Genre diffusion of idyll and elegy in high Biedermeier (elegiac idylls by Annette Droste-Hulshoff)

The aim of the article is to understand the role of the high Biedermeier idyll with its aspiration to the serene in genre diffusion with its conceptual "rival" - the elegy, aimed at conveying the disappointment of the lyrical hero, based on the lyrics of Annette Droste-Hulshoff. A corpus of 18 elegiac idylls of the German poetess was selected, and her idylls and elegies were also studied. The analysis was carried out using the structural-descriptive method and sheds light on the following trends. The pure idyll of the high Biedermeier is fueled by an odic tonality. The high Biedermeier elegy strives for diffusion with the idyll moving towards it, without claiming primacy. The lyrics of Droste-Hulshoff abound in pure idylls and elegiac idylls, within which the idyll takes precedence over the elegy. The assimilation of the elegy into the idyll harmonizes the pessimism of the latter. The high Biedermeier idyll overcomes the influence of the elegy, which usually causes the elegization of the genre adjacent to it, and in the diffusion with the elegy it acts as a leader. Interpenetrating, mixing, genres within their unity must fight for primacy, pushing the signs of a "rival" to the genre periphery; however, in Biedermeier, the resistance of the elegy to the idyll is weak because its constant (sad tonality) is softened. The idyll of Droste-Hulshoff sometimes mixes with other genres (prayer, ballad, fairy tale, etc.), not always suppressing them, but it is in interpenetration with the elegy, which is polar for it conceptually, that it shows its greatest strength. In diffusion with the poetic prayer, the high Biedermeier idyll is favorably mutually enriched. The German poetess does not shy away from the pure elegy, but softens its genre task of conveying sadness. If in the elegiac texts of the German Biedermeierist poetess a lyrical heroine often appears, then in the idyllic texts, on the one hand, an objective world is possible, emphasizing the presence of an impersonal outside observer; on the other hand, a lyrical subject is also often present, providing an image of a person in an idyll. The subject instead of a lyrical character is, on the one hand, a sign of the influence of the elegy on the idyll, on the other, a property that paradoxically enhances the reliability and serenity of the idyllic world ("I see this corner of nature like this"). The lyrical heroine also appears in the pure idylls of Droste-Hulshoff, perhaps under the influence of the elegiac idyll. The elegiac idyll of the high Biedermeierists, apparently, becomes a field not only for poetic experiments, but also for resolving socio-political contradictions. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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