The plot and image concretization of the concept Rus' in sonnets by G.V. Golokhvastov

This study is devoted to the little-studied heritage of G.V. Golokhvastov, the most talented representative of the poetry of Russian "Americans", who formed an active creative community in the beginning of the 20th century in New York. (V. Ilyashenko, D. Magoula, E. Christians). The article contains a description, analysis and interpretation of the invariant concept "Rus'", which determines the figurative and symbolic content of the Russian civilization as a whole in Golokhvastov's sonnets. Sonnets expressing the content and ideological foundations of Russian civilization form two cycles in the poet's work: (1) sonnets on subjects from the historical past of Russia and (2) sonnets of intimate and personal content. The sonnets of the first ("Rendezvous", "King and King", "Princess Sophia", "Winner and Defeated", "Victory", "Candle", "Under the Spittle") are based on historical events that determined the cultural and historical appearance of Russia from ancient times to the middle of the 20th century, and their heroes are real historical figures, the Russian rulers. In the sonnets, Russian civilization is represented in the form of a community, united by a responsible lord, a large-scale national goal and deed. Associates of the "sovereign" are the power of the spirit, greatness, exclusivity. The sonnet "Under the Spitting" with the image of Alexander II adds nobility, sacrifice, generosity and humanity to the stable associates. The second cycle contains sonnets with intimate and personal subjects from the author's past and present. In sonnets on themes of the author's past ("Winter Way"," Winter"," Friends"," On Country Roads"," Memory", etc.), the concept "Rus'" is entered in personal memories and is represented by pictures of the childhood or youth of the lyrical hero. Such sonnets show an idyllic picture of Rus'-Russia. The lyrical hero associates pictures of the ancestral estate with Russia, which is a place of full life for the mind and soul of the lyrical hero (identical to the author). The sonnets on the topics from the "real" life time of the author ("Exodus", "On a Fracture", "In the City", "In Exile", "Sleepless Hours", "Street", etc.) are filled with imagery and semantics of the concept sphere "Rus'", expressed in the invariant opposition "own" - "alien" which creates the unique identity of Russia. The concept with its properties of timelessness and outwardness is transformed into a sacralized mythological space in which the mere fact of death is implicitly denied, and life is the highest value - beautiful, free and happy. The semantic field of the concept "Rus'" in the sonnets of each type consists of associates with positive meanings: greatness, strength, exclusivity, sacrifice, nobility, generosity and humanity in the sphere of relations with the foreign world; dream, life, joy, carelessness, freedom in the sphere of spiritual life of the individual. Variations of associates of the concept "Rus'" directly depend on the state of mind of the lyric hero: the fuller it is included in the surrounding "alien" reality, the more dramatic is his worldview, and, accordingly, the more idyllic is the qualitative description of Russia.

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