Review of Kargashin, I. (2017). Russian poetic narrations in the 17th–21st centuries: Genesis. Evolution. Poetics. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury. 336 pages.

Abstract

The review is concerned with detailed analysis of I. Kargashin’s monograph on Russian poetic narrations in the 17th–21st centuries. Normally applied to the epic genre, the concept of skaz [oral narration, tale] is extrapolated by the scholar to describe lyrical poetry. Hence the broad scope of issues discussed in the book: how accurately can the term be applied to lyrical works, since poetry is anti-narrative in its ‘pure form’? How can one structure the subjective sphere of poems, given that a skaz recreates a consciousness other than that of the author, unlike in lyrical poetry, where the author and the hero are inseparable? Following the questions, the scholar identifies typological characteristics of the examined phenomenon (appropriation of another’s consciousness, realization of this consciousness through a colloquial monologue, and depiction of the subject’s speech in verse), uncovers the reasons for its emergence (including ‘emancipation’ of the hero and transition to the spoken word), and traces its history and development.