Bokarev Aleksei

Self-identity of the lyrical subject in B. Kenzheev’s poems of 1970-1980s

Abstract

The paper deals with the structure of B. Kenzheev’s poems of the 1970-1980s. It reconstructs the internal image of the lyrical subject and traces the connection between the «I» and the world (the «others»). The analysis based on the statistics and content of discourse forms (direct speech, reported speech, syncretic and dialogical speech) enables us to reveal basic strategies of the lyrical subject’s self-identification. On the one hand, he obviously identifies himself as personality, and on the other hand, he undergoes the loss of self-identity, which is however manifested sporadically and is particularly prominent in emigrant lyrics of the 1980s. At the same time, the lyrical subject is greatly interested in others’ consciousness, which often leads to the subject border being blurred or even removed. Statistical data and a detailed analysis of such poems as «Кто же меня обозвалмещанином? Похоже…» («Who called me philistine? It seems…»), «Ну что молчишь, раскаявшийся странник?» («Why are you silent, repentant wanderer?»), «Баллада возвращения» («The ballad of return») carried out with regard to the lexical and grammatical representation of the protagonist enables us to see the lyrical self as the fundamental type of subjectness in B. Kenzheev’s poetic system and to reveal the establishment of inter-subject element of his poetic works.

Keywords

B. Kenzheev, «Moscow time», subject structure, lyrical «self», inter-subjectivity, self-identity, the «I» and the «other».

References

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Information about the author

Bokarev Aleksei