Language and Text
2025. Vol. 12, no. 3, 48–63
doi:10.17759/langt.2025120305
ISSN: 2312-2757 (online)
Mikhail Lermontov's poem "The Neighbor" (1840): textual criticism and interpretation
Abstract
Context and relevance. The relevance of the research is related to clarifying the patterns of Lermontov's artistic thinking reflected in the authentic text of 1840. The purpose of the research is to reveal the way to create an artistic image by studying the dynamic poetics of M.Yu. Lermontov's poem "The Neighbor" (1840). Methods and materials. The material for the study was the unpublished manuscript of the poem "The Neighbor" (NOVEL. F. 524. op. 1. No. 15. l. 19), as well as the history of the poem's publication. The result of the research was the reconstruction of the authentic text of the poem. Conclusions. in the process of creative work on the poem, Lermontov clarifies spatial details, replacing their literal nominations with associative chains. By rejecting the active subject and his actions in favor of the passive object and describing the time limits of this action, the poet achieves a greater psychologism of the image of the lyrical hero. The plot incompleteness of the poem is considered as an artistic device through which the problem of the antinomy of dreams and reality is revealed, the idea of the unattainability of full freedom within the limits of earthly existence is carried out. Discrepancies from autographs have been found in the tradition of publishing the poem, which needs to be corrected.
General Information
Keywords: M.Yu. Lermontov, belovik, draft, creative history, authentic text, poetics of dreams
Journal rubric: World Literature. Textology
Article type: scientific article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2025120305
Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project number № 24-28-00207, https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-00207/.
Received 01.08.2025
Revised 28.08.2025
Accepted
Published
For citation: Potashova, K.A. (2025). Mikhail Lermontov's poem "The Neighbor" (1840): textual criticism and interpretation. Language and Text, 12(3), 48–63. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2025120305
© Potashova K.A., 2025
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
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