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J. BRODSKY’S ENGLISH POETRY IN ENGLISH CRITICS // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2020. Issue 5 (211). P. 181-191

Introduction. The article focuses on different statements concerning Joseph Brodsky’s original English poetry made by English and American critics, poets and translators. Aim and objectives. The paper aims to classify, systematize and critically value those statements, which can be described as occasional and unsystematic. Material and methods. The research is based on statements concerning Brodsky’s original English poetical works made by foreign English-speaking philologists, critics and poets. All the statements are found in variety of different interviews and books dedicated to Brodsky’s life and work. The methods used in the research are as follows: frontal analysis and content analysis, comparative method. Results and discussion. Brodsky’s English verses are yet to be studied as for researchers neglect such an important component of Brodsky’s works, which however is to help construct the whole picture of one’s esthetic thinking to its logical whole. As long as philologists traditionally concentrate on Brodsky’s Russian verses, English essays and (self) translations, this paper addresses Brodsky’s original English poetry as a phenomenon craving for deeper scientific understanding. The article brings the light on the reasons determined Brodsky’s turn toward English which can be divided into three groups: esthetic, utilitarian and linguistic ones. Brodsky’s attitude towards his own English verses was complicated. Creating original English poetical texts was like so-called play in versification and prosody with the using of new linguistic tools. He admitted in English prosody ability of rhyming short English lexical elements in broad variety of possible combinations, using impossible in Russian rhythmical and syntactic structures, experimenting with prosody. The paper provides review of statements addressing Brodsky’s original English poetry. All the statements are divided into groups according to geographical, linguistic and professional areas of the authors they were made by. The majority of studying statements are occasional and unsystematic, united however with some same features. Even supporters of Brodsky’s English poetry were forced to mention a bunch of imperfections in Brodsky’s English, stylistic mistakes and too Russian being of his English verses. One of the main grievance about Brodsky’s English verses is his incorrect using of English idiomatic elements. Many underline interferential and interconditional nature of English and Russian languages in Brodsky’s verses. Some consider this feature to be unacceptable, others as a unique style of bilingual author. Conclusion. Finally the article concludes that Joseph Brodsky was a two-cultured and two-language representative: Russian and English. Despite all the deviation in opinion of critics, poets and translators, the majority of them focus solemnly on linguistic level of Brodsky’s English verses. It’s worth noticing the lack of esthetic interpretation of Brodsky’s English poetry. The upcoming research can provide an answer to a question: does Brodsky’s world view remain the same in his English poetry or did it change subsequent to the language?

Keywords: Joseph Brodsky, Russian poetry, English poetry, critics of poetry, analysis of poetical text