THE SMELL OF OIL. ON SOME LITERARY CONTEXTS FOR YEGOR LETOV’S “OIL FORMULA”

In the article, Yegor Letov’s formula “Eternity smells of oil” from the song “Russian Field of Experiments” is considered in the context of formulas related to the smell of oil from the works of Maxim Gorky and Erich Maria Remarque. A conclusion is made about the semantic enrichment of Letov’s formula through its contextual comparison with the formulas of literary predecessors, which allows us to clarify ideas of Letov the poet’s ideas about man and humanity in the past, present and future.