Genre as a Social Institution: On the Mechanisms of Ode and Epigram Genre Evolution

Kikhney Lyubov G.,

DSc in Philology, Professor,

Head of the Department of Journalism History and Literature

Moscow University named after A.S. Griboyedov

e-mail: lgkihney@yandex.ru

The article examines the evolution of the ode and epigram genres from antiquity to the 20th century in order to identify the mechanisms of genre tradition and transformation. The article traces the entry of odes and epigrams into the literary canon of the Classicism era and their development in the Russian tradition (M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavin, A.S. Pushkin), as well as the revival of the genre conventions of odes and epigrams in Soviet times. Based on the history of these genres, the thesis is put forward that genres do not exist as formal relics of past eras, but rather as rhetorically and ideologically charged structures that emerge in literature in response to the social and value-based demands of the era. It is shown that the semantic invariant of a genre is determined by its social function, and the mechanism of genre formation is linked to specific axiological attitudes that are relevant to society in a given era. Thus, the typology of a genre is influenced by the typology of social value factors. In this context, the genres of ode and epigram are considered as peculiar institutions of social control, which is carried out through the mechanisms of creating a reputation. The paper argues that the evolutionary transformation of these genres is based not on the memory of form, but on certain value strategies related to the reputation factor. In conclusion, the concept of ‘genres of reputational action’ is introduced, which refers to genre structures generated not by the memory of form, but by the memory of the values of literary consciousness.

Keywords: literary genre, ode, epigram, genre evolution, genre tradition, social order, axiological attitudes, reputational function

References

1. Khalizev V.E. Teoriya literatury: uchebnik. 4-e izd, ispr. i dop. Moscow: Vyssh. shk., 2004. 405 s.
2. Veselovskii A.N. Istoricheskaia poetika. Moscow: Vyssh. shk., 1989. 404 s.
3. Freidenberg O.M. Poetika siuzheta i zhanra. Moscow: Labirint, 1997. 445 s.
4. Propp V.Ya. Istoricheskie korni volshebnoi skazki. Leningrad: Izd-vo LGU, 1986. 364 s.
5. Likhachev D.S. Poetika drevnerusskoi literatury. 3-e izd., dop. Moscow: Nauka, 1979. 360 s.
6. Skvoznikov V.D. Lirika // Teoriia literatury: osnovnye problemy v istoricheskom osveshhenii, rody i zhanry literatury. Moscow: Nauka, 1964. S. 173–257.
7. Gachev G.D., Kozhinov V.V. Soderzhatel’nost’ literaturnykh form // Teoriia literatury: osnovnye problemy v istoricheskom osveshhenii, rody i zhanry literatury. Moscow: Nauka, 1964. S. 17–36.
8. Gasparov M.L. Oda // Literaturnaia enciklopediia terminov i poniatii / pod red. A.N. Nikolyukina. Moscow: NPK “Intelvak”, 2003. Stb. 684-685.
9. Kanellou M., Petrovic I., Carey C. Introduction // Greek Epigram from the Hellenistic to the Early Byzantine Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. P. 1–16.
10. Gasparov M. Kommentarii // Ody. Epody. Satiry. Poslaniia / Kvint Goracii Flakk; red. perevodov, vstup. st. i komment. M. Gasparova. Moscow: Khudozh. lit., 1970. S. 423–468.
11. Vasil’ev Vl. Ob epigramme // Vsemirnaia epigramma: antologiia: v 4 t. / sost., vstup. st. Vl. Vasil’eva. T. 1. St. Petersburg: Politekhnika, 1998. S. 5–62.
12. Nedbailik S.R., Kalinina L.Iu. Evolyutsiia epigrammaticheskogo zhanra vo frantsuzskoi literature: obzor istoricheskih traditsii // Izvestiia Samarskogo nauchnogo centra RAN. Seriia “Socialnye, gumanitarnye nauki”. 2024. T. 26. No. 94. S. 17–29.
13. Alekseeva N.Iu. Russkaшa oda: razvitie odicheskoш formy v XVII–XVIII vekakh. St. Petersbug: Nauka, 2005. 369 s.
14. Gillel’son M.I. Russkaшa epigramma // Russkaia epigramma (XVIII — nachalo XX veka) / sost. i primech. M.I. Gilel’sona i K.A. Kumpan. St. Petersbug: Sov. Pisatel’, 1988. S. 5–44.
15. Tynianov Iu.N. Oda kak oratorskii zhanr // Poetika. Istoriya literatury. Кino / Iu.N. Tynianov. Moscow: Nauka, 1977. S. 227–270.
16. Bakhtin M.M. Problemy poetiki Dostoevskogo. 4-e izd. Moscow: Sov. Rossiia, 1979. 320 s.