Svět Literatury (Nov 2019)
Texty A. S. Puškina jako součást petrohradského živlu | Texts by A. S. Pushkin as a Part of the St. Petersburg Element
Abstract
The article analyzes two Petersburg texts by A.S. Pushkin: The Bronze Horseman: A Petersburg Tale and Queen of Spades. The author states that The Bronze Horseman is based on the dichotomy of the original spontaneous water principle as opposed to the city’s static fundamentals. The horizontal water element lacks a privileged and superior, authoritative position. On the contrary, the city is dominated by the privileged position of the creator, who controls the city’s hierarchy. This situation is also reflected in the text of the Queen of Spades, in which the author, Pushkin, loses the superior position and leaves the semantic initiative to free formation of meanings, which could be perceived as an ironic opposition to the author’s intention. The theme of the cards, the principle of the play, the narrative of “pereskaz”, the dualism of the Petersburg scene and the constant position of the hero “ashore” bring spontaneity to the text structure and become a source of the free formation of meanings.