“Spirits of the Eyes”: The Visual Nature of Images-Concepts in the Works of V. Solovyov and the Symbolist poets Vyach. Ivanov and A. Blok

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 10-01-2026 /
Publication Title: 
“Spirits of the Eyes”: The Visual Nature of Images-Concepts in the Works of V. Solovyov and the Symbolist poets Vyach. Ivanov and A. Blok
Publication author(s): 
S.D. Titarenko
Abstract: 

The article addresses the little-studied problem of visualizing the philosophical language of Russian poetry and prose at the turn of the 20th century. It focuses on the works of V. Solovyov and his followers, the symbolist poets Vyach. Ivanov and A. Blok. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the methodological basis is the phenomenology of visual perception by E. Husserl, M. Merleau-Ponty and the dialectics of A. F. Losev's symbol, as well as the iconology of E. Panofsky and W. Mitchell. The main objective is to demonstrate the mechanism through which Solovyov's ideas-expressed in visual allegorical images–were transformed, thereby shaping the”visual tur” in the language of Russian Symbolist philosophy and poetry. The article substantiates the hypothesis that the “visual turn” in Symbolist poetics resulted from a synthesis of Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy, medieval aesthetics, Solovyov's works, and the traditions of religious painting (theophany). The analysis provides examples of how concepts like “Sophia”, the “Eternal Feminine”, and the “World Soul” were visualized, examining such transformative forms as visual esthesis and the categories of “the visible”, “visions”, and “the invisible”. The article examines such forms of transformation as visual esthesis and the concepts of “the visible”, “visions”, and “the invisible” in the philosophy and aesthetics of Solovyov and the Symbolists. It shows that the metaphysical visual images in philosophy and poetry develop through ekphrasis of the image, which is transformed into various types of iconic signs as an attempt to embody the invisible Platonic ideas and essences. The focus is on the forms of apophatic ekphrasis-vision, as well as on the metaphysical images-symbols of light and color theophanies, and above all, “azure”, “azure-like”, “gold in azure”, “light and darkness”, “transparency”, and others. In conclusion, the article argues that Solovyov and the Symbolists created the preconditions for the “visual turn” in early 20th-century Russian literature.

 

References: 

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Key words: 
philosophy of art, poetry of V. Solovyov, poetics of Russian Symbolism, image-concept, phenomenology, iconology of the visual image, “visual turn”, the Eternal Feminine, religious painting, theophany, visual esthesis, apophatic ekphrasis-vision, visual iconic image-symbol
2025. Issue 4 (88)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.4.166-183
Publication file: 
str.166-183_88.pdf