Mirrors and Metarealists: The Poetry of Ol'ga Sedakova and Ivan Zhdanov

Abstract

Ol´ga Sedakova and Ivan Zhdanov, two prominent contemporary metarealist poets, depart from traditional mirror poems’ reliance on straightforward reflection or description. Their mirror poems elucidate their idiosyncratic poetic systems and, particularly in the case of Zhdanov, they balance metaphor with compelling metonymies and create a valuable connection to the poetry of Boris Pasternak. Zhdanov and Sedakova use mirrors to call attention to the artifice of poetry and to expose to visibility the workings of the poet’s mind as the poem is created. In Sedakova’s poetry, the poems show surprising flashes of darkness and, in Zhdanov’s poems, the mirrors often reveal unusual depths. The essay pursues two overarching questions: ‘What do mirrors show us about poetic language?’ and ‘How do mirrors allow poetry to suggest a theory of subjectivity?’ Both questions ask that poems show us their theories of language and of identity. Several poems by each poet are read closely and the readings are used to draw more general conclusions about the possibilities for penetration, transcendence, and revelation in their work.