Article

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

Authors: O. A. Skripova

Ural State Pedagogical University

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: M. Tsvetaeva, myth creation, lyrical poem, essay, lyrical subject, modernism

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