Igor Melamed’s poetic principle of indirect expression
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-186-193
Abstract
The article studies the work of the modern poet Igor Melamed (1961–2014). Among the writers of his time, he stands out for his creative uniqueness and clarity of aesthetic and historical-cultural convictions. The corpus of Igor Melamed’s texts has been almost completely published by now, representing three separate editions. The purpose of this study is to consider the poet’s aesthetic position in terms of the methods of working with subtext and the principle of indirect expression of meaning. Working with a quotation fund is one of the difficult poetic techniques that is aesthetically convincing when implemented in Igor Melamed’s work, it differs from the technique used by his contemporaries in its complexity and versification daintiness. The article analyzes the poet’s poem, which is most indicative in this regard: “Snow clogs the darkness, oppresses vision...” (1987), containing a rather rare example of handling a classical (Pushkin’s) original source. The theoretical basis for this principle can be found in various traditions, it is widely used in ancient Indian poetry (vakrokti). The use of indirect expression is also found in other texts by Igor Melamed, but in the poem “Snow clogs the darkness, oppresses vision...”, the principle of vakrokti is the most fully implemented.
About the Authors
R. B. BerestnevRussian Federation
Berestnev Ruslan Balabekovich, graduate student,
18 Kremlyovskaya Str., Kazan, 420008
A. E. Skvortsov
Russian Federation
Skvortsov Artem Eduardovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor,
18 Kremlyovskaya Str., Kazan, 420008
References
1. Berestnev, R. B. (2023). Obraz zheleznoi dorogi v tvorchestve Igorya Melameda [The Image of the Railway in the Works of Igor Melamed]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki. No. 7, pp. 2001–2005. (In Russian)
2. Berestnev, R. B. (2024). Poezd kak simvol sud'by v tvorchestve I. Melameda [Train as a Symbol of Fate in the Works of I. Melamed]. Tat'yanin den': Sbornik statei i materialov XX Vserossiiskoi nauchno-prakticheskoj konferentsii “Literaturovedenie i estetika v XXI veke“ (“Tat'yanin den'“), posvyashchennoi pamyati T. A. Geller (25-27 yanvarya 2023 goda, g. Kazan'). No. 20, pp. 19– 22. (In Russian)
3. Berestnev, R. B. (2024). Esteticheskaya pozitsiya Igorya Melameda v kontekste sovremennoi russkoi poezii (o pushkinskih traditsiyakh v tvorchestve) [Igor Melamed’s Aesthetic Position in the Context of Contemporary Russian Poetry (On Pushkin’s Traditions in Creativity)]. XXXIII PUSHKINSKIE CHTENIYA (Moskva, Institut im. A. S. Pushkina, 16–17 noyabrya 2023) (stat'ya RINC, v pechati). (In Russian)
4. Abdullaev, E. V. (2010). Psalmu uteshenii. O knige Igorya Melameda “Vozdayanie” [Psalms of Consolation. About the Book “Retribution” by Igor Melamed]. Interpoeziya. No. 3. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/interpoezia/2010/3/psalmy-utesheniya.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
5. Amelin, M. A. (2020). Igor' Melamed i ego geteronimy [Igor Melamed and His Heteronyms]. I. S. Melamed. Literaturnye maski: Druz'ya i rodstvenniki Syomy Shtapskogo. Рр. 5–8. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
6. Bak, D. P. (2015). Igor' Melamed, ili “…ya, malen'kii mal'chik, v bessonnykh nochakh…” [Igor Melamed, or “…I Am, a Little Boy, in Sleepless Nights…”]. Sto poetov nachala stoletiya: Posobie po sovremennoi russkoi poezii. Pp. 328–331. Moscow, Vremya. (In Russian)
7. Basinskii, P. V. (1998). “Dusha moya, so mnoi li ty eshchyo?..” (O knige Igorya Melameda) [“My Soul, Are You Still with Me?..” (About the Book by Igor Melamed)]. I. S. Melamed. V chyornom rayu: Stihi, perevody, stat'i. Pp. 229–235. Moscow, Knizhnyi sad. (In Russian)
8. Basinskii, P. V. (2014). Pamyati druga [In Memory of a Friend]. I. S. Melamed. O poezii i poetakh: Esse i stat'i. Pp. 5–8. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
9. Danilova, D. (2008). Dve babochki: Volshebnyi sachok Igorya Melameda [Two Butterflies: Igor Melamed’s Magical Net]. Ex Libris NG. 19 iyunya. URL: https://nvo.ng.ru/poetry/2008-06-19/5_melamed.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
10. Skvortsov, A. E. (2015). Netolerantnaya estetika [Intolerant Aesthetics]. Rec. na kn.: Igor' Melamed. O poezii i poetakh: Esse i stat'i. M.: OGI, 2014. 204 s. Novyi Mir. No. 5, pp. 190–193. (In Russian)
11. Ivanova, E. A. (2010). Opyt preodoleniya boli. Igor' Melamed [Experience of Overcoming Pain. Igor Melamed]. Voprosy literatury. No. 1, pp. 69–83. (In Russian)
12. Ivanova, E. A. (2015). Poet katastroficheskogo soznaniya. Pamyati Igorya Melameda [The Poet of Catastrophic Consciousness. In Memory of Igor Melamed]. Prosōdia. No. 3, pp. 106–114. (In Russian)
13. Ivanova, E. A. (2017). “Volshebnoe motsartstvo…” (Igor' Melamed. Arfa serafima: Stikhotvoreniya i perevody. M.: OGI, 2015) [“Magical Mozartism…” (Igor Melamed. Harp of the Seraphim: Poems and Translations. Moscow: OGI, 2015)]. Oktyabr'. No. 8. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/october/2017/8/volshebnoe-moczarstvo.html (accessed: 10.11.2024). (In Russian)
14. Karpenko, A. N. (2011). K yubileyu Igorya Melameda. “Stat'i o russkoi poezii” [On the Anniversary of Igor Melamed. “Articles on Russian Poetry”]. URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20150704124922/http://www.poezia.ru/article.php?sid=90091 (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
15. Kravtsov, K. P. (2023). Uroki Igorya Melameda [Lessons by Igor Melamed]. Literratura. Elektronnyi literaturnyi zhurnal. No. 206. URL: https://literratura.org/ criticism/701-konstantinkravcov-uroki-igoryamelameda.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
16. Kr'uchkov, P. M. (2014). Skonchalsya rossiyskii poet, perevodchik i esseist Igor' Melamed [Russian Poet, Translator and Essayist Igor Melamed Has Died]. Foma. 16 aprelja. URL: https://foma.ru/skonchalsya-rossijskijpoet-perevodchik-i-esseist-igor-melamed.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
17. Kulle, V. A. (2000). Suschestvo poezii (Igor' Melamed. V chyornom rayu) [The Creature of Poetry (Igor Melamed. In the Black Paradise)]. Oktyabr'. No. 1. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/october/2000/1/sushhestvo-poezii-igor-melamed-v-chernom-rayu.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
18. Nesterenko, M. A. (2016). Slovo i delo Igorya Melameda [The Word and Deed of Igor Melamed]. RaraAvis. Otkrytaya kritika. URL: http://rararara.ru/menu-texts/slovo_i_delo_igorya_melameda (accessed: 10.11.2024). (In Russian)
19. Shklovskii, E. A. (1999). Igor' Melamed. V chernom rayu [Igor Melamed. In the Black Paradise]. Znamya. No. 3. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/znamia/1999/3/igor-melamed-v-chernom-rayu.html (accessed: 19.11.2024). (In Russian)
20. Yampol'skii, V. N. (2014). Ob odnom stikhotvorenii Igorya Melameda [About One Poem by Igor Melamed]. Literratura. No. 16. URL: http://literratura.org/427-vadim-yampolskiy-ob-odnomstihotvorenii-igorya-melameda.html (accessed: 10.11.2024). (In Russian)
21. Skvortsov, A. E. (2006). Poeticheskaya zrelost': beskonechnoe priblizhenie [Poetic Maturity: An Infinite Approach]. Voprosy literatury. No. 5, pp. 81–93. (In Russian)
22. Syomina, A. A. (2018). Georgii Ivanov i russkie poety vtoroi poloviny XX veka (S. Chudakov, I. Melamed, D. Novikov, B. Ryzhii): diss. … k. filol. n. [Georgy Ivanov and Russian poets of the Second Half of the 20th Century (S. Chudakov, I. Melamed, D. Novikov, V. Ryzhiy): Ph.D. Thesis]. 257 p. Moscow. (In Russian)
23. Syomina, A. A. (2019). Lichnost' i tvorchestvo Georgiya Ivanova v retseptsii Igorya Melameda [The Personality and Creativity of Georgy Ivanov in the Reception of Igor Melamed]. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii nauk. Seriya literatury i yazyka. T. 78, No. 5, pp. 59–69. (In Russian)
24. Ivanyuk, B. P. (2023). “Sneg zasoryaet mrak, ugnetaet zren'e“ I. Melameda: dialog s prototekstom (“Ya vas lyubil, lyubov' eshchyo byt' mozhet…“) A. Pushkina [“Snow Clutters the Darkness, Depresses Vision” by I. Melamed: A Dialogue with the Prototext (“I Loved You, Love May Still Be…”) by A. Pushkin]. Novyi filologicheskii vestnik. No. 4 (67), pp. 198–211. (In Russian)
25. Melamed, I. S. (2014). O poezii i poetah: Esse i stat'i [About Poetry and Poets: Essays and Articles]. 204 p. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
26. Melamed, I. S. (2015). Arfa serafima. Stihotvoreniya i perevody [Seraphim’s Harp. Poems and Translations]. 380 p. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
27. Melamed, I. S. (2020). Literaturnye maski: Druz'ya i rodstvenniki Syomy Shtapskogo [Literary Masks: Friends and Relatives of the Shtapsky Family]. 254 p. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
28. Melamed, I. S. (1998). V chyornom rayu: stikhi, perevody, stat'i [In the Black Paradise: Poems, Translations, Articles]. 240 p. Moscow, Knizhnyi sad. (In Russian)
29. Polnyi tserkovnoslavyanskii slovar' G. M. D'yachenko (1899) [Complete Church Slavonic Dictionary by G. M. Dyachenko]. 1120 p. Moscow. (In Russian)
30. Bak, D. P. (2015). “Pozhiznennoe detstvo “. Poeziya i pravda Igorya Melameda [“Lifelong Childhood”. Igor Melamed’s Poetry and Truth]. I. S. Melamed. Arfa serafima: Stihotvoreniya i perevody. Pp. 5–27. Moscow, OGI. (In Russian)
31. Vostochnaya poetika: Teksty. Issledovaniya. Kommentarii (1996) [Eastern Poetics: Texts. Research. Comments]. 342 p. Moscow, Izdatel'skaya firma “Vostochnaya literatura” , RAN. (In Russian)
32. Tsvetkova, S. O. (2013). Slovesnye figury i printsip nepryamogo vyrazheniya (vakrokti) v sanskritskoi klassicheskoi poetike [Verbal Figures and the Principle of Indirect Expression (Vakrukti) in Classical Sanskrit Poetics]. Zografskii sbornik. Vyp. 3, pp. 78–87. Rossiiskaya akademiya nauk, Muzei antropologii i etnografii im. Petra Velikogo (Kunstkamera). St. Petersburg, MAE RAN. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Berestnev R.B., Skvortsov A.E. Igor Melamed’s poetic principle of indirect expression. Philology and Culture. 2025;(1):186-193. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-79-1-186-193