The Sixth Research Seminar «Magic, Astrology, and Science in Russian Modernism»

On June 13, the sixth research seminar «Magic, Astrology, and Science in Russian Modernism» took place, during the course of which Liia Ermakova has delivered a report on “The Expression “litso zemli” in Vyacheslav Ivanov’s Texts».

The expression “litso zemli” (“face of the earth”), borrowed from Ancient Greek through Bible translations, is used in the Russian language in several contexts, the most statistically prominent of which are connected to the verbs “steret / ischeznut” (“to efface / to disappear”), “rasseyatsya / skitatsya” (“to dissipate / to wander”), “obnovlyat / izmenyat” (“to renew / to change”) and their synonyms. In the works of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the third type, which is derived from Psalm 103 «Praise the Lord, my soul» is particularly common, as is the fourth type, connected to a cluster of meanings about resurrection and dying that is endemic to Ivanov. Providing a commentary on the usage of this expression in Ivanov’s translations of Aeschylus, the speaker highlighted the metaphor that is used by Ivanov but absent in the original. Because of this transformation a recurrent motif of emergence out of nothingness, out of the darkness onto the «face of the earth», appears. Finally, through the analysis of quotes pertaining to the third type, the connection between this expression and themes of theurgy and creation was demonstrated.