Yesenin motifs in Mushni Mikaya’s poetry in the context of Russian-Abkhaz literary links
Pages: 165-176 | DOI: 10.37724/RSU.2026.91.2.016
Biguaa V.A.
A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Abstract
The study of Sergei Yesenin’s work in the context of the literatures of the peoples of Russia and neighboring countries has become an integral part of Yesenin studies since the early 1990s. This article examines Yesenin motifs in the work of the Abkhaz writer Mushni Mikaya, whose many works have already become national classics. Yesenin’s influence on Mikaya, on the one hand, was a familial one; the Abkhaz poet was drawn to the spirit of the great Russian poet’s lyrics, closely connected to his native roots and national traditional culture. On the other hand, the experience of Yesenin, who lived through the First World War, the romantic and tragic years of the Revolution and the Civil War, also proved instructive. Mikaya was particularly interested in spiritualized images of nature in Yesenin’s poetics, his manner of emotionally “psychologizing” the landscape, his love for the native land, his reverent attitude toward the national roots, the traditional Russian poetry with its thousand-year-old Orthodox culture, and Russian village life as the custodian of spiritual assets. These two deeply national poets were united by a “dialogue” with nature, which greatly influenced the formation of the artistic consciousness both of Yesenin and Mikaya, the worldview of the lyrical hero, These became the foundation of their imagery. This comparative analysis also examines the symbolism of colors, which reflects the dynamics of the lyrical hero’s spiritual state and the his inner “biography.” Particular attention is paid to the white color (including the closely related colors of dew /light and silvery/ and gray hair); this occupies a significant place in Yesenin’s poetics but has been very little studied (unlike red, yellow, blue, light blue, and other colors). The white color is also a recurring theme in Mikaya’s poetry.
Keywords: Yesenin reminiscences in the poetry of the Abkhaz poet Mushni Mikaya, worldview of a lyrical hero, symbolism of colors, symbolism of white and the colors close to it, dew (light, silvery) and gray hair, comparative analysis
Funding:
none
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