The Leader Image in M. Tsvetaeva’s Autobiographical Myth (On the
Basis of the Poem «On the Red Horse» and the Essay «Devil»)

The article considers the features of Tsvetaeva’s autobiographical
myth in the lyrical poem «On the Red Horse» (1921) dating from the transitional,
critical period of Tsvetaeva’s creative work, and in the essay «Devil» (1933)
which summarizes, to a certain extent, her life and creative experience. The emphasis
is put on the specific character of modernist subjectivity and sacredness,
the features of Tsvetaeva’s myth creation, including the interaction between the
lyrical and essayist trends. The plot of a dialogue between Tsvetaeva’s lyrical
subject and the supernatural, demonic creature from another world is analyzed
in detail. The similarity is revealed between the images of the Devil and the Red
Rider – Genius, which may be considered as versions of the poet’s crucial figure
of the Leader, a meeting with whom being destiny-decisive. It is traced, how the
subjective and subjectivised approaches of Tsvetaeva discover subconscious
processes, how the intuitive notion is raised to the rank of regularity, and the
feeling tends to become the event. On the basis of comparison of the works
of different genres, an attempt is made to understand general features of
Tsvetaeva’s autobiographical myth about the poet’s vocation. The motifs of the
chosen one, even in childhood, the predestination of the lyrical subject’s fate
and character, the renunciation of femininity in herself, the rejection of the
earthy love for the sake of the higher one, the crime and breaking the rules are
discussed. The emphasis is also put on the color symbolism (semantics of red
color), metaphors of pain related to love and creativity, negations and antitheses
in the poem and essay; the similarity is revealed between some plot features in
these works, for instance, the dream about the miraculous rescue of the drowning
man by the Leader. Besides, different creative strategies in the lyrical poem
and in the prose work of the poet are investigated, as well as the transformation
of traditional romantic and folklore genres (a ballad in the poem «On the Red
Horse» and an epic in the essay «Devil»). It is concluded that the paradoxical
alliance with the Red Rider has reflected the situation of the spiritual maturation
and poetic self-determination; hence, the similarity to initiation rituals, the atmosphere
of dramatic trials and mournful losses. On the other hand, the Devil,
the relation with whom lacks the dramatic nature, plays the role of the donor enriching the inner world, the tutor of the lyrical character, «the author of the
life motto and the epitaph», the personified source of life principles and poetics.
However, both the Devil and the Red Rider are the bearers of secret knowledge,
the leaders to another world, the materialized spiritual essences of the lyrical
subject.