Motifs in Gabdulla Tuqay’s Lyric Poetry (On the Draft Dictionary-Index of Motifs)

The article is focused on the aspects of the lyrical motive theory connected with the project of the motives’ index of Gabdulla Tuqay’s lyric poetry. The conceptual provisions for the index are formulated on the basis of systematized works on the lyrical motive problem. The lyrical motif is considered as a theme-rematic unity based on the functional identity of the motif and the theme. When analyzing lyrical motifs, it is important to establish the contexts that determine their semantics: biographical, cultural-historical, literary (components of literary tradition (traditional images, motives, themes) and modern artistic and non-artistic texts). These theoretical and methodological provisions are demonstrated by the example of the motivational analysis of Gabdulla Tuqay’s poems, united by the theme of hope and hopelessness. It is established that poems in which the lyrical personage experiences a value crisis prevail among the works of this thematic group: “Omid” (“Hope”, 1910), “Ozelgan Omid” (“Broken Hope”, 1908), “Omidsezlek” (“Hopelessness”, 1910). Semantic representations of the motive of hope and hopelessness in these poems by G. Tuqay are revealed. The factors influencing the semantics of this motif of his poetry are determined, the intertextual connections of the analyzed poems, biographical, cultural and historical contexts determining the semantics of the studied motif are analyzed. The article raises the question of the influence of the Eastern poetic tradition and the principles of meaning formation typical for the Arab-Muslim culture on the semantics of G. Tuqay’s lyrical motifs. In accordance with the special nature of the connection between word and meaning in Arab-Muslim Philology (“indication of meaning”), the analysis of G. Tuqay’s poem “Ber Man” (1910) demonstrates the possibility of transition from the explicit content of the poem to the hidden meaning. The analysis let us determine the role of reminiscences for the meaning of the poem interpreted as a work about a transcendental event (G. Tuqay’s poem “Poet and Khatif”, Quranic reminiscence-quote from 107th ayat of the 21st Surah of the Quran). In “Ber Man” there is an actualization of the internal form of the word, in accordance with the etymological meaning of the word “man” (from Arabic “ma’na” – meaning), which gives reason to consider the change in the mental condition of the lyrical personage as a process of acquiring the once lost meaning. At the same time, considering that G. Tuqay’s poetic talent developed at the intersection of Tatar, Russian, and European literatures, it should be mentioned that it is inadmissible to absolutize the Eastern origin as the only one which determines the motives’ semantics in the lyrics of the Tatar poet.