Punctuation variation in poetic texts by G. R. Derzhavin (to the 280th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

The article analyses the punctuation differences in G. R. Derzhavin’s poetical works in various editions. In addition, the research considers the influence of such differences on the formation of syntactic constructions and on readers’ perception of the text of a particular work. Modern essay collections, as well as other sources including the poet’s writings, contain punctuation discrepancies which can affect the understanding of the message of texts. The article analyses seven poems by G. R. Derzhavin ("Picnics", "Drowning", "To the Lyre", "Wealth", "Chains", "Hunter", "To Plamida") in detail. Using quantitative and contrastive-comparative analysis, the article aims to identify the main punctuation differences between two collections of poems by G. R. Derzhavin published in the 19th century. Another objective is to evaluate their influence on modern collections of poems. The research identifies the most typical variation types, for example, variation manifested at sentence boundaries. Other types are the presence of a punctuation mark in one edition and its absence in the other, a colon and its replacement with another punctuation mark, the choice between a comma and a semicolon. The paper particularly considers punctuation variables in cases with two or more epithets accompanying one noun, as well as in constructions with an antithesis. The analysis demonstrates the high complexity of punctuation and its inconsistency in the poet’s texts. The study also confirms the need for a more thorough investigation of the syntax in G. R. Derzhavin’s poetical works based on his punctuation dating back to the "Complete Scientific Collection of Derzhavin’s writings edited by Ya. Grot".