The onymy of authors’ notes in the mirrors of poetonymology: reflections and suggestions

INTRODUCTION. Through the prism of tradition of “author’s notes”, and methodological approaches to poetonymy, the research attempts to understand the problems of proper name functions in the author’s comments of 18th and 19th-century Russian writers on their literary works. The aim of the study is to formulate the immediate tasks of poetonymology in the further study of the issue of the onymy in author’s notes and to shed light on the understanding of self-commentary in the writing experience of G.R. Derzhavin.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The traditional descriptive method was used, incorporating elements of factual material analysis and interpretation, observation techniques, comparison and generalization, as well as functional and contextual analyzes.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Possible options for analyzing the type of note to one’s own texts are considered, as well as techniques for using them in writing practice. It is proposed to recognize authorial comments as a traditional technique in a certain period of the development of Russian artistic literature for conveying to the reader, on the one hand, the meaning presented in the text, and on the other (according to A.D. Kantemir), the personal intentions of the author of a literary work. The issue of the role of illustrative material in lifetime (under the author’s “supervision”) editions of G.R. Derzhavin’s works is addressed. Special attention is given to the author’s comments to the “Ode to Felica”.

CONCLUSION It is noted that it is necessary to strictly distinguish between writers’ notes and editors’ comments in publications, avoiding their mixing during analysis, especially in cases where the authors’ notes ultimately either survived only in manuscripts and preparatory materials, or were only reconstructed by textologists based on indirect indications from poets and writers who had already passed away. The prospects for using the obtained results in the practice of writer’s onymography are outlined.