The Image’s Visuality as a Principle of Artistic Description of Historical Events in the G. R. Derzhavin’s Battle Odes

Abstract

The subject of research in the article is the poetics of pictorial representation, which has developed in the battle writings in the late 18th century. The purpose and objectives of the study are related to identifying the sources of visual imagery of Derzhavin’s battle poetry, which correlates with new creative concepts in the literature of the late 18th century. The poetics of the battle ode developed by Derzhavin is directly related to the representation of the emotional authenticity of the battle scenes, which is achieved through the introduction of vivid visual images. The author of the article establishes that Derzhavin’s battleistics is characterized by the replacement of cumbersome associative rows with visible details from the real world, which have symbolic overtones. The result of the study was the reconstruction of the artistic system of the heroic ode developed by Derzhavin, in which the central place is given to picturesqueness, which is achieved through the use of mechanisms for visualizing the artistic image. The article reveals that in the 1780s–1790s the classical tradition of battleistics is being transformed. A new manner of presentation is being laid, associated with the presentation of the pictures in question in the word, which is identified with the very process of comprehending reality.

Keywords

• g. r. derzhavin
• battle ode
• visualization mechanisms
• poetics
• artistic image
• associative series
• subtext