The Epigraph as a Technique of Contextual Poetics in the Lyrics of Albert Vasilyev

Introduction

The contextual content in a literary work is formed by the author within the limits of his contextual (cultural) competence; it is included in an artistic text using various poetic means that make up contextual poetics. "The first level of contextual poetics is the level of poetic techniques by which the author includes content outside of his own, namely, allusion, quotation, reminiscence, anthroponym, toponym, names of works of art, images of interior items, epigraphy, etc." ^{[1, p. 151]}). The subject of research in this article is the epigraph, which we consider as a way of presenting contextual content.

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the epigraph as a method of contextual poetics in modern Mari poetry, namely, in the lyrics of the modern Mari poet Albert Vasiliev. This goal is being stated for the first time in regional and domestic literary scholarship. The poems of this author have so far been studied only as part of the analysis of trends in the development of modern Mari philosophical lyrics ^{[2; 3; 4]}.

The research material includes poems by Albert Vasiliev, included in his collections "Shanyza" (Believe me) and "Oshkoshto chever polan" (Red Viburnum on white snow); the methodology of the study is based on a structural-semantic, historical-genetic and contextual analysis of literary works.

Research results, discussions

The epigraph not only sets the emotional tone of the author's text, reflects the theme of the work or makes a claim to a problem / problematics and artistic idea, but also with its help "the author refers to philosophical, literary or historical sources, showing that the text enters into a dialogue with a broader cultural tradition", "the epigraph reflects the influence of other authors, ideas or epochs that served as a starting point for writing a work" ^[5], becoming a way of realizing contextual content.

There is always a semantic connection (explicit, veiled, indirect) between the epigraph (a component of the framework text) and the main text of the work; researchers identify the following means of achieving this connection: "1. unity of themes, motives, morals; 2. repetition in the text of individual elements of the epigraph; 3. repetition of the situation; 4. a single context, emotional halo; 5. a single character of the characters for ridicule or regret; 6. semantic parallelism; 7. indication of gender, time, age, social status of the characters; 8. universality of the problem; 9. artistic dominants; 10. narrative-hint" ^[6].

We found nine poems in Albert Vasiliev's collection "Believe Me" (2007) and seven poems in the collection "Red Viburnum on White Snow" (2017), the structure of which contains an epigraph.

Using someone's words (phrases) as an epigraph, the poet shows his connection with the cultural environment of the quoted author, hints at his literary preferences, demonstrates his cultural baggage, and enters into a dialogue with the cited authors – predecessors or contemporaries.

The range of authors quoted by the Mari poet allows us to characterize his cultural background and literary preferences, which form the contextual content of his poems, as follows: in the epigraphs to his works, Albert Vasiliev mainly refers to his fellow poets. Russian Russian poets (Sergey Yesenin, Marina Tsvetaeva, Vasily Fedorov, Nikolai Rubtsov, Andrey Dementyev), Avar poet Rasul Gamzatov, Mari El poets – Russians (Nina Zhibrik, Ekaterina Ulanova, Nikolai Mikheev) and Mari (Valentin Columbus, Albert Lavrentiev, Valentina Izilyanova, Galina Kozhevnikova) are among them. The poem "It's pomizhalte sharnymashym..." (Don't awaken memories) contains an epigraph consisting of the opening line of the famous Russian romance "Don't Awaken Memories..." by composer Pyotr Petrovich Bulakhov to the words of an unknown author.

Let's look at some examples of such dialogical relations, stated by the Mari poet, and ways to create a cultural context based on the connection between the framework and the main texts.

Albert Vasiliev repeats the epigraph or its individual elements in the main text in a number of poems.

Examples of literal repetition in the situation of the Mari-speaking cited author:

Uzhar shincha, it oncho yodyn... (Galina Kozhevnikova)

Uzhar shincha, it oncho yodyn... (double repetition – at the beginning of the first and last stanza) ^{[7, p. 168]}.

The weight is ulo, manyt, ilysh... (Albert Lavrentyev)

The weight is ilysh ulo, manyt. ^{[7, p. 268]}.

Examples of repetition in the situation of the Russian-speaking cited author (literal translation into Russian):

Don't awaken memories ... (Rush romance gych)

It is pomizhalte sharnymashym... ^{[8, p. 281]}.

There was a time, but it has passed –

Eternity is on the threshold... (Ekaterina Ulanova)

Liyin pagyt da ertalyn,

Kurymashlyk lishemesh ^{[7, p. 287]}.

There is a semantic (not literal) repetition, but with maximum preservation of word forms and motifs.:

How strangely life works:

Sometimes a fool is in honor (Andrey Dementyev)

Kuze choҥaltın ilış,

Is Kunam washed up?

Sapnam orade kidysh

Shkeak kuchiktenna ^{[7, p. 60]}.

In this case, Albert Vasiliev transfers the motive of an unfair lifestyle and the image of a fool to the main text.

In the poem "Ala-kushechyn yoҥgysho yӱksavysh..." (An echo coming from somewhere...), the motif of creative fatigue enters the main text.:

I don't fly in my dreams,

And I'm falling down (Andrey Dementyev)

Omem denat esogyl om choeshtyl,

Era porgemysh vele shuigaltam... ^{[8, p. 127]}.

The same motif is in the epigraph and main text of the poem "Peledyn noysho peledysh..." (A flower tired of blooming ...):

Peledyshat noah peledyn... (Valentina Izilanova)

Peledyn noyysho peledysh... ^{[7, p. 10]}.

In this poem, as well as in the poem "Oknashke shyndym peledysh..." (Flowers on the windowsill ...), the image of flowers is also transferred to the main part of the work.:

Flowers on the windowsill.

Flowers, flowers... (Sergey Yesenin)

Oknashke shyndym peledysh ^{[8, p. 172]}.

In the examples below, we see a transfer from the text of someone else's author of the motive of the fullness of a loving feeling.:

I will stop the time:

"Wait a minute–

I'm hammering!.. (Nina Zhibrik)

Tovatat, yeraten shychare... ^{[8, p. 164]}.

To love a little bit –

It's a big sin... (Marina Tsvetaeva)

Liesh mo pelizh nare yeratash…

It is that pelizh nare yeratash... ^{[7, p. 73]}.

In a number of poems, the main text, in general, does not repeat the words and expressions from the epigraph, but retains an unconditional semantic connection with it (the poems "Molan turnya-vlak, vujmbalne purdyn..." – "Why are cranes circling overhead..."; "Shyp wonchen shomak shokte goch..." – "Quietly passing through a sieve of words..."; "Nimo nergen vozash man..." – "When there is nothing to write about..."; "Pyrymashemlan ompkele..."– "I do not resent my fate..."; "My takshe ir aydeme washed..."– "I am not actually a wild man...").

In all poems, regardless of whether there is any repetition of words and expressions in the framework and main texts, an epigraph creates a personal and ideological portrait of the cited authors and, in turn, identifies and clarifies, according to the principle of unity or opposition, the features of socio-cultural and philosophical-aesthetic views of Albert Vasiliev himself, which also It can be considered as contextual content ("vital text").

In most cases, the unity of the Mari poet with the quoted author can be traced, and the main text only continues his personal imperatives. Let's highlight some of these poems.

In Albert Vasiliev's poem "Do not awaken memories...", the epigraph states and the main text artistically implements the motif of farewell (the irrevocable end of a love relationship), which was the basis of the lyrical plot and the romance from which the epigraph is taken. The Mari poet continues the love philosophy of the unknown author of the romance (it is impossible and impractical to return what has long been burned out and gone). Being in agreement with this philosophy, Albert Vasiliev continues it, enhances the dramatic notes, paying attention to the motive-figurative specifics, namely, the reason for the breakup ("Vran saskaj den polanwondo / Chonem teҥgeche susyrten" ^{[8, p. 281]} – "Viburnum with its bloody berries / She hurt my heart yesterday") and the danger of the current situation requiring a break in relations ("Shogalynna porgem tresh" ^{[8, p. 281]} – "We are standing on the edge of a precipice"), shifts attention from the past to the future ("It is pomizhalte sharnymashim – / Erlasylan chilashan" ^{[8, p. 281]} – "Do not awaken memories / All hope for tomorrow").

Andrey Dementyev's words in the epigraph of the poem "An echo coming from somewhere..." set the philosophical antithesis claimed by the Mari poet (past and present, youth and adulthood). The Dementyev phrase "I don't fly in my sleep, / But fall down" was interpreted by Albert Vasiliev, as well as by the Russian poet ("As you can see, / My years are up" ^[9]), as a sign of inevitable growing up / aging, when a person acquires a lot of problems, when romance (striving for heaven) is replaced by cold rationality.:

Omem denat esogyl om choeshtyl,

Era porgemysh vele shuҥgaltam,

Sadlan ogesh kӱl pӧrtyltash teҥgechysh.

Torah kava dech eunde yukshenam ^{[8, p. 127]}

(I don't even fly in my dreams,

I just keep falling into the abyss.,

Therefore, it is not necessary to return to yesterday.

He has now turned cold towards the distant sky).

Andrey Dementyev's lyrical hero in the poem "I don't fly in my sleep" (the source of the epigraph) also falls into an endless abyss in his sleep all the time, but lives in expectation of a miracle, a lover's smile, trying to preserve the "grains" of romance in the ruthless "wheel of life". The Mari author speaks, first of all, about the unwillingness to return to the past, refers to the philosophical motives of the irreversibility of life cycles and acceptance / reconciliation with the laws of life.

These motifs, but along with the motif of death, are also present in the poem "Ӱmyr chӱktym sortala..." (Life is like a lighted candle...); they are all set by the epigraph "Time was, but it has passed – / Eternity is on the threshold...". Albert Vasiliev's poetic lines are just a confirmation of Ekaterina Ulanova's epigraphic words.:

Kayysh, kayysh, om chamane.

Kayiman iktazh ghana.

Cheverlasym tat manyn,

Kurymashlyk chaklana ^{[7, p. 287]}

(It's gone, it's gone, I don't regret it.

We have to leave sometime.

Recognizing [lit. speaking. – U.S., R.K] the moment of farewell,

Eternity is approaching).

The poem "Quietly passing through a sieve of words..." about the fullness of a loving feeling is accompanied by a quote from Nikolai Mikheev corresponding to this content, "If love is a sin. / You and I are sinners" ^{[7, p. 193]}; a poem with the same problem "Liesh mo pelizh nare yeratash..." (Is it possible to love half ...) – quoted by Marina Tsvetaeva "Loving a little is a big sin..." ^{[7, p. 73]}; a poem "A flower tired of blooming..."about an honest, uncompromising and responsible poet tired of life, from the struggle with greyness and unconsciousness – quote by Valentina Izilyanova "Noah's Peledyn is breathing ..." (And the flower gets tired in bloom) (Albert Vasiliev, like Valentina Izilyanova, asserts the idea of the unity of nature and human life); the poem "I am not offended on his fate..." about the responsibility of the person himself for choosing a life trajectory and for its implementation – Nikolai Rubtsov's quote stating this problem, "We have no right to dump / His guilt for life..." ^{[7, p. 80]}.

In the poem "Kuze choҥaltyn ilysh..." (How life works...) (2008) Albert Vasiliev continues the thought of the Russian poet Andrei Dementiev, quoted in the epigraph, about the paradox of life ("How strangely life works: /Sometimes a fool is honored" ^{[7, p. 60]}). Continuing this thought, Albert Vasiliev projects it onto the mechanisms of governing public life and people (a fool, not a smart one, gets the "reins" of power in his hands), designates the philosophy of modern times and the psychology of people, accuses the people and mercilessly self-flagellates for political ignorance, indifference, silence and fear.:

Sapnam orade kidysh

Shkeak kuchiktenna ^{[7, p. 60]}

(Our reins are in the hands of a fool

We gave it away ourselves).

Albert Vasiliev ends the poem with questions addressed to himself and the people, related to the hope of overcoming the social paradox.:

Kuze choaltyn ilysh,

Is Kunam washed up?

Sapnam orade kid gych

Kunam me nalina? ^{[7, p. 61]}

(How life works,

When will we understand?

The reins are from the hands of a fool

When will we pick it up?).

Someone else's text, presented as an epigraph, may not make much sense at first glance, except, it would seem, to indicate the author's literary horizons and fulfill the role of a neutral origin. So, in the poem "Flowers on the windowsill ..." ^{[7, p. 172]} Albert Vasiliev demonstrates his genuine interest in the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin, his awareness of even his most famous poems, but interesting from the point of view of his creative laboratory.

The lines quoted by the Mari poet Yesenin refer to the poem "Form" (1924), which consists of two parts; the first part, called "Own", begins with the words of Sergei Yesenin "Flowers on the windowsill ...", which became the epigraph of Vasilievsky's poem; the second part is called "Folk. Imitation of the mother's song." In the comments to appendix 1 of the complete works of Sergei Yesenin in 7 volumes, N.G. Yusov notes: "Form", apparently, correlates with Yesenin's reflections on the uniqueness of poetic works of different genres, on the relationship with the meaning, content of poems – their rhythm, song, sound recording, etc. ... The mark "Own" above the first the poem indicates that it was written entirely by the poet. ... In the subtitle of the second work, the words "Imitation of a mother's song" attract attention. ... Here, individual lines are borrowed from a folklore source that had numerous variants" ^{[10, pp. 417-418]}.

It seems that both Russian and Mari poets have flowers as a neutral figurative "hook" to start a conversation about a difficult relationship with a woman, namely, about the lack of mutual understanding, about the difference between "him" and "her" ("After all, you are so gentle, / And I am so rude" ^{[10, p. 191]}, and about the contradictory feelings of the poet ("I like two moles / On a cool forehead" ^{[10, p. 191]}, "She's such a fool..." " ^{[10, p. 192]}). Albert Vasiliev has similar thoughts about the misunderstanding of "him" and "her".:

Keezhym, om shylte, visvisym

This is my birthday.

ikıdırlan, arshashım pidın,

Pek shotesh kuchiktenam.

Visvislan ӱdir oy kuane.

Osh rozam yerata ulmash ^{[8, p. 172]}

(In the summer, I do not hide, daisies

I really love.

To one girl, weaving a wreath,

I gave it to you as a gift.

The girl was not happy about the chamomile.

It turns out he loves roses).

But already from the second stanza of Vasilievsky's poem, the difference in the poetic thinking of the poets is indicated. Albert Vasiliev enhances the motives of the poet's deep sadness and suffering and does this by playing up the image of a flower on a windowsill in the main text and specifying flowers, their meanings, and flowers become an integral element of the lyrical narrative (Yesenin does not have this). Instead of the beloved daisies on the windowsill of the lyrical hero, a rose (his beloved's favorite flowers) bloomed brightly, associated with fake love ("Yeratymashym my shuanym / Vashlyym ugych yslanash" ^{[8, p. 172]} – "Love with thorns / I met again for torment"). In addition, the rose bloomed in the cold, and not in the summer, when the poet's favorite daisies bloom, it also has thorns – the contrast of the images is designed to convey the poet's inner state – spiritual loneliness. The poem ends with questions that enhance the drama of the lyrical hero's position: "Kuanyman? / Oyganyman?.." ^{[8, p. 172]} (Rejoice? / Be sad?). In the end, the neutral image of flowers from Sergei Yesenin's poem, which "hooked" the Mari author and fell "on the pen" (he is in the circle of the author's undoubted interests), begins to participate in the expression of an artistic idea: true love is impossible without spiritual equality, mutual understanding and mutual respect.

In some poems, the dialogue with the cited authors has the character of disagreement or "soft" opposition, an unspoken dispute.

In the epigraph of the poem "I'm not really a wild man..." Albert Vasiliev quotes the two final lines of Nikolai Rubtsov's poem "I'm breathing hard like a pump..." (it is one of the poems that were not included in collections during the poet's lifetime): "A poet is not at all dangerous, / As long as he is not angered." Rubtsov's poet loves silence in the creative process ("Don't come near! I'm going to explode!") and a poetic "company" ("Oh, if you were invited to visit, / Even for a moment, by chance, / In a wonderful house where Vasily the cat / recites Poetry by heart! / He reads Maikov and Fet, / Reads, ringing with rhymes, / Any kind poet..." ^[11]; he accepts everyday situations (a cheerful doorbell, an unexpected guest and "a ball in your apartment, / Wine, and music, and light" ^[11], which do not violate the "usual way" and they don't give rise to the poet's dangerous anger. Continuing the motives of self–reflection and human understanding stated in the epigraph ("I understand people very well" ^{[7, p. 86]} - "I understand people very well"), the Mari poet "builds" the opposite of Rubtsovsky (understanding and calmness) model of social behavior of a caring person who wants to be useful, but is struck by anger and hatred (it is no coincidence instead of He uses the word "ir" – wild) as "dangerous", warning of what they can lead to ("Shizham myyat pyrt ir ulmem" ^{[7, p. 86]} – "And I feel that I am a little wild"; "...choonim arymshudo / Pasushtylak seen shukten" ^{[7, p. 86]}. 86] – "... the soul of wormwood, / as in the field, managed to win"). The poem ends with the poet's desire to remain human, to remove the burden of evil and malice from his soul ("Chonem sadlan tynar itemu / Osal den, shide den tӱrgoch" ^{[7, p. 87]} – "Therefore, do not fill my soul so much with Evil, anger over the edge"), with the thought that a poet by his very nature cannot be an evil ("dangerous", like Rubtsov) person, even if he Deeply angry, deeply wounded in the soul:

The poet Osal aydeme,

Ketch susyrga tudat motkoch ^{[7, p. 87]}

(The poet is not an evil person,

Although he may be badly injured).

In the poem "When there is nothing to write about ..." Albert Vasiliev dialogically interacts with Valentin Columbus. The Columbian epigraph has two parts, denoting two principles of creative activity – it is necessary to write about everything ("chyla nergen" is the principle of truthfulness in literature, which requires depicting the world in all its diversity) and qualitatively ("sylnin" is the principle of high artistry). Albert Vasiliev, as if arguing with Columbus, remarks that when there is nothing to write about, he will not write about everything (about anything, just to write, just to "train" his speech); developing this idea, he notes that he will not praise the unnecessary (nonsense, a trifle) and fill mountains of papers ("Kagaz dene om shono optash kavanym" ^{[8, p. 261]} – "I do not intend to stack a stack of papers"). The poem also has a folklore context, namely, the folk tradition in understanding the value value of the "speech" factor: "A long rope is good, but a short word", "An empty barrel rattles", "A false word is for three days, a truthful word is for centuries" [Cf. about this: 12, p. 45].

A significant part of the main text of the poem "When there is nothing to write about ..." asserts the unity of the Mari poets on the issue of the artistic level (in Mari, "sylnyk") of poetic texts. It is not the volume that is important, but the essence (meaning, core) ("Chagall tek liizhe – / Liizhe tudo tomanrak. / Say murim kuzhyt dene ogyt vise" ^{[8, p. 261]} – "Let it be small – / Let it be more vigorous. / A good song is appreciated [lit. weighed. – U.S., R.K.] not by length") and the artistic level:

Chon susyrym sai muro vele paremda,

Ilem sadlan, silnyklan kumalyn ^{[8, p. 261]}

(Only a good song heals emotional wounds,

That's why I live by praying to beauty).

Attention is drawn to the specifics of the semantic connection between the epigraph and the main text in the poem "Yol yymalne shelyshtaltshe mlande ..." (Cracked earth underfoot ...). The author of the quoted text in the epigraph is Albert Vasiliev's countryman Albert Lavrentyev. We quote the words of Albert Vasiliev's daughter, Nadezhda Emykan (09/24/2025): "Tide poet Morko gych district. Iktage 1947 iyshte shochsho. Pochelamutshim achai "Mari El" gazetyshte vereshtyn. Posna collection of dene savyktaltyn ogyl, vitne" (This poet is from the Morkinsky district. He was born around 1947. My father found the poem in the newspaper Mari El. Apparently, it was not published in a separate collection).

The poem begins with the doubt of the lyrical hero in the correctness of the words of the author quoted in the epigraph: "The weight is ulo, manyt, ilysh..." (There is, they say, life in a different light...) – and with the thought of the impossibility of checking them. The epigraph becomes an impetus for the author's thoughts about himself.: What did the night have in store for him? Will they take him to heaven if he doesn't have the money to buy it? What does he have at all? how does it differ from a beautifully blooming but empty quinoa on a poetic field? Do we need poets (singers) in this real life? Answering these questions, the poet remarks that he does not have the money to buy an entrance to paradise, but he could pay for the entrance to paradise with his good song, as well as with his fearlessness ("Shelyshtalte yol yymalne mlande. / Om korany – porvolash om lad" ^{[8, p. 268]} – "The earth cracked underfoot. / If I don't leave, I'm not afraid to fall through") and the light of my soul ("Yalenam my shemyn ogyl – kandyn" ^{[8, p. 268]} – "I burned, not turning black, but turning blue").

The epigraph actively participates in expressing the author's attitude to events, phenomena, and people from the real world – to the content outside the text, which has become the object of the lyrical hero's reflections and experiences. Thus, the poem "Why are cranes circling overhead ...", written in 1997 under the impression of the armed conflict in Chechnya in 1994-1996, called the first Chechen War, contains a semantic continuity of real times and events: "soldiers of the Great Patriotic War who did not come from the bloody fields" defending their homeland from an external enemy (epigraph – lines from a poem by Rasul Gamzatov); non–return from the war as the tragedy of all wars in the world (the opening stanza of Albert Vasiliev's poem: "Molan chylan saltak gich ogyt pyrtyl, / Uzhargynek sar tulyshto yalat?" ^{[8, p. 116]} - "Why don't everyone return from soldiering, / Burn down, right up to young (literally green. – U.S., R.K.), in the fire of war?") – non-return from the war that broke out in modern times inside the country ("Adak chylan saltak gich ogyt pӧrtyl..." ^{[8, p. 117]} – "Again, not everyone returns from soldiering").

The poem conveys deep feelings of the poet about the continued death of young ("wear" – "green") soldiers – in the new, no clear war ("K of Tushman, OK Palais night" ^{[8, p. 116]} – "And who the enemy is, nobody knows"), but someone very best ("Clan Geun of OGO and clan Geun srtn..." ^{[8, p. 117]} – "Someone's grief, and to whom-that gold...") need ("Yes CN tilakram adakat treslan / Wear satakam tulisiko coltach?" ^{[8, .116]} – "And that again to correct someone's mistake / Green soldiers are sent into the fire?").

To enhance his feelings about the tragedy of the war, Albert Vasiliev turns to an expressive parallel detail containing the image of cranes stated in the epigraph: "Molan turnya-vlak, vujmbalne pyrdyn, / Torashke ӱzhyn, yӧsyn kychkyrat?" ^{[8, p. 116]} (Why are the cranes circling overhead, / Calling into the distance, Are they screaming hard?) – about wars in general (at the beginning of the poem); "Pyrdesh turnya, chong ysyn kychkyren" ^{[8, p. 117]} (The crane is spinning, screaming, exhausted in its soul) – about the Chechen war (at the end of the poem). And just like Rasul Gamzatov, Albert Vasiliev represents cranes as a symbol of pain, memory and warning.

Conclusion

So, the epigraph in Albert Vasiliev's lyrical texts is an important and effective artistic device representing diverse contexts (the author's cultural and literary preferences, his worldview and moral guidelines reflected in the ideological world of the work, the author's environment, socio-cultural and ethnocultural space, etc.). Defining the contextual content of the poems, the epigraph acts in its main functions are an expression of the author's position and artistic idea of the work.

The article is published in the version approved by the reviewers (after receiving a positive review recommending the manuscript for publication) with corrections made by the author (after receiving the editor’s comments, if any).
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