Verbalization of the image of the garden as one of the key images of the sacred space (by the material of the works of S. Yesenin)

In modern linguistics, the study of the features of modeling and objectification of space qualifies as one of the “eternal” topics. In the scientific literature, when defining space, the definitional model “space – category” prevails, however, researchers note the close connection of this phenomenon with the picture of the world of the ethnic group. Space defines the structure and boundaries of the world within the framework of the picture of the world. The parameters of space, according to which it is modeled in the mind of an individual, are set by culture. Among them is the dimension of space. Traditional for Russian linguistic culture is a horizontally oriented spatial model of the world. However, under the influence of Christianity, a vertically oriented spatial model is also formed. The space perceived in the vertical plane is divided into the space of being (or earthly space) and sacred space. In addition, the space is displayed in the human mind by a number of tactile, visual, dynamic and other images. Among them we include the image of the garden, which we refer to the images of sacred space. The purpose of the article is to describe the means of explication of the considered image in the poet’s work. The material of the study was the texts of poems and short poems by S. Yesenin. The corpus of factual material was selected by the method of continuous sampling; the method of contextual analysis and linguoculturological analysis were also used. As a result of the study, individual-author’s features of space modeling in S. Yesenin’s lyrics were revealed, in which the image of a garden occupies a border position between earthly and sacred space. In Russian linguistic culture, the image of a garden is traditionally regarded as one of the locus of the sacred space, correlated with paradise. It was inhabited by divine beings, the righteous and the souls of the dead (verbalized in the texts of the Ryazan poet by the combination Garden of Edem, blue garden). The study of the means of explication of the image of the garden as a key image of the sacred space in the work of S. Yesenin made it possible to identify the syncretism of the perception of space and the world as a whole, to describe the features of Russian linguistic culture, which are displayed and broadcast in the author’s works. The significance of the study lies in the reflection of the author’s modeling of space and understanding of realities and their images through the prism of the category “own or another’s”.

linguoculture, spatial model of the world, locus, definition model, image, sacred space