The struggle against arrogance as the underlying concept of the “The Nibelungenlied”

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Abstract: The goal of this article consists in determination of the underlying concept and motif of the poem "The Nibelungenlied". For achieving the set goal, the author applies the strategy of "antiquarism" – refer to the values of the era of creation of the poem and substantiate its historical-cultural prerequisites. Leaning on the theoretical and historical poetics, the presence of the author is claimed as a category of text in the work of the eidetic era, which allows analyzing the artistic whole on the level of selection of lexical units, as well as comparing the characters based on the category of specularity as a structure-forming element. The conducted research reveals the pattern of the emergence and realization of the motive of struggle against arrogance as the underlying concept of the "The Nibelungenlied" common to all characters, which determines the plot and structure of the poem on different levels of artistic unity of the text. The strategy of "antiquarism" allowed analyzing "The Nibelungenlied" according to the views of the era of its creation, and extract the key motif of the poem as a significant aspect of human life of that time – the harmonious acceptance of the fate. “The Nibelungenlied” embodies the idea of struggle against haughtiness and arrogance, which is opposed to serving a noble calling and fulfilling a duty. Theoretical poetics indicates the shift in the mode of artistry (from heroic to tragic). The focus on historical poetics reveals the underlying concept of the poem, which is essential for structuring and completing the artistic whole in the eidetic era. Therefore, arrogance as the key motif of the poem is substantiated historically and textually.

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