Visual images of memory in the poems of Yu. Levitansky “So what if I was there…” and “Memory”

Abstract

The article considers two poems by Yury Levitansky, “So what if it was there...” and “Memory” (both of them are included into the book of poems, “Letters to Katerina, or A walk with Faust≫, 1981), from the perspective of the representation in them of the memory visual images. In both texts, memory is not a mere motif, but a structure-forming category in the lyrical poem’s imagery and plot structure. It’s so because the abstract category of memory is conveyed through sensual, primarily visual images, such as space and its various patterns (such as vertical/horizontal, widening/shrinking), colour, light, etc. Visual imagery combines with the direct and transgressive vision of the lyrical subject. Through the visual images of memory, the lyrical subject experiences and reinterprets traumatic experiences are experienced and reinterpreted. In turn, the representation of visual images of memory not only organizes the lyrical event and the lyrical plot, but also makes it possible to appeal to the reader’s imagination and his/her historical memory.