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Concept ‘Forgiveness’ in a Poetic Language of Joseph Brodsky

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑79‑131‑143
  • УДК / UDC: 811 + 821.161.1
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • For Citation:

    Tverdokhleb, O.G. “Concept ‘Forgiveness’ in a Poetic Language of Joseph Brodsky.”. Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur, vol. 79, 2026, pp. 131–143. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑79‑131‑143 
  • Author 1: Olga G. Tverdokhleb
  • Information about the Author 1:

    Olga G. Tverdokhleb — PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Orenburg State Pedagogical University, Sovetskay St., 19, 460844 Orenburg, Russia.

    ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000‑0002‑8309‑0245

    E‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Abstract: The paper contributes to the study of anthropocentric linguistics and cognitive poetics, revealing how linguistic means form the key ideological concept of I. Brodsky “forgiveness”. Based on the material of the National Corpus of the Russian Language and electronic collected works of the poet, the study explores lexical‑ semantic, grammatical and stylistic features of the representation of this concept. Methodology: corpus analysis (frequency, grammatical forms); contextual analysis (semantics, connotations); intertextual approach (connection with Christianity, literary predecessors). Illustrative material shows that in the poetry of I. Brodsky: a) forgiveness is realized linguistically mainly through the verb forms, among which the imperative mood forms (“forgive”, “forgive”) are especially frequent, which emphasizes its imperative nature; b) conceptually it is connected with the Christian tradition, but rethought in an existential key — as an act of communication (dialogue with the world) and as a philosophical category reflecting the problems of guilt, time and reconciliation with the finitude of being; c) forgiveness is addressed to God, women (including Anna Akhmatova and lyrical heroines) and an abstract reader — such a plurality of addressees emphasizes the dialogical nature of poetic confession, which reflects; d) there are no negative nominal and verbal lexemes (with the particle not or the prefix bez‑, etc.), representing the concept of “forgiveness”, which confirms the absolute value of this concept, the value of the ability to forgive in the poetic world of I. Brodsky; d) for special expressiveness of poetic lines and strengthening the meaning of 'forgiveness' the poet uses various kinds of repetitions of verb predicates. The results obtained may be of interest to literary scholars studying the work of Joseph Brodsky, and may also be used in the practice of compiling a dictionary of the poet.
  • Keywords: Joseph Brodsky, concept, forgiveness, Corpus Analysis, Christian Ethics, linguapoetics, idiostyle.
  • Страницы / Pages: 131–143
  • Received: July 03, 2025
  • Approved after Reviewing: November 11, 2025
  • Publication Date: March 25, 2026

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