Functional grammar in the service of poetry (infinitive writing in poetical texts by B. Akhmadulina, I. Brodsky, A. Kushner)

This paper discusses the issues of the poetic grammar of the infinitive. The author suggests that grammar is no less involved in the formation of the poetic text artistic peculiarities than lexis. Linguistic analysis of the poetical texts is based on the methodological apparatus of functional grammar becoming increasingly important for studying poetical structures. Poetical texts by B. Akhmadulina, I. Brodsky, and A. Kushner devoted to the dream theme were analyzed for typical features of the “infinitive writing” (A. K. Zholkovsky), a special poetical technique. The author assumes that the analysis considering the creative laboratory of infinitive poetry through the eyes of a linguist can considerably develop and compliment valuable observations of A. K. Zholkovsky. The infinitive specificity is that it opens up opportunities for its unusual, stylistically and semantically significant research. The detailed analysis revealed the features of expressing the categories of temporality and modality in dependent and independent infinitive constructions, which are considered serial. A conclusion was made that infinitive constructions, especially those with an independent infinitive, leave a great space for multiple interpretations in a poetic context. The very use of the infinitive writing technique is intentional, allowing the author of the text to form a special “meditative mood” (A. K. Zholkovsky). The infinitive constructions are most suitable for deepening the text’s modal plan and making the text more expressive. Without pointing directly to the external time, they allow focusing on the internal flow of the action, bringing its aspectual characteristics to the foreground.

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