The Discourse of Impressionism in Beta’s (B. V. Butkevich) Poetics

Авторы
I. V. Silantev, Yu. V. Shatin
The article analyzes the impressionistic poetics of Boris Butkevich,
a literary figure of the first wave of Russian emigration, a representative of the
Harbin literary school. Like most impressionists, the composition of the poetic
text by Boris Butkevich lacks a clearly defined beginning and end. The described lyrical situation can theoretically be continued in both directions.
The reference points of impressions turn out to be significant, and not their poetic analysis. A similar principle is also found in the author’s prose, which largely
repeats and develops the poetics of his lyric poems. Along with repeated melod-
ic tricks in Butkevich’s prose, cross-cutting motives play an important role,
passing from one text to another and organizing the unity of the cycle.
At the same time, the author maintains the basic principle of impressionistic
discourse – the paradoxical inconsistency of the scale of values. The value of an
event is determined not by the accuracy of coincidences with the accepted
doxes, but by the fact of a random incident of an event in the author’s field of
vision.
DOI
10.25205/2307-1737-2020-1-10-21
Аннотация

The article analyzes the impressionistic poetics of Boris Butkevich,
a literary figure of the first wave of Russian emigration, a representative of the
Harbin literary school. Like most impressionists, the composition of the poetic
text by Boris Butkevich lacks a clearly defined beginning and end. The described lyrical situation can theoretically be continued in both directions.
The reference points of impressions turn out to be significant, and not their poetic analysis. A similar principle is also found in the author’s prose, which largely
repeats and develops the poetics of his lyric poems. Along with repeated melod-
ic tricks in Butkevich’s prose, cross-cutting motives play an important role,
passing from one text to another and organizing the unity of the cycle.
At the same time, the author maintains the basic principle of impressionistic
discourse – the paradoxical inconsistency of the scale of values. The value of an
event is determined not by the accuracy of coincidences with the accepted
doxes, but by the fact of a random incident of an event in the author’s field of
vision.

Keywords
B. V. Butkevich, Beta, literary impressionism, Russian emigration, Harbin school

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The Discourse of Impressionism in Beta’s (B. V. Butkevich) Poetics С. 10–21. DOI 10.25205/2307-1737-2020-1-10-21