DOI: https://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2025-5(2)-199-213
Artistic models of the city in Russian poetry of the late 19th – early 21st centuries
Irina Skoropanova
Belarusian State University, Minsk, Republic of Belarus
ORCID: 0000-0002-0060-0781
ABSTRACT
This article examines the evolution of artistic models of the city in Russian poetry from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries, reflecting conceptual understandings of the state and the development paths of modern human civilization. The study aims to characterize the quality of life and the main trends in the development of human civilization in the industrial and post-industrial eras, as revealed by Russian poetry from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries, through conceptual world modeling. Objectives: 1) To examine the theoretical aspect of the problem, drawing on literary studies such as «A Model of the Architectural and Artistic Identity of the City» by A. V. Tsorik and «Metaphor as a Means of Representing the Image of the City in a Local Text» by E. N. Pugacheva, «Spatial Model of the City in Folklore» by Yu. A. Emer, «Man and the City in Russian Literature of the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Centuries» by V. A. Gusev, «Poetics of Urban Space in Russian Literature of the 1920s (M. Bulgakov, A. Green, S. Krzhizhanovsky)» by I. Bronskaya, «The Image of the City in Postmodern Literature: Towards a Question» by I. V. Lipchanskaya, «Mythopoetics of Vladivostok in the Works of Russian Poets of the 20th – 21st Centuries» by G.L. Levina; 2) extract the necessary conceptual provisions from philosophical works «Philosophy of Freedom» by N. A. Berdyaev, «The Decline of the West» by O. Spengler, «The Revolt of the Masses» by J. Ortega y Gasset, «Discipline and Punish» by M. Foucault, «The Western World: Decline and Rebirth» by A. Toynbee, «The Temptation» by J. Baudrillard, «The Post-Human Future» by F. Fukuyama; 3) to clarify the scientific understanding of the definition of «artistic model»; 4) select the necessary literary material and analyze the following poetic works from the chosen perspective: «Closed» by V. Bryusov, «Hell of the City» by Mayakovsky, «City of the Future» by V. Khlebnikov, «The Pied Piper» by M. Tsvetaeva, «City Columns» by N. Zabolotsky, «Northern Elegies» by A. Akhmatova, «The Canal» by A. Kushner, «An Intermittent Story about a Communal Apartment» by E. Schwartz, «Music of the Arbat Yard» by B. Okudzhava, «Noon in the Room» by I. Brodsky, «Darkness of Day» by S. Stratanovsky, «Jesus's Poem about Jesus» by K. Kedrov; 5) trace the evolution of artistic models in Russian poetry of the late 19th – early 21st centuries. Moreover, to substantiate the cultural-philosophical, socio-historical, moral, and aesthetic significance of the creative discoveries of Russian poets in this context for understanding the results of 20th -century history and formulating thoughtful and promising projects for the future. This article provides a refined definition of the concept of «artistic model». It offers the first systematic study of the artistic models of Russian poetry from the late 19th to early 21st centuries, tracing their evolution over more than a century. This allows us to uncover the essential features of modern human civilization, demonstrating not only its scientific and technological advances but also its social and moral vices, the emergence of a mass society of masses with their cult of consumerism and ethnocentrism, and their willingness to commit any form of violence against others for the sake of profit and asserting their dominance. This, by the end of the 20th century, led to a global civilizational crisis, raising the threat of annihilating humanity in a thermonuclear war. At the same time, the failure of the Russian project of a «bright future» is recognized as utopian. The relevance of the issues raised by Russian poets for modern times is emphasized. The poetic features of the works under consideration are revealed, allowing them to conceptualize the universal through the singular. The use of extended metaphors of a conceptually generalizing nature, symbolism, personification, metonymy, fantasy, defamiliarization techniques, hyperbole, surrealism, grotesque, and intertextuality is exposed. The methods employed are hermeneutic and interdisciplinary.
KEYWORDS: city, artistic model, extended metaphors of a conceptually generalizing nature, symbolism, personification, metonymy, fantasy.
References
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Information about the author
Irina Stepanovna Skoropanova
Dr. Sci. (Philology), Professor,
Professor of the Russian Literature Department
Belarusian State University
4, Nezavisimosti Ave., Minsk,
220030, Republic of Belarus
ORCID: 0000-0002-0060-0781
E-mail: [email protected]
For citation:
Skoropanova, I. S. (2025). Artistic models of the city in Russian poetry of the late 19th – early 21st centuries. Urbis et Orbis. Microhistory and Semiotics of the City, 5(2), 199–213. https://doi.org/10.34680/urbis-2025-5(2)-199-213
