Symbiosis and dichotomy in the names of Anna Axmatova
pp. 223-229
in: John Deely, Margot D. Lenhart (eds), Semiotics 1981, Berlin, Springer, 1983Abstract
Intermeshing themes of life and love with fire, grief and song in a recurring basic pattern, the Russian poet Anna Axmatova (1889–1966) concretizes the primal etymological unity in the words "fire", "grief" and 'song" to convey simultaneously the dichotomy arising between the Russian words gore (grief) and goret" (to burn). The present study will explore the revolving pattern of symbiosis versus dichotomy emerging through careful coordination of the instances of dichotomy and symbiosis in the poet's names of which there are three, her first name, Anna, her inherited surname, Gorenko, and her pseudonym, Axmatova.
