'This is not a Poem': Illustrations in the Autographs of some Lermontov Poems

Abstract

This article will discuss some aspects of the impact of what have been called elements with an enclave function in works of art and literature in general, and in some poems by Lermontov in particular. Elements with an enclave function in a work of art or a literary text are those elements which do not obey the standard code of that work for instance, letters and inscriptions and selfportraits inserted into a picture, or, conversely, drawings and blank spaces in a text. In this property lies their primarily deictic value (see Wallis 1973). The primary task of elements with a deictic function in a work is to draw a perceiver's attention to the representation. Elements with a deictic function refer not to the reality modelled in the work of art or literary work, but rather to the artist or author creating it. Examples of words that may have a deictic function are personal, possessive and demonstrative pronouns and proper names rather than nouns, or indicators of space and time like 'here' versus 'there' or 'then' versus 'now'. In other words, elements with a deictic function in a text point to their writer or speaker insofar as their reference changes together with the latter's person or position. All deictic elements bear testimony to the presence of a producer in the creative process. The consistent use of deictic elements in texts and works of art results in blank spaces. These spaces maximize the potential character of the work insofar as they enable the maker of the work to manifest himself. Thus a blank space prompts in a perceiver the question: 'With what content will this space be filled?'. Since deictic elements bear testimony to the presence of the maker of a work they form a bond between the work and external reality. In this external reality the maker of the work is operative as a living being. This bond with the work is extended to a perceiver because he too is a part of that external reality. A good example of this would be a self-portrait inserted into a painting. Whereas the (visible) portrayed person is presented as viewing the representation from the inside of the painting, the (invisible) painter himself is assumed to view it from the outside.2 In a literary text an internal narrator forms such a bond between the world of the narrative and external reality: a (visible) internal narrator is presented as reporting the events taking place in the narrative from the inside whereas the (invisible) external narrator is assumed to do the same from the outside. The presence of external and internal makers also presupposes the presence of external and internal perceivers. The deictic function of a self-portrait resides