Article

Name: Genesis of the archetypal Dionysian plot in the work of Vyacheslav Ivanov

Authors: Leonid G. Kaianidi

Smolensk State University, Smolensk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

One of the universals of the artistic creativity of Vyacheslav Ivanov is the “Dionysian mysteries” plot, a motive system based on the Orphic myth about Dionysus being torn apart by the Titans. This system models various semantic structures such as artistic space and time, the system of images, and plot structure. It is a mythological narrative, with all the elements interrelated and dialectically connected as a set of triads. This paper aims to describe the origin of this paradigmatic plot by analyzing Ivanov’s artistic, religious-historical, and philosophical-aesthetic works, as well as his epistolary and diary entries. The analysis was conducted using several methodologies, such as comparative, hermeneutic, structural, and semantic methods, along with contextual and motive-thematic approaches. The genesis of the plot in question is suggested to be rooted in the “pre-Nietzschean” period of Ivanov’s creativity. It stems from his exploration of the antinomic problem of unity and multiplicity correlation manifested in the metaphysical-religious realm as the dualism of good and evil. Later, Nietzsche’s treatise “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music” and the study of Dionysian cults during Ivanov’s stay in Athens influenced the emergence of the “Dionysian mysteries” plot for the first time in the lecture cycle “The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God.” A comparison of the first manifestation of this plot with its form in later artistic texts, specifically the poem “Melampus’ Dream” and the tragedy “Prometheus,” reveals a greater completeness of artistic discourse and a movement of scientific thought in the same direction.

Keywords: Silver Age, symbolism, Nietzsche, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Dionysus, orphism, mythopoetics

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