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Vol 84, No 3 (2025)
Man and His Activities in The Medieval Latin Hymnographic Tradition: The St. Gallen Poetic School as a Case Study
Abstract
The article deals with reflecting the place of man and his activities in the artistic worldview of the medieval hymnographer. Church poetry created in the monastery of St. Gallen in the 9th–10th centuries served as a material for the research. The study showed that the corpus of poetic texts dedicated to the heroes and anti-heroes of Christianity, which developed in St. Gallen, reflected not only general Christian ideas concerning man and his activities, but also the views developed by three like-minded people and friends, the poets Notker Balbulus, Ratpert and Tuotilo. Poetic texts, combined with music and performed during services not only in St. Gallen, but also in other monasteries and churches in Europe, made it possible to disseminate these views in a form convenient for assimilation and memorization. The school of St. Gallen, where the poets taught, was known throughout Europe and had a reputation as a place where they not only provided an excellent education, but also paid attention to the spiritual development of their students. Boys from aristocratic families entered the school, and later became abbots of monasteries, missionaries, and bishops. They did not lose contact with the monastery and, occupying high church positions, became conduits not only of the Christian, but also of the St. Gallen worldview, in which an important place was occupied by man whose actions determined his life and posthumous destiny.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):5-14
5-14
From the Novel “Y” to the Novel “Crimson Sunset”: Vs. Ivanovʼs Work on Studying Factories in the 1930s
Abstract
Vsevolod Ivanovʼs novel “Y” (1932), which has been analyzed by researchers mainly from the perspective of its experimental form and satirical content, as well as its allusions to Russian and European literary works, is discussed in detail for the first time in this article in the historical and literary context of the 1930s. The connections of the novel itself and the editorial board that led to the creation of an independent work, “Crimson Sunset” (1934), are linked to the new general theme of proletarian literature that was formulated in 1931. This theme brought with it new requirements for writers, including the task of depicting the construction of factories during the first five-year plan and showing heroes of labor and new people and so-called “saboteurs” in industrial production. From the point of view of the challenges of the era and their fulfillment, the author of the article, utilizing new biographical sources, analyzes a group of texts: a fragment of the novel “Y”, published in periodicals; its complete text, which was not published during Ivanovʼs lifetime; the never-published novel “Crimson Sunset” (it is stored in the archive), and its original concept, as reflected in its publication in periodicals. The article traces how the absurdity and irony, including over industrial construction, of the novel “Y”, where Ivanov showed mainly “former” people, in the novel “Crimson Sunset” are replaced by an image in the foreground of a factory in Donbass. The writer visited real factories in 1933, and these served as the basis for the description in the novel. Moving away from the ironic tone of the original draft of the novel, Ivanov in “Crimson Sunset” shows representatives of working youth who strive to become new people with a new consciousness. He also introduces images of saboteurs who interfere with this process. It is concluded that, at the same time, the novel “Crimson Sunset” turned out not to correspond to the expectations of the ideologists of its time for literature. Reflecting on the fates of people during the era of socialist construction, and striving to capture the unpredictable real life and the “secret of secrets” of the human soul, the writer created a work that was in many ways an alternative to the Soviet literature of the 1930s. In this work, he explored the non-proletarian emotions of sacrifice, loneliness, and longing that were often ignored or suppressed in official Soviet literature.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):15-25
15-25
Concerning the Functions of Fully Stressed Rhythmic Form (Based on the Poetry of Joseph Brodsky)
Abstract
The article examines the functions of the fully stressed rhythmic form, primarily in the poetry of J. Brodsky. The fully stressed rhythmic form is intended to accentuate the semantics of the corresponding lines where it is used. This rhythmic form, both in iambic and trochaic meters, can also imitate the striking of a clock or the movement of a pendulum. But it does not have a stable semantic aura. It can designate the striking of a clock or the swing of a pendulum only if an indication of such striking or movement is contained in the content plan of the poem. The same function can be performed by other rhythmic forms in the case of their regular repetition in adjacent lines. In fully stressed forms, rhythmic regularity and monotony are created by alternating the same number of unstressed syllables between ictuses, as well as by repeating the verses themselves with the same rhythmic pattern. In poetic texts where some other rhythmic form, not fully stressed, is consistently realized, it is the second factor that is significant – the repetition of lines of the same rhythmic structure, rather than syllables. In trisyllabics, the imitation of clock strikes and / or pendulum movements is achieved in other ways, additional to fully stressed ones.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):26-36
26-36
Polymetrical Verse by Genrikh Sapgir (On the Example of Cycle of Poems “Memories with Angels in Kraskovo”)
Abstract
The article analyzes the polymetrical verse of Genrikh Sapgirʼs poetic cycle Memories with Angels in Kraskovo. It is divided into five sections. The first section examines the metrical heteromorphism in Sapgirʼs verse, concluding that he uses not meters per se, but rather lines, which form part of his metrical repertoire as “ready-made” forms, to create polymetry. The second section focuses on the tonic structure of Memoirs..., emphasizing the repetition of specific varieties of dolnik. The third section addresses the use of free verse, which appears in a limited capacity within Sapgirʼs cycle. The fourth section provides general statistics on meter and analyzes the ways in which it is combined. The fifth section explores the phonetic effects of the verse in Memoirs... in relation to its polymorphical nature. Sapgirʼs work significantly expands the possibilities of Russian metrical versification, developing a special type of polymetry that operates with stable combinations of meters, inclusions of tonic and free verse, as well as the expressive possibilities of super-short lines. An essential element in the formation of Sapgirʼs verse is the visual representation of the text, which is divided into syntagms and individual words. This leads to the emergence of a secondary rhythm, namely the rhythm of verse divisions and sound repetitions. Consequently, the same text may be perceived as metrical, tonic and free, depending on the manner of reading. Sapgirʼs proposed model of polymetry represents a transitional form of verse that resists the notion of regularity, yet functions according to a set of defined laws. Such verse may be considered a modern stage in the evolution of Russian metrical versification.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):37-48
37-48
Neo-Victorian Fairy-Tale Topos and the Ways of its Creation” in “The Children’s Book” by A. S. Byatt
Abstract
A.S. Byatt (1936–2023) is known as the author of several neo-Victorian novels, and she developed an original technic of her own for recreation of the Victorian topos by means of language and imagination. The reconstruction is carried out following three main lines: fictional characters, inserted texts and intertextuality. The article examines the line of inserted texts of fairy tales in Byatt’s last neo-Victorain novel “The Children’s Book” (2009), as well as the character of their author – a neo-Victorian storyteller Olive Wellwood – constructed on the basis of life and work of a famous Victorian children’s writer Edith Nesbit (1858–1924). In particular, a unique narrative method is highlighted, called by Byatt “ventriloquism”, as well as its role in the polemics of Byatt with postmodern criticism. The analysis of interaction of Byatt’s artistic language with Nesbit’s poetics reveals that the contemporary author applies pastiche as the main instrument for creating the neo-Victorian topos of fairy tales, and subsequently she recovers a unique mysterious and solemn atmosphere of this genre. Some other properties of Byatt’s fairy tales are emphasized like their being projections of the plot and meanings of the novel, and hybridity.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):49-61
49-61
The Meaning and Realization of the Wandering Rocks Mythologeme in the Context of the Tenth Episode of “Ulysses” by James Joyce
Abstract
The objective of the research is to establish the connection between the Wandering Rocks mythologeme and the tenth episode of “Ulysses”, and to describe the representation of the mythologeme in the episode. The Wandering Rocks transform in Joyce’s world view into the biblical image of a barrier at the boundary of Eden. While in the Bible the flaming sword which turns every way is analogous to the Wandering Rocks, and the Cherubim is near it, in the literary world of James Joyce the objects of the physical world become the manifestations of the Wandering Rocks with nearby characters performing the function of the Cherubim. Using crypto parody in combination with an element of travesty, Joyce interprets the mythologeme by means of metaphoric comparative concretism. The Bible and the Greek myth are the two sources that can help the reader of the tenth episode to reveal concealed allusions and by doing so to bridge the gaps in meaning. The paper provides the rationalization of the main symbols of the episode from Joyce’s scheme: blood as the blood of Christ, the time of 15.00 as the time of His death on the cross, and mechanics as the science of passing through the Wandering Rocks following in the footsteps of the Savior.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):62-76
62-76
Ways of Translating Polish Predicative Past Passive Participles into Old Church Slavonic in “Ecclesiastical Annals” of the 17th Century
Abstract
The paper analyzes ways to translate Polish predicative past passive participles in “Ecclesiastical Annals” into Church Slavonic in the rendition of 1689. As the analysis of the material has shown, the text shows an orientation towards Church Slavonic tradition, syntactic Greekization, adherence to grammatical norms recorded by M. Smotritsky. This is evidenced by the widespread use of the aorist and imperfect to translate polish -no/-to forms, for which there was a better analogue in the living language, of the bookish construction да + praes., of the construction infinitive + subject in Dat., which was a syntactic Greekism, of the long forms of the past passive participles. At the same time living language elements, which corresponded to Polish forms, are poorly reflected in the Church Slavonic text. The use of the past passive participle with the auxiliary in present tense with the aorist meaning, that missed both in Old Church Slavonic and living language, is fixed in the translation of “Annals”. This is apparently due to the fixation of these forms in the grammar of M. Smotritsky. To identify specific features of the translation of 1648, the material is compared with another Church Slavonic translation of 1719. The comparison allows us to conclude that the translation of 1689 was more bookish-oriented. Thus, there are no bookish constructions да + praes and infinitive + subject in Dat. and predicative long forms of the past passive participles in the text of 1719. On the contrary, the use of past passive participles typical for the living language of that period is presented widely in this translation.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):77-87
77-87
Yuly Aykhenvald and Collected Works of A. S. Pushkin Published by Vengerov (Based on Materials from the Manuscripts Department of the Institute of Russian Literature)
Abstract
The article makes an attempt to trace the history of the participation of the critic Yu.I. Aikhenvald in the Collected Works of A.S. Pushkin, ed. S.A. Vengerov. Aikhenvald’s letters to Vengerov, stored in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as draft letters to the critic for 1907–1908, contained in Vengerov’s Office Book, are analyzed. In the Collected Works of Pushkin, only 2 essays by Aikhenvald were published – about “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” and about “Poltava” – although another essay about “Gypsies” was sent, and it was assumed that the critic would provide another essay about “Mozart and Salieri” and about “A stingy knight”. It is concluded that it was the work on the essays in the Collected Works of Pushkin that gave Aikhenvald the idea of including chapters on Pushkin’s works in the 2nd edition of the I Issue of “Silhouettes of Russian Writers”. It was the work on the reissue of “Silhouettes...” and the release of this collection in the fall of 1908 that did not allow Aikhenvald to continue participating in the Collected Works of Pushkin. The Appendix publishes a number of letters from Aikhenvald and some editions of letters from Vengerov’s Office Book concerning the history of the critic’s participation in this publication. Two letters from Aikhenvald to Vengerov, written after the appearance of Vengerov’s article “Critic-Impressionist” (1910), are also published.
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):88-101
88-101
Reviews
Chernozemova, E. N. Conversation about Dignity and Honour in the System of Genres of English Drama of the Late 16th Century. Moscow: De’Libri Publ., 2024. 276 p. [In Russ.]
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):102-104
102-104
Estate and Dacha – Moving on. Review of the Book: Bogdanova, O. A. Hermeneutics of the Literary Estate: Theory, History, Modernity: Monograph. Ed. by M. V. Skorokhodov. Moscow: IWL RAS Publ., 2024. 560 p. (Series “Russian Estate in the Global Context”. Issue 9). [In Russ.]
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):105-108
105-108
Chronicles
Main Linguistic Events: The 21st International Congress of Linguists (21 ICL: Languages – Communities – Technologies (Poznań, September 8–14, 2024) and the First Eurasian Congress of Linguists (Moscow, December 9–13, 2024)
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):109-118
109-118
The 26th International Conference “Speech and Computer” SPECOM-2024
Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka. 2025;84(3):119-126
119-126