Language, Structure Of A.E. Kulakovsky Poetic Texts: New Approaches To Studying National Classics

Abstract

The article is aimed at studying the poetic style of A.E. Kulakovsky, where the creation of the basis of the literary language and the author’s form of alliterative versification is of particular importance. The purpose of the study is to determine the perspectives of the interaction of folklore traditions and the genre searches of the author; to identify the ways and methods of creative development of the traditions of Russian literature in the formation and development of national literature. The methods of comparative typological and textological research are applied in the work; structural analysis of the composition of works. The article reveals the functions of dialogical comparisons - the importance of paired structure-forming parts - at the level of the composition of the work, the facts of the influence of translations on the formation of forms of the metric verse, on the expansion and refinement of the types of alliterative poetry are determined. The materials of the article are of practical value for the further study of national classics, the style of the writer on the basis of revealing the role of his creative attitude in relation to artistic interpretation or as close as possible, in other cases, to accurately convey images of ethnographic, folklore principles. Of particular importance is the reasoned representation of problems from the perspectives of new approaches to the study of the poetic heritage of A.E. Kulakovsky. The possibility of studying his poetic heritage in the context of the problems of comparative literature is proved.

Keywords: Poemauthor’s styledialogueartistic detailsoriental traditionalismgenre feature

Introduction

In the intellectual heritage from Aleksey Kulakovsky (1877-1926) we see a unique world view and the unchanged dignity of old traditions, displayed in the beliefs and cultural elements of his nation. His artistic thinking in developing characters and facts of life in his writings and works of socio-philosophical identity are becoming alive and his thoughts on time in the context of actual problems in certain regions and giving insight into socio-economic elements. Such his works, as „Do the Russians have the right to be proud of their name“ (1897), „The major worthiness of Pushkin’s poetic writings“ (1897), „To the Sakha intellectuals“ (1912), „Sakha sayings and proverbs“ (1925), a series of Articles dealing with the Sakha language (1921-1925) ( Kulakovsky, 2009), are given to analyse the value of words from folk-elements to questions dealing with poetic art, socio-economic research in the beginning of the century ranging from agriculture to technology questions, dealing with farming and socio-philosophical problems and how to integrate countries’ economies into a developing world and changing world. In his scientific works A.E. Kulakovsky laid the foundations for solid studies on the ethnic historical identity of the Sakha nation and their unique beliefs. All this become the basis for numerous studies of his works in different contexts at different times ( Arphipova, 2019; Romanova, 2016, 2019; Sivtseva-Maksimova, 2016).

Problem Statement

The principles of comparative literature studies are based on the problems of literature connections of the East and West, which is proven by the classical works and special studies. Giving special attention to the study of typological similarities of folklore and the middle age literature, Zhirmunsky ( 1979) points out, that “a comparative literature study takes into consideration the development of national literature within the world literature, which combines the East and West” (p. 78). The perspective in this context he saw through the involvement of new Eastern material, a broader variety of comparative-historical studies is given, which would make it possible later, by a fuller spectrum of accumulated facts, to get back to the general problem of the literature and cultural connections of East and West ( Aminaev & Nabiullina, 2019; Biguaa, 2017; Shcberbakova, 2019; Sultanov, 2018; Zhirmunsky, 1979).

In the given aspect the artistic inheritance of A.E. Kulakovsky (1877-1926) includes in itself the conforming material for new researches. The formation of a clear writing style belongs to him, since he is the initiator of literature. If the artistic structure of the work is a unifying concept of the triad “composition”, “style”, “character of the author”, then the given question of a particular manifestation of the author’s style could be considered as special features of artistic structure in his poetic works. The composition is expressed by the idea of integrity - "the phenomenon, determined not only and not so much by the genre works as by the literary and artistic method of reality representation " ( Vinogradov, 1963, p. 183). Thus “only in a system, only in a compositional unity a research of the authors style is possible, otherwise the conclusions could be subjective and unsubstantiated" ( Kajda, 2017, p.75). Also interesting is the summary, that without “a composition” we lose “the "discursive organization of a whole natural-language statement," for the composition "is the basis of subjective organization of a literary work" ( Tyupa, 2018, p. 117).

Research Questions

Considering the uniqueness of A.E. Kulakovsky`s style from the given viewpoint, the main manifestation of the compositional structure of the classics of Yakut/Sakha literature is the principle of dialogism. The paired comparative or anti-comparative top parts (verses or its variations, figurative line) are building the main structure-concept in the poetry of A.E. Kulakovsky. Moreover, the dialogism in his artistic inheritance is traced through not only on the level of the category form. The system of the main terms of formal structure, as well as their semantic shaped correlation and interdependence in specific works of art is embodied in the integral development of the world pre-eminently on the logical principles of dialogue.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to determine the perspectives of the interaction of folklore traditions and the genre searches of the author; to identify the ways and methods of creative development of the traditions of Russian literature in the formation and development of national literature.

Research Methods

The methods of comparative typological and textological research are applied in the work; structural analysis of the composition of works.

Findings

This style characteristic can be confirmed by examples of various kinds.

First of all, the dialogue form of major poetry (“Gifts of the river”, “Dispute between the mind and heart”, “Disadvantaged even before birth” ( Kulakovsky, 2009) builds an artistic model of unity and opposition of two worldviews. Especially in this model the originality of folklore poetry is retained by the natural extension of his artistic functions. This is a socio-historical idea of the work and logically relevant mode of aesthetic perfection of the national world model in major poetic works.

Secondly, the motive of the dialogue "author and reader" or "character and the reader" can clearly be seen in such works as "Portraits of the Yakut/Sakha women", "The stingy rich man," "Shaman's Dream," "Song of drunken capitalist, "Song of a century old woman" ( Kulakovsky, 2009) etc., where the text is perceived as an direct appeal of the author or character to the listener. In these works, the figurative portraits or unique private chronicles which have a beginning and an end equal the explicit sayings...

Thirdly, in the artistic heritage the classic is clearly seen the principles of dialogical comparison of large parts of poetry. In the poem "The Shamans dream" the double-plan composition is reflected in the reflection of the world's problems of civilization and the social-political aspects of life in Russia. In its own dialog (dual), the very image of the actor, who acts sometimes as a prophet carrying the folk tradition, and sometimes as a real person reflecting on his life time. The Shaman of Kulakovsky in his appeal to "his audience" implements a third form of dialogue, namely a dialogue of "character and the reader."

In the poem "The onset of the summer," the author's discourse is implemented in two ways. The author describes the natural progression of life in nature (the first five parts on the awakening of the plant and animal world) and compares him to the description of the welcoming of new season by the people (the final, sixth part - "Ysyakh"). The poetic idea in this case is revealed in that, that the natural beginning stands for the history and source in philosophical and logical plans in the development of life in society. It is in this "consistency", that the mental essence of the Yakut (Sakha) belief is found.

The paired semantic and imaginative combination of meaningful verses as the basis of the frequency of rhythmic verse units is seen in many works of the poet. Moreover, this phenomenon may equate the organizing principle of the structure in the poetic style of A.E. Kulakovsky. The dialogical framework of repetitions is emphasized by antithesis semantic units. For example, in "The Demons Oath" the contradistinctions in the translation into Yakut/Sakha language are emphasized by the change of the original line flow, where the smooth rhythmic structure of parts and the repeating of the keyword in a separated line amplify the dramatic monologue.

The dialogical connection is observed in the selection of a topic or in the appeal to one character. For example, the socio-philosophical concept of the series "Portraits of the Yakut/Sakha women" is complemented and deepened "in dialogue" with the poem "Beautiful Girl". Also, logical pairs are building the works "Country Woman" and "City Gir”»; «The mourning for the dead husband" and "Song of the drunken capitalist". The Poems "Gifts of the River" and "The onset of the summer" are echoing each other through the image of the Lena River. "Disadvantaged even before birth" and "The singer" are presenting reasoning’s about different fortunes through a poetic opening theme of the destiny of man. "Spell of Bayanay" and "Shaman's Dream," "Good wishes for the middle generation" and "Good wishes old-fashioned" are dialogical by the disclosure of the social and philosophical idea.

Based on that and comparing the poetry of Kulakovsky with the authors before him (A.Y. Uvarovsky, M.N.Androsova, the older brother U.E. Kulakovsky and others) we see a brilliant beginning of the formation of national art literature: the rich socio-political vocabulary, the socio-philosophical way of thinking in his written works is seen quite innovative at his time with Kulakovsky as the author. He raised the level and meaning of literacy in the sphere of spirituality in the life of his nation, which was also supported by real events and changing during the first decades of the 20th century, events that radically, changed the former way of social lifestyle. Through this A.E. Kulakovsky stood up not only as a writer but as a great thinker with historical insights.

The conceptual poetic character by A.E.Kulakovsky builds principles for philosophical understanding of life’s problems of the society in the context of practical realization of time as an historical event on the scene of the whole world and with shaved human values. In line with the artistic antinomies details or disclosure elements he is building a logical subject forming opposition of such conceptual identities, for example nature – mankind; civilization – single culture, way of life; eternal values – periods of changing moments in the life of the nation. To underline this the author uses a discourse analysis build on an understanding of “godly harmony in creation” as a synthesis to Eastern indigenous traditions and artistic discovery of approaches and methods, coming from a Western usage of the artistic word. Mainly the first quarter of the 20th century is seen as the time, in which A.E. Kulakovsky developed his artistic heritage. The following years after 1910 are building a very specific period in the whole art of poetic literature, in which the main idea of reflecting local happenings on the scene of the whole world is relevant: “among the major concepts of humanity a special attention is given to the increase of common sense between mankind” ( Spivak, 2016, p. 47). Meanwhile we know that it was happening in different contexts, starting with values of Christianity and natural philosophic worldviews and finishing with the publicity basics of the dictatorship of the proletariat. On the other hand, in one of the most recent researches done by professor R.N. Baimov quite appealing examples are given, that underline the ancient Eastern roots of Turkic based literature not only in the central parts of Russia, but in Siberia and the far North. He concludes, that the ancient Yakut/Sakha nation is an offspring of the Khunn super ethnos (L.M. Gumilev) – “…as well as the Southern origin, mentioned in the area already between the 6th and 8th century of our time. Their roots “are coming from the Khunn, Kaso-Massagets, from Aryan tribes, who inhabited at that time the whole region of Middle Asia” ( Baimov, 2005, p. 327). All of this is one more time describing the nature of intercultural exchange, the uniqueness and similarity of the origin of national literature, helping more clearly to follow the mindset and periods of artistic presentation.

In this regard, special significance are gaining those texts of Kulakovsky ( 2018), that are representing promising new avenues of research, not only of his publications history, but also of the problems of genetic and textual criticism. The text of the canonical status, their options and dubia conclude such a typological species as advanced texts and the actual versions in which almost everything is interesting and practical. And specifically, the actual process of the work on the composition, on text history, on the area and the features of their distribution, and the poetics of punctuation. This, for example, is the uniqueness of their placement, the author’s preferences to certain signs or complete rejection of their application. From a modern point of view, this peculiarity can be defined by the concept of performativity utterances in relation to the text of the poem. That is, these are texts for performance, where the soloist of the dance ("the Viljui Dance") serves to some extent as an autonomous entity regards the executable text.

All this gives a reason to a confident assumption that in the artistic heritage of A.E. Kulakovsky equally are dominating the principle of Eastern traditionalism and Western aiming to innovation, for which the authors beginning arises as the foundation like an original and national phenomenon in a harmonious combination with the orientation of the identity of philosophical sense of this term. This is a potential world-class poetry, the founder of Yakut/Sakha literature, whose work as a whole is dominated by the authors beginning.

The dynamics of logical context of the poem character is isomorphic ideological to the semantic structure of the work. The image as the basis of artistic creation fits in the poem with its original status dictating the beginning. This is confirmed by the significance of the title of the work that "it becomes the meeting place of the reader with the composition." The title of the text is the bigger idea of the work that receives the authorship in organizing the content, addressed to the reader. Thus, the author's position on the actual problem of the given time is revealed in the content and in the reader's empathy. We can therefore conclude that in the poem titles a symbolic author's model of the world is given, that means, a poem - is an artistic representation of a semantically open image. For example, the wording of the poem title is focused on topical perspectives, problems, and characteristics genre features. A.E. Kulakovsky calls one of the major works "Shaman's Dream", where this combination finds a reference to the original form of the poem-concept. If you compare, the originally as a series intended "My swan song" by A.I. Sofronov draws lyrical poetry to a lyric poem "Letter to the Father" (1928). In this same realm, the dramatic poem by P.A. Oyunsky, on which he worked for over seven years and himself chose as his main creation, the final version was named "Red shaman" (1917-1925).

Conclusion

In general, we can confirm that the genre uniqueness of the classical works in Yakut/Sakha literature is reflected in the titles of poetry and poems. For example, titles such as "The dispute between the mind and heart" by A.E. Kulakovsky, "Conversation between a young man and an adult", "Talk of the Holy Mountains" by A.I. Sofronova, talk about the generic syncretism of poems based on the contrasting of two ideas. However, they perform the function of artistic refinement of fable specifics of the given works. But "Shaman`s Dream" and "Letter to his father," along with the specification of the epic and lyric favoured poem orientation, are expressing the initial expressive code of the works, giving the Yakut/Sakha reader a precise positioning on the ideological and content side of the major poetic works. Thus, in the typical Yakut/Sakha poetry and naturally non-metric titles such as "Portraits of the Yakut/Sakha women, "Song of the century-old women" (Kulakovsky), "Move aside", "Do not run away," "I have aged", on the first line-"Stop а minute, my friend ...", "I got out of poverty..." (Sofronov) - from a remote hint to the exact definition reflect the compositional and structural features of the works. On one hand, they are the proof of the dominance of poetry as a genre form in the Yakut/Sakha literature as a whole: taken out of the poems, these names may well be perceived as prosaic (if not as every day speech) statements. On the other hand, this type of name goes back to the Yakut/Sakha alliterative poem, where the main poetry building rhythmic component is the anaphora and the main poetic unit –are lines and verses that repeat common epithets and where comparisons have an important meaning and shaping value. If we turn to the work titles by Oyunsky, then their ideological poem and poetry direction is encoded in a metric design, unexpected for classical Yakut/Sakha poetry metaphorical expressions: "Does it really matter?!!", "Power –to the Soviets", "The eagle`s will", "Red shaman". In general, the dialogical start in their works is seen in a few parameters. First of all, it is the author's individual appeal to the poetics of folklore: A.E. Kulakovsky creates an epic picture of the time as a thinker of global proportions, A.I. Sofronov prefers "monologue" poetry with a focus on the disclosure of the psychological state of the individual, who is "losing" the common lifestyle in society; P.A. Oyunsky seeks to reflect the living literary process of changing styles, the movements of spiritual culture in the period of "unprecedented change". But particularly are significant, in our view, the manuscripts, artistic and scientific heritage of A.E. Kulakovsky. They shed light on the whole history of Yakutia in the context of the all-Russian spiritual quest of the early twentieth century. He was pushing forward the social and economic concepts that always were standing (through the past century), above the ideas of the proletariat dictatorship. He was not involved in the establishment of Soviet power, but during his lifetime he was the most respected personality for the whole nation regardless of his forced ideological division and established social class. Up until in our days the artistic and scientific heritage of A.E. Kulakovsky was treated and interpreted not in full measure and value. The edition history of his works and publications, including the politicized attitude, is generally perceived as an unceasing desire of the people to conceive his original mind and high spirituality, the interest in his legacy never died. Since the second half of the twentieth century, in contrast to the sharp accusations of capitalist nationalism, which began in the second half of the 1940s, meaning full high scores for the poetry and scientific works of A.E. Kulakovsky were given by the prominent public figures, scientists and writers of Russia.

Acknowledgments

«The paper has been prepared by RFBR according to the research project № 19-012-00467».

References

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03 August 2020

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Sociolinguistics, linguistics, semantics, discourse analysis, translation, interpretation

Cite this article as:

Sivtceva–Maksimova, P., & Rufova, E. (2020). Language, Structure Of A.E. Kulakovsky Poetic Texts: New Approaches To Studying National Classics. In N. L. Amiryanovna (Ed.), Word, Utterance, Text: Cognitive, Pragmatic and Cultural Aspects, vol 86. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 1251-1257). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.08.144