Authors

Aoki Iihama¹;  ¹ Waseda University, Japan

Discussion

The objective of this presentation is to delineate the role of antithesis as a mechanism for transcending the temporal boundaries in the elegies of Aleksandr Sumarokov. In these elegies, as demonstrated by numerous scholars, the lyrical subject conveys deeply felt present emotions. This raises the question: how is this conveyance achieved? It is crucial to focus on the trope of antithesis, which is a defining characteristic of Sumarokov's poetry, as it transforms the continuum of time into a juxtaposition of values.

The speakers in Sumarokov's elegies are afflicted by contemporary suffering, which is contrasted through antithesis with past well-being. In contrast, speakers in other genres, such as odes and laments for the deceased, lament the loss of past prosperity. Thus, antithesis possesses the capacity to convert the absence of goodness into the emergence of adversity. In the elegies of Mikhail Kheraskov, Aleksei Rzhevsky, and their successors, this transformation underpins their didactic assertions. While extended metaphors significantly outnumber other tropes in their elegies, this does not undermine the argument, as antithesis enriches the contrasts of values in a manner similar to that of extended metaphor.

Nevertheless, this potential for transformation is most fully realized in Russian ballads, particularly in Kondraty Ryleev's "Dumy," where this conversion paves the way for the common good: the protagonists of "Dumy" equate past virtue with present and future benefits. They are capable of alleviating present suffering and attaining goodness through their patriotic endeavors.