Heart motifs in the creative work of Joseph Brodsky

Abstract

The paper analyzes a number of poems by Joseph Brodsky that have not been previously investigated in detail by philologists and examines certain motifs and images that cause discrepancies in critics’ interpretations. The study aims to understand the poet’s creative work through a new perspective, to some extent, in a more “materialistic” and “physiological” way, which affects the emotional charge of the Nobel laureate’s main motifs. The study also aims to identify the role played by “heart” motifs in shaping Brodsky’s figurative and metaphorical world of poetry. The paper reinterprets the traditional connotations of heart imagery (life, death, pain, etc.) and shows how Brodsky’s worldview was shaped by the heart attacks, illnesses, and surgeries he endured. The scientific novelty of the study lies in its deep and detailed analysis of the system of motifs and images in Brodsky’s poetry, offering explanations for some obscurities in his poems that have caused significant difficulties and variations of meaning among critics. As a result, it has been proved that the philosophical inspiration of the persona and Brodsky’s overall poetic world is due to an alternative interpretation and understanding of heart imagery, endowing it with unique, Brodsky-specific connotations that form a dominant parallel between the poet and the heart.