EPIGRAPH AS A MEANS OF INTERLITERARY DIALOGUE: MAXIM BOGDANOVICH’S LYRICS

The article is dedicated to the analysis of epigraphs to poems by the classic of Belarusian literature Maxim Bogdanovich (1891–1917). His lyrics (collec tion Vyanok / A Wreath, 1913) enriched national literature with new themes and motifs, genres, and a variety of verse meters, in which the poet relied on the experi ence of Russian and European poetry. The role of epigraphs, which the Belarusian author widely used, has not yet been sufficiently studied in this process. From the point of view of modern concepts, an epigraph should be seen as a kind of key that helps to navigate the rich context in which Bogdanovich’s work fits as a literary phenomenon. The analysis of epigraphs is important for the study of the artistic preferences of the Belarusian poet, his own understanding of the tasks of literature. They directly point to important authors and specific poems that help to understand the direction of his artistic searches and the formation of his own view of poetry. The epigraph in the article is considered as an important part of the creative dialogue of the Belarusian poet with other literatures. It is noted that as epigraphs he most often used quotes from Russian (A. Pushkin, E. Boratynsky, A. Foeth, K. Fofanov, V. Bryusov) and French (V. Hugo, P. Verlaine, R. Sully-Prudhomme) poets. It has been noted that there are practically no epigraphs from Polish poetry and those from the lyrics of Belarusian authors contemporary to Bogdanovich (Ya. Kupala) are found rarely. The use of quotations from Russian poets, who Bogdanovich sees as his in terlocutors, is primarily explained by the fact that it was in the context of Russian literature that the creative individuality of the young Belarusian poet was formed. Lines from the poetry of E. Boratynsky, A. Pushkin, A. Foeth, K. Fofanov, B. Bryusov and others often refer to their programmatic poems, including those on the topic of poetic creativity. In general, the observations made show a pronounced interest of 214 M. Bogdanovich in the tradition of romantic lyrics, intertwined with new trends of the turn of the 19th–20th centuries — impressionism and symbolism. This is also confirmed by epigraphs from European — French and German — poets. The close ness of the motifs and the M. Bogdanovich’s associative connection with their landscape lyrics, the complex desire to capture the constant variability of the sur rounding world, filled with philosophical content, reflections on the beauty and transience of life, its eternal movement and renewal, are noted. What brings M. Bog danovich closer to the Symbolists, is his subtle sense of the music of his native word and the musicality of the sound of his verse. Among Bogdanovich’s favorite poets were A. Blok and P. Verlaine. M. Bogdanovich created the first “urban cycle” in Belarusian poetry in dialogue with V. Bryusov, as indicated by the quotation from V. Bryusov’s poem “To the City” that serves as the epigraph.