synthesis of a decadent worldview and folklore tradition. Using poetic concepts and formulas of folklore, he managed to tell about the feelings and emotions of the lyrical hero not just as an individual experience, but as an event that had been directly related to the picture of the world of the Russian people.
- Keywords: traditional formulas, “life and death struggleˮ motif, initiation, existential questions of life and death, vision, dream, prayer
- Literature list: Andreeva-Balmont E.A. Vospominaniia [Memoirs]. Moscow, Sabashnikovykh Publ., 1997, 157 p. (In Russ.) Govenko T.V. Proiskhozhdenie i razvitie siuzheta Anika-voin i smert' (Po sledam rabot F.I. Buslaeva, N.S. Tikhonravova, A.N. Veselovskogo, I.N. Zhdanova, A.A. Kotliarevskogo, R.P. Dmitrievoi i drugikh) [The Origin and Development of the Plot of Anika the Warrior and Death (Following the Works of F.I. Buslaev, N.S. Tikhonravov, A.N. Veselovsky, I.N. Zhdanov, A.A. Kotlyarevsky, R.P. Dmitrieva, and Others)]. Nachalo [Beginning]. Moscow, 2002, iss. 5, pp. 3–34. (In Russ.) Koretskaia I.V. Konstantin Bal'mont. Russkaia literatura rubezha vekov (1890-e – nachalo 1920-kh godov) [Konstantin Balmont. Russian Literature at the Turn of the Century (1890s – Early 1920s)]. Moscow, IMLI RAN, Nasledie Publ., 2001, vol. 1, 958 p. (In Russ.) Lazareva A.A. Nevizual'noe v snovideniiakh: tolkovanie oshchushchenii i chuvstv [The Non-Visual in Dreams: Interpretation of Sensations and Feelings]. Vestnik RGGU. Ser.: Literaturovedenie. Iazykoznanie. Kul'turologiia [RGGU Bulletin. Ser.: Literary Studies. Linguistics. Cultural Studies], 2017, no. 12 (33), pp. 50–58. (In Russ.) Molchanova N.A. Poeziia K.D. Bal'monta: problemy tvorcheskoi evoliutsii: dis. … d-ra filol. nauk [The Poetry of K.D. Balmont: Problems of Creative Evolution: Dr. Sci. (Philology) Dissertation]. Ivanovo, 2002, 347 p. (In Russ.) Polonskii V.V. Mezhdu traditsiei i modernizmom. Russkaia literatura rubezha XIX–XX vekov: istoriia, poetika, kontekst [Between Tradition and Modernism. Russian Literature at the Turn of the 19th–20th Centuries: History, Poetics, Context]. Moscow, IMLI RAN Publ., 2011, 471 p. (In Russ.) Prokof'ev N.I. «Videnie» kak zhanr v drevnerusskoi literature [“Vision” as a Genre in Old Russian Literature]. Uchenye zapiski MGPI im. V.I. Lenina. T. 231: Voprosy stilia khudozhestvennoi literatury [Scientific Notes of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after V.I. Lenin. Vol. 231: Questions of Style in Fiction:]. Moscow, MGPI im. V.I. Lenina Publ., 1964, pp. 35–56. (In Russ.) Soboleva A.B. Zhanr videnii v drevnerusskoi literature (na materiale Azbuchnogo paterika) [The Genre of Visions in Old Russian Literature (Based on the Alphabetical Patericon)]. Problemy istoricheskoi poetiki [Problems of Historical Poetics], 2016, pp. 153–169. (In Russ.) Veselovskii A.N. Sud'ba-Dolia v narodnykh predstavleniiakh slavian [Fate-Destiny in Slavic Folk Beliefs]. Sbornik Otdeleniia russkogo iazyka i slovesnosti Imperatorskoi akademii nauk. Razyskanie v oblasti russkogo dukhovnogo stikha. Ch. XIII. Vyp. V. [Research in the Field of Russian Spiritual Verse. Part XIII. Issue V. Collection of the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences]. St. Petersburg, 1889, vol. XLVI, no. 6, p. 173. (In Russ.)