Correlation of Visual and Verbal Components in a Poem by Nikolai Morshen and Some Works by Vilen Barsky

Abstract

this article analyses the formal organisation of one poetic text by the poet Nikolai Morshen. The focus is on the relationship and nature of interaction between the visual and the verbal in the Morshen’s poem and two works by the artist, the poet Vilen Barsky. The poetic text can use various graphical devices and means of expression, from punctuation and orthographic irregularities to unusual positioning of signs on the page or absence of signs altogether. Morschen’s text and, as will be seen, Barsky’s work follow a paradigmatic model which allows for maximum engagement of the reader in the process of text creation and decoding. At the same time, it helps us to clarify the unobvious, hidden from a superficial glance meanings of words. The method of the two authors work with the text is similar in many respects, but it is not correct to identify their tasks: with Barsky the semantic weight is attached to the visual component, rather than the verbal one; with Morshen, on the contrary, the word is interesting above all – the graphic component is designed to support and enrich the content.