The “Depicted Word” in the Structure of Lyric Discourse in G. R. Derzhavin

The article explores the artistic function of the “depicted word” (izobražennoje slovo) in the lyric discourse of G.R. Derzhavin. The frequent occurrence of poetic elements presented by the author as the direct speech of “secondary” voices indicates that the poet deliberately sought to overcome the subjectivity and unilinearity of the lyric utterance, endowing it with greater axiological depth and semantic variability. The study offers a typology of speakers of the depicted word – divine beings, deceased righteous men and heroes of the past, monarchs, mythological figures, relatives, acquaintances, and others – and provides a characterization of each category. The analysis demonstrates that the multiplicity of perspectives, articulated through these secondary voices, enables Derzhavin to transcend the monologic paradigm of lyric discourse. In so doing, he creates the conditions for a multi-perspectival vision of life and of the human being situated within an endlessly shifting and emergent reality.

Russian literature, Derzhavin’s lyrics, lyric subject, polyphony, depicted word, communicative situation, dialogism, poetic dialogue