The phenomenon of cyclization in Roald Mandelshtam’s lyrical poetry: genesis and poetics

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of cyclization in the lyrical poetry of the Leningrad poet Roald Mandelshtam (1932–1961), whose work, long underground, has increasingly attracted the attention of literary scholars in recent decades. The article identifies the genesis and mechanisms of cyclization in the poet’s work, specifically analyzing the minimal lyrical cycles known as “doubles”. A double is defined as two independent poems that are genetically linked, being equivalent versions of each other, and, in their unity, creating an artistic whole. This article examines key features of R. Mandelstam’s poetics, determining his cyclization strategy: a profound connection with painting (the influence of the artists from the “Arefyev society”), the active use of autoquotation as a means of establishing dialogic links between the texts, and the musicality of his lyricism, manifested at the compositional level (strophic repetition, theme variations). Based on the analysis of double poems, particularly the poem “Night of Falling Leaves”, the article demonstrates how two texts, united by a common title or motif, function as an inseparable unity, realizing the dichotomy of the mystical and physiological planes. This study suggests that for R. Mandelstam, cyclization was a conscious artistic strategy, rooted in the integrity and complexity of his creative thinking.