A FEW WORDS ABOUT LANTERNS: ON THE PROBLEM OF A MULTIDIMENSIONAL IMAGE SYSTEM OF V. MAYAKOVSKY

Abstract

Aim. We aim to identify the functional features of the image of a lantern in the artistic system of V. Mayakovsky.

Methodology. The paper analyzes works devoted to the study of urban reality in painting and poetry of the early twentieth century. New fundamental works on V. Mayakovsky are reviewed. Special attention is paid to the subtext connections of the poet’s lyrics with the philosophy of the frontier era, where the image of a lantern plays an important role. The argumentation of some statements refers to little-known facts of the poet’s biography. The hermeneutics of the poetic text includes an analysis of M. Dobuzhinsky’s, A. Lentulov’s, P. Filonov’s and A. Shevchenko’s paintings. The methodology consists in revealing the essence of the synthesis of arts, when painting, poetry and architecture are united in the external designation of a person’s life path (stairs, lanterns, roofs, and chimneys) and in the transmission of the features of the inner search for the meaning of existence in order to find oneself.

Results. A conclusion is made about different functional significance of the image of a lantern in Italian and Russian painting and poetry of the frontier era. The reasons for a change in the connotation of the image are revealed, which makes it possible to produce a more complete picture of the concept created by Mayakovsky.

Research implications. The results of the research can be used at higher educational institutions in studying the course of the Russian literature of the Silver Age, in conducting a special course on the aesthetics of futurism and in compiling comments on the publication of V. Mayakovsky’s poems.