The Image of Light in the Poetry of Olga Sedakova

Abstract

The article examines the features of the implementation of the image of light in the poetry of Olga Sedakova. The analysis is devoted to understanding of the lexeme “light” functioning in poetic texts and supported by the research on cognitive, semantic and cultural structures the image of light carries. The research carried out makes it possible to expand the understanding of Olga Sedakova's work, supplement the existing materials on poetic paradigms, and continue researching the Russian poetic language based on formal signs and interlinks with European texts, in particular, with the metaphysical poetry and religious thought. The research offers insights on the unique style and imagery of Olga Sedakova which supports poetry as a transgression from the main, well-known specifics of light as a concept. As a result, the research is based on a generic philological, as well as interdisciplinary approach. The results of the study allow us to propose the solidity of the motive of light as semantically accented, used both as vision-derived experience and a sign requiring philosophical interpretations. Dialectics of dichotomies connected with Light in Olga Sedakova’s works show not only the interdependent dynamics, but also the endeavour for creating a liminal space out of oppositions’ confrontation. The nature of this synthesis allows us to connect the author’s poetic texts with the neo-baroque stylistics.