The Apple as an Object and Subject of the Image (on the Question of Studying the Phenomenon in Poetic Speech

Abstract

In the article the apple acts as a semiotic code containing significant cultural meanings that speak of universal gravity: the biblical story of Adam and Eve echoes the story of Newtonian discovery. Also, using some specific texts of poets of the XX–XXI centuries in their historical and cultural dynamics (G. Semenov, E. Kasyan, V. Polozkova), the interaction of the image of the apple with such levels of the work as the symbolic system, the image of the hero is investigated. The invariant presence of the apple in people's lives is solved individually in each of the poetic testimonies. The dialogical relations between man and apple are cannot be ignored: each of the poets depicts them from a special angle. Thanks to the comparative typological method, it became possible to identify common and variable properties of the image. As for the degree of elaboration of this image in Russian literature, it is necessary to note here a very wide range of issues related to the hero's attitude to the apple, which are subjected to poetic – not scientific analysis. Directly or indirectly, seriously or ironically, the image of the apple is interpreted more and more often by poets, but not by literary critics. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that its topic is at the intersection of very extensive cultural spheres currently being developed by modern humanities. Secondly, this study is directly related to such a theoretical problem as an ambiguous approach to the selection of a lyrical subject and object in a poetic text. The methodology of the research is based on the classical works of Russian scientists devoted to the immanent analysis of the poetic text.