Gathering Existence as One of the Central Motifs in the Works of B. Pasternak and R.M. Rilke

Abstract

The article deals with the motivic paradigm of “collecting / packing existence” in the work of B. Pasternak. The study aims to determine its role in the lyrical and philosophical concept of the poet and to identify its structure and connection with the creative system of R.M. Rilke. In the first part of the study, the motif of “collecting existence” appears as one of the basic Pasternak motifs. Further — as a point of contact between the creative concepts of Pasternak and Rainer Maria Rilke. That is how the paradigm forms an intersystem metatext. Rilke’s metatext is also conceptual and relates to the philosophical system of S. Kierkegaard, respected by both poets. Then, based on the analysis of the sub-paradigms of the motif of “collecting existence” in the work of B. Pasternak, it is proved that the paradigm has one of the essential roles in revealing autosystem metatext character of his lyrics, artistic, journalistic, and epistolary prose and forms a poetic and philosophical field. Its repeated reproduction in different genres implements an existential understanding of time and the objectness of the world. It combines the motifs of specific actions, such as collecting cars on the train, things on the road, and people in crowds and gatherings, and imaginative motifs: a collection of abstract realities in man, time, space, and the realities of nature into a picture of the world, both an instantaneous one and imprinted in art for centuries.

Keywords

• b. pasternak
• r.m. rilke
• points of contact
• paradigm
• image
• motif
• existence
• metatext
• poetic and philosophical field.