Poetics of theophany in Kormchiye zvyozdy (1902-1903) and Prozrachnost’ (1904) by Vyacheslav Ivanov: Transformations of Eternal Feminine images

Abstract

This article focuses on the images of the Eternal Feminine, which are pivotal in Vyacheslav Ivanov’s system of aesthetic and religious views and in the symbolic motifs of theophany connected with it. Theophany in this case means the manifestation of deity in a sensible form in Ivanov’s poetry, philosophical and critical essays, and diaries at different periods of his life. The concept is largely based on the medieval Christian theosophy: “the soul sees God in a dream, sees in a mirror and divination, and not face to face” (Bernard of Clairvaux). Therefore, according to Russian and American historian and art theorist Mikhail Iampolski, the more accurate the mirror, “the less it reflects to us in terms of form and meaning.” The authors hypothesize that the two Ivanov’s collections of poems Kormchiye zvyozdy [Pilot Stars] (19021903) and Prozrachnost’ [Translucency] (1904) connected by one lyrical meta-plot of mystical revelation and theophany show how the Eternal Feminine images gradually become intangible and impalpable. The anthropomorphic image of the Eternal Feminine, having its own attributes and acting as the subject of speech, loses its outlines and, as it were, dissolves into the world. In this sense, two images, the Beauty and the Translucency, can be contrasted. The first image is the central for Kormchiye zvyozdy, the second - for Prozrachnost’. The Beauty can be through ekphrasis (works by Leonardo, Botticelli, Raphael, etc.) and appear in contemplation. Translucency is active and transforms the world, but it is not personified, devoid of a voice. It is an elusive movement, a quality of the transformed world and at the same time an acting subject, signifying the appearance of Sophia in the world. The analysis of the collections has demonstrated that the general metaplot of theophany has an introduction and development. It is integral and implies a certain author’s strategy as well as its conceptual aesthetic and philosophical foundations. Drawing on Ivanov’s own views on the suggestive functions of the poetry of symbolism (“we, symbolists, do not exist - if there are no symbolist listeners” (“Thoughts on Symbolism”)), the authors assume that not Ivanov’s lyrical hero, but his attentive reader approaches the transcendent world over the course of two books, including through the transformation of Eternally Feminine images. That is, Ivanov puts into practice his own concept of the “realistic” (that is, truly symbolist) type of artistic creativity. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.