The model of the world in the poetry of ‘the new 2010s’: G. Medvedev, A. Trifonova, A. Kinash

Abstract

The article considers the motif structure of the books by three young poets: G. Medvedev (A Butterfly Knife [Nozh-babochka], 2019), A. Trifonova (a yellow Ikarus bus in the distance [zhelty ikarus vdali], 2019), and A. Kinash (Fragments from a Dream Dictionary [Otryvki iz sonnika], 2019). A comparative analysis of the three books helps the author to identify typical generational traits — in poetics, themes, the motif structure, as well as ways to interpret the laws of the universe and solve semantic problems. The topic of a child’s world features in the works by Medvedev, Trifonova and Kinash alike; their childhood is shaped by playgrounds in provincial towns, active outdoor games and 1990s children’s folklore, although each of them treats these biographical and literary themes in their own way. Trifonova prefers a linear interpretation of time and space, while Kinash chooses to employ a mythological chronotope; in Medvedev’s book, time and space follow the principles of historical organization with their holistic and systematic character. Childhood appears to be the starting point for creation of the poetic system of each of the poets as well as a destination they keep returning to.