In the article the main semantic components of the blood motif are revealed in the novel «A Date with Bonaparte» by B. Okudzhava; the peculiarity of the lyrical and philosophical narrative of B. Okudzhava is researched.
The article examines the literary context of one of the most important poems of Bulat Okudzhava. Special emphasis is placed on the pattern of making a classic poet a myth in the belles-lettres of the Soviet era. The connections of the poem Meeting with Lermontov’s poetry are noted, the functions of reminiscences are examined. The place of Lermontov’s image in the ‘poetic mythology’ of Okudzhava’s poetry is defined.
The poem by Okudzhava is comprehended against the background of a number of texts published during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Patriotic War. Okudzhava’s unique stand in the situation of the historic celebration is determined, the controversy with Levitansky’s poem The Little Man is traced. It is shown how Andersen’s formula of the ‘persistent tin soldier’ is transformed in Okudzhava’s point of view. The views of Okudzhava and Samoilov on literature about the war are compared.
The article reveals problematic and thematic correlation and associative links that appear on the motif level between B. Okudzhava’s prose and poetry within the framework of the Decembrist problem range.
Okudzhava’s poem is regarded in the context of the classical poetics of rose, in the background of the traditional situation «farewell to the lira». The parallels with Pushkin’s, Batyushkov’s, Boratynsky’s and Khodasevich’s poetry are drawn.
In the article Blok’s tradition is revealed in the image of the Beautiful Lady in Bulat Okudzhava’s poetry (an early poem by Okudzhava “You’re Not Drunkards, You’re Not Vagrants…” is taken as an example). Kipling’s motives in the poem also add to the recognition of Blok’s tradition.