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Abstract:

The article examines the new approach to the boundary of convention in connection with the problem of symbol in the poetic system of the Russian modernist writer Innokenty Annensky. L.Ya. Ginzburg’s interpretation of the fundamentals of the poet’s worldview and poetics remains the most authoritative position for most scholars, including the author of this article. She defined Annensky’s method as “psychological symbolism”. The hypothesis presented in the article postulates the need to expand the boundaries of convention in the poet’s aesthetics — from psychological symbolism to the symbolism of consciousness, from psychology to ontology. It is argued that the specificity of Annensky’s lyricism lies in the intersubjectivity of the experience he depicts. Based on the material of “Trefoils”, the first part of his final poetry book “The Cypress Chest” (1910), lyrical plots, images, and motifs are explored and reinterpreted. The cycles consider аs a lyrical event the birth of ideal representations from the matter of the world in the consciousness of the subject (“The Moon Trefoil”), the experience of ideas and ideals that have become “world objects” and determined our perception of reality (“The Train Trefoil”), the comprehension of the situation of mass consciousness, satisfying itself with ready-made (not experienced, but perceived) schemes (“The Carnival Trefoil”). The “Trefoils” contain references to philosophical teachings and scientific theories that have influenced a human ability to perceive the surrounding life, as well as to the works of world literature that capture various ideological and emotional types of world perception. Poetic work is analyzed with an eye to the philological heritage of Annensky.