The black sun that lights the underworld. On I. Ermakova’s The Copper Mirror [Mednoe zerkalo]

Abstract

The article offers a detailed review of The Copper Mirror [Mednoe zerkalo], a collection of selected works from several decades by the contemporary poet I. Ermakova. Following the book’s structure that draws on the titles of Ermakova’s earlier collections (The Provinces [Provintsiya], The Vineyard [Vinogradnik], and A Lullaby for Odysseus [Kolybelnaya dlya Odisseya]), the critic traces a plot that guides the reader on a journey from the post-Soviet Russian provinces of the 1990s into the present day. Although the most up-to-date poems in the book date from 2020 (including the opening verse ‘I started a bonfire, fed the flame…’ [‘Ya razvyol kostyor, nakormil plamya…’], which seems to hold the key to the book’s meaning and objective), the meticulous selection of poems and their arrangement reveal a book that is undeniably modern in its response to the latest topics and challenges. In addition to the commentary on the book’s inner theme and Ermakova’s ‘manifesto’ poems, the review considers the critical reception of her works and cites the best articles about the poet, including the preface to The Copper Mirror by the critics and philologists A. Skvortsov and A. Salomatin.