Ironic discourse in Arseny Tarkovsky's publication of "Novosti Antichnoy Literatury" ("News Of Ancient Literature")

The article is devoted to the analysis of Arseny Tarkovsky's dateless publication of "Novosti antichnoy literatury" ("News of Ancient Literature") consisting of an epigram cycle "Novye podrazhaniya drevnim" ("New Imitations of Ancients") and two letters - to and from the Publishing House. Broadly, the epigrams are travesty of ancient literature, whereas the narrator's (Arsinoy of Attica) appeals to the Editorial Board of Ellinisticheskaya literaturnaya gazeta ("Hellenistic Literary Newspaper") and the response from the Editorial Board are a key to the ironic discourse of the publication manifesting itself at three levels: self-irony, irony at modern times, and irony concerned with the ancient epigram genre as a way of praising in a parodic form. The aim of the article is to analyze Ar-seny Tarkovsky's publication "Novosti antichnoy literatury", explain the reasons for the travesty of ancient culture and, subsequently, discover the evolution of the Antiquity reception in the artistic consciousness of A. Tarkovsky. Burlesque travesty of the Greek epigram, significant for A. Tarkovsky's artistic evolution, turns out to be not only a reducing irony, but also a parody and pastiche following the style of the original and underling the existence of ancient literature (in broader sense - culture) different from its lofty ideal. When imitating A. Tarkovsky chooses an ancient mocking-satirical epigram that gives him an opportunity to follow ancient originals, to simultaneously renew the tradition, to discover new dimensions of ancient culture and to maintain continuity, since the interest in ancient heritage is typical for all epochs from the Renaissance through classicism to the modern state of the narrator. With the significant evolution of A. Tarkovsky's outlook and poetics, ancient heritage plays an important role at all stages of the poet's literary career in the author's artistic world. However, the way of ancient pretext usage is transformed: "high" antiquity is gradually transferred into artistic images, symbols, precedent names are introduced into the modern context, the distance between the idealized lofty antiquity and modern times is eliminated due to not only desacralization of the lofty ancient culture, but also opening another, non-idealized, mocking, satirical dimension. А. Tarkovsky's "Novye podrazhaniya drevnim" is not only a burlesque travesty of the ancient culture, but also a parody and stylization of a classical Greek epigram. However, the mystification effect of the "high" classical heritage and its translation into the "Aesop language" by means of selecting materials for imitation (derisive epigram) is achieved, due to which the development of irony at modern age becomes possible.

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