Creative History of M. Yu. Lermontov’s Poem “Dispute” (1841) in Cultural and Historical Context

The article gives a holistic understanding of Lermontov’s poem “Dispute” (1841) in the dynamics of its birth from conception to publication in the journal of Slavophile orientation “Moskvityanin.” Creative history of the poem for the first time is fully reconstructed. The results of a comparative analysis of the draft and two finishing manuscripts of the poem having minor discrepancies between are presented. The reasons and mechanisms of Lermontov’s text corrections, which help to understand the movement of the author’s thought, are indicated. The conclusion is made about the peculiarities of artistic imagery of the poem. The process of Lermontov’s work on the text is associated with the saturation of specific images with symbolic sound. The artistic image created by the poet is the bearer of the pan-Slavic concept. The novelty of the study is associated with the clarification of the features of the birth and impact of poetic imagery of Lermontov’s poem significant for understanding his worldview. The urgency of the problem is associated with the need to clarify the features of Lermontov’s thinking; his work, being a reflection of the real pictures of his time, has a visionary potential. The question of Lermontov’s historiosophy is raised, his views on the role of Russia in the world historical process are clarified. Russia is portrayed by Lermontov as a great empire which power is likened to elemental force, exceeding capacity of once historically significant states.

historiosophy, panslavism, poem “Dispute”, M. Yu. Lermontov, textual criticism, autograph, Caucasus