Historical Geography Journal ISSN 2782-6511 (Print) | ISSN 3034-5286 (Online)

Irina A. Balandina 
Ural Federal University (Russia, Ekaterinburg)
ORCID: 0000-0002-4749-5018
E-mail: balandinairina00@gmail.com

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UDC 82-1:913
DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2025-4-2-50-59

ABSTRACT. The article considers the problem of J. Brodsky’s self-identification through historical and geographical images and reminiscences in his poetry. Its aim is to identify and analyze the specific ways of constructing the author’s “self” through reference to historical characters and events in Brodsky’s poetry. Poems where the poet uses historical reminiscences to comprehend his own fate and creative path are analyzed. The extensive geography of images used by the poet holds equal interest for the study. The methodological framework of the study is based on a combination of biographical, cultural-historical and hermeneutical approaches, which allows considering the problem in different aspects: from specific textual observations to broad cultural generalizations. The material of the study is poetic works from different periods of Brodsky’s life. The article focuses on the three key themes through which the poet’s self-identification takes place: sacrifice for the sake of humanity, unjust judgement and exile. The paper shows how Brodsky uses images of historical figures (Miguel Servetus, Mary I of Scotland, marshal Zhukov) and literary characters (Odysseus) to reflect his own worldview and make sense of his life experience. The vastness of the used topoi, such as ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, medieval Spain, the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, or Leningrad, expands the intertextual field of his poetry through the connection with the culture of different historical periods in relation to the place. As a result, the poet’s field of vision includes ancient culture, the European Middle Ages, the Soviet Union, and so forth. The study pays special attention to the period of emigration, when the problem of self-identification becomes especially acute for the poet. An important aspect is the consideration of how the personal experience of exile is refracted through the prism of historical parallels and cultural allusions. It is concluded that the reference to historic-cultural contexts is an important way of creative self-expression and comprehension of own destiny in J. Brodsky’s poetry, as well as the inclusion of his identity in the context of world history.

KEYWORDS: J. Brodsky, historical reminiscence, topoi, self-identification, author’s “self”, motifs of sacrifice, unjust judgement, exile, poetic biography

For citation: Balandina I. A. [Historico-Geographical Reminiscences as a Form of Self-Identification in J. Brodsky’s Lyrics]. Istoriko-geograficheskiy zhurnal [Historical Geography Journal], 2025, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 50–59. DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-4-1-50-59 (In Russian).

Received 23 December 2024
Accepted 10 April 2025

© 2025 The Author

REFERENCES

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Tatiana An. Arsenova
Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia, Еkaterinburg)
ORCID: 0000-0001-9561-2445
E-mail: chelovekmira@mail.ru

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UDC 929
DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2025-4-2-60-83

ABSTRACT. The article presents an attempt to reconstruct one episode from the biography of the poet Boris Ryzhy in the context of the last year of his life — his only trip to Nizhny Novgorod. It took place in May 2000 (a year before his suicide) and was timed to coincide with the literary festival with the conference “Another Province”. The festival’s objectives included a revision of the state of contemporary literature and the position of authors in Russian regions at the end of the first post-Soviet decade; the issue of creative prospects of a “provincial” writer, resources and limitations imposed on his activities by geographical and socio-cultural remoteness from the capital’s literary process with its infrastructural advantages was problematized. The article shows that the festival’s agenda was relevant for B. Ryzhy in the last year of his life as it concerned the pressing issue of planning for the near future: to stay in Yekaterinburg or to look for an opportunity to move to one of the capitals. The author puts forward a hypothesis that the answer to this question — the decision to stay in his hometown — came to Ryzhy after his trip to Rotterdam (it took place a month after Nizhny Novgorod). To reconstruct the episode, the author collected recollections and photographs of festival participants; clarified the circumstances of the festival, its agents and approximate agenda, as well as details of Ryzhy’s stay in Nizhny Novgorod, including exact addresses in the city he visited (materials for possible literary excursions around the city); identified newspaper and online periodical publications dedicated to the festival; analyzed verbal portraits of Boris Ryzhy in Nizhny Novgorod, compiled by Sergei Kostyrko, Alexey Golitsyn, Kirill Kobrin, Dmitry Zernov, Maria Kuznetsova, as well as Ryzhy’s self-portrait in the setting of the Nizhny Novgorod festival from his prose “Rotterdam Diary”; made conclusions about the poet’s style of creative behavior and his psychological state in 2000.

KEYWORDS: Boris Ryzhy, literary Nizhny Novgorod, festival “Another Province”, creative behavior, poet’s image, literary process, province and the capital, Dutch theme in the works of Boris Ryzhy, Boris Ryzhy’s Nizhny Novgorod addresses, Boris Ryzhy’s wardrobe

For citation: Arsenova T. An. [Boris Ryzhy in Nizhny Novgorod (An Episode from the Last Year of the Poet’s Life)]. Istoriko-geograficheskiy zhurnal [Historical Geography Journal], 2025, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 60–83. DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-4-1-60-83 (In Russian).

Received 10 October 2024
Accepted 15 May 2024

© 2025 The Author

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