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Pushkin’s trace in the myth of Joseph Brodsky

https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-179-185

Abstract

The article examines the influence of stable elements inherent in Pushkin’s myth on the ways the myth of Brodsky is constructed. Proceeding from the fact that the space of mythmaking is primarily those literary genres, in which the author’s subjective position is most expressed, the study focuses on memoir literature, interviews, as well as multi-genre texts of journalistic and literary-critical nature. The comparative analysis shows the main lines of convergence in the myths about the two poets, which is possible due to their orientation towards the traditional cultural myth about the “Russian ideal poet”. The article shows that the myths about the poets of two centuries are built on the following similar subjects: the peculiarity of national positioning; fundamental alienation from their direct dependence on society; fatality of poetic service; unprecedented contribution to culture; unquestionable genius. The article concludes that the myth about Pushkin, which is a sample of the Russian variation of the “ideal poet” myth, became in demand as early as at the time of Brodsky’s contemporaries as an opportunity to justify the continuity of the Russian poetry development “from Pushkin to Brodsky”.

About the Author

I. A. Balandina
Ural Federal University
Russian Federation

Balandina Irina Alexandrovna, graduate student,

19 Mira Str., Ekaterinburg, 620062



References

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For citations:


Balandina I.A. Pushkin’s trace in the myth of Joseph Brodsky. Philology and Culture. 2025;(1):179-185. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-179-185

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