The "Sernur text" in the lyrics by Zoya Dudina

Kudryavtseva Raisiya Alekseevna Doctor of Philology Professor of the Department of Finno-Ugric and Comparative Philology at Mari State University 424002, Russia, Respublika Marii El, g. Ioshkar-Ola, ul. Kremlevskaya, 44, kab. 503 kudsebs@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. The subject of the research in this article is the "Sernur text" in the lyrics of the modern Mari poet Zoya Dudina. Until now, her work has mainly been studied in terms of its genre and rhythmic structure [see: 1; 22] and the poetics of images [see: 9; 12; 13; 15, etc.].

The problem of local text in Mari literature is becoming very relevant today. Thus, there are works on the study of the "national text" in Russian translations of the Mari poets ^[21], as well as individual "local author's texts that are designated by concepts-loci" ^{[20, p. 129]} and are linked to geographical objects ("Morkinsky text" ^[11], "Sheklyanur text" ^[10]). The "Sernur text" highlighted by us in Zoya Dudina's lyrics has never been the subject of scientific consideration.

Materials and methods. The material of the article was the poems of Zoya Dudina, included in her poetry collection "Kuanyshym, kuemndal..." [4. The pages of quotations from this collection are further given in the text of the article in parentheses. – R. K.] (She was delighted, hugging a birch...) (2012). The methodology of the research is determined by the structural and semantic analysis, which allows to identify and describe the structural and semantic levels of the "Sernur text", textual elements of the local subtext, revealing the author's concept of the world and man, the character of the lyrical heroine.

Results and their discussion

The basis for highlighting the "Sernur text" in Zoya Dudina's lyrics is the deep connection of her work with the author's life biography (she is a native of the Sernur district of the Republic of Mari El), with the Mari world, national culture (language, religion, mythology, philosophy, ritual and folk poetic culture), the unconditional focus of which is the Sernur region, which became the spatial and semantic basis of her "Sernur text". Accordingly, the "Sernur text", like any local text in literature, acts as a "symbolically integral cultural space" ^{[3, p. 3]}.

The minimum unit of the author's local text, as is commonly considered with respect to such texts, "is a local subtext represented by a set of textual elements (image, motif, chronotope, concept, etc.), and/or a relatively complete fragment of text, and/or a work" ^{[20, p. 131]}.

The most important textual elements of the "Sernur text" in Zoya Dudina's lyrics are toponyms and anthroponyms and related spatial and character images – both reconstructing primary etymological or real meanings, and expressing the author's axiology. Let's look at some of them.

The generalizing toponym of the "Sernur text" is SHERNUR (the Mari name of Sernur). In the collection "I was glad, hugging a birch tree ...", at the very beginning, immediately after the first text "Myyn mlandem" (My land), there are poems with characteristic names: "Shere nur – Shernur" (Sweet field – Sernur) and "Sheremet Shernur" ("Well-groomed Sernur"). Thanks to these titles, the image of Sernur, as well as the image of his native land, immediately receives a distinct connotation (he is extremely dear and beloved by the author, because it is something very native, familiar and close), which is traditionally created in the lyrics of Zoya Dudina by possessive forms (mlandem, shochmo-kushmo verem, kalyk-shambel, shochmo el, rodo-vlakem, shiy kalykem, mari kalykem; Shernurem, Shernuryshkem):

Weight tygai Shere nurim om pale,

My vdan, my shudan Shernurem! (p. 13)

(I don't know any other such Sweet field in the world,

With honey water, with honey grass, my Sernur! [The subscript literal translation of quotations from Mari is ours here and further everywhere. – R.K.].

Ah, mogae shere kumyl

Velyn myyn chonyshkem:

Tolynam kugese nurysh,

Sheremet Shernuryshkem (p. 14)

(Ah, what a sweet mood

Filled my heart:

I came to the ancestral field,

To my Sernurian favorite places).

In such an emotionally figurative way (sweet field, that is, an unusually pleasant rural space of being), the author builds his understanding of the primary etymological meaning of the main toponym of the "Sernur text" - the word "Shernur" (Sherenur – p. 46). This logic of presenting this image will remain until the end of the collection, as evidenced, for example, by the poem "Shergakanem ..." (My dear...), where the author's open voice sounds: "We are a Shernurim yeratem" (p. 265) (And I love Sernur"). Sernur is a beloved region, dear nature and respected people, worthy of admiration. "Shernuryshto tugai motorys shizhe..." (p. 51) (There is such a beautiful autumn in Sernur..."), Zoya Dudina writes, noting the uniqueness and special attractiveness of this region, in the poem "Tarzin muryzzho" (The Song of a farmhand).

The above connotation and the author's axiology associated with the love of the native land are created not only by possessive suffixes, but also by Zoya Dudina's touching play with Mari words consonant with the word "Shernur": shere (sweet, and also figuratively pleasant, joy ^{[19, p. 106]}) – sheremet (sherem, sheryn koshtmo ver – old familiar places; in addition, sheremet, when used as an interjection, can be a form of expression of delight, surprise ^{[19, pp. 107-108]}) – sheremda (sheremdash – to sweeten, to touch) – cher (beads, beads, pulse, need / desire). The expression "sheremda sherem" (the poem "Shochmo Yal" – Native village) refers to Kupsola, the author's native village, at the same time it is consonant in meaning and design with the generalized image of "Sheremet Shernur", adjoins it and is in the same contextual semantic and value field:

Shochmo yalin yamzhe

Sheremda sherem.

˂…˃

Sheremet Shernur goch

Kupsolash miyem (p. 15)

(The beauty of the native village

Makes the mood sweet.

˂…˃

Through a well-groomed Sernur

I'm going to Kupsola).

"Sheremda sherem" (uplifting) and "Sheremet Shernur" (dear and familiar Sernur) in the context of this poem is an expression of the poet's delight and tenderness towards the places he loved since childhood, which are still familiar, not forgotten, inviting to himself:

Uzhyn koshtmom tӱnya muchko

Erkyn-erkyn my mondem.

Pӧrtylta lach ӱmyr muchko

Sheremet Shernur kundem (p. 14)

(Seen-heard all over the world

Slowly, slowly, I forget.

It brings back to itself the whole life only

The exciting Sernur region).

For the poet, Sernour is also the strength of the ancestors and traditions of the Mari people, which she cherishes:

My ilynem kugese mlandym shizhyn,

Marla oylen, marla shonen... (p. 51)

(I want to live, feeling the land of my ancestors,

Talking in Mari, thinking in Mari...).

An integral and most voluminous part of the "Sernur text" in the lyrics of Zoya Dudina is KUPSOLA. A number of poems are dedicated to this image with the direct use of the toponym "Kupsola" ("Shochmo Yal", "Kupsola", "Yalyshte shket", "Lui modmo ver", "Kirlan eryk murizho", "Mai tylzin...") and without it, but with the archetypal attributes of his native village and native home. Such attributes appear in the poem "Adak tolyn lektym ..." (She came again...) eternally young nature, Sernur melody and a spring. In the poem "Shlykan motor surtem" (Sad beautiful house of mine) – the father's house as the center, the spiritual and moral foundation of the Mari village world. He most often appears in the memories of the lyrical heroine of a bright, romantic village childhood: "My shochmo surt gich modyn-voshtyl / Kurzhtalym kande chodyrash" (p. 26) (I was playing-laughing from my native home / Ran into the blue forest). The image of the native home often appears in modern scenes filled with the spirit of destruction and imbued with the author's sadness – as an alternative to another (healthy, songful) life:

Sholdyrgen achamyn surtsho:

Sharyn liyyn, mlandysh pygyrnen.

Shoҥgyеyn puyto somyl surlysh,

Cheverlasysh, murim pytaren (p. 24)

(My father's house has collapsed,

He grimaced, crouched down to the ground.

As if the old man's business had run out [lit. it turned gray. – R.A.],

He said goodbye, destroying the song).

In the poem "Shochmo Mӧҥgӧ" (The House where he was born), the parental home opens through the archetypal image of bread (a symbol of the material and spiritual and moral foundations of the family, salvation from the "hunger of the soul"); in the poem "Shochmo ver" (Native land), it is concretized in the image of a cradle ("shep ykkesh muren" - slept to the sound of a cradle), and is also associated with the ancient culture of flax processing: "Yaratyn / Vyner kornan yalem..." (p. 28) (I want to love / My village with a canvas path).

In a number of poems, the author's openly expressed (but sincere, by no means declarative) love for Kupsola sounds, and all the landscapes associated with it are imbued with deep lyricism, for example, in the same poem "Shochmo ver" (Native Land) we read:

Ah, shochmo yal!

Ulat mogai jomartle,

Er shosho porsyn – ӱmbalnet (p. 28)

(Ah, my native village!

How funny you are,

Morning spring silk is on you).

The poem uses numerous rhetorical appeals with exclamation intonation, metaphorical turns that complement and deepen the undisguised joy and delight of the lyrical heroine. The word "yeratynem" is repeated twice in the poem. We find this word as a way of openly expressing feelings in other works of the author, for example, in the poem "Yalishte shket" (One in the village): My motkoch yeratem shochmo yalym (p. 17) / (I really love my native village). Such open author's reflections, like those of Sergei Yesenin ("I love my homeland. / I love my homeland very much!" ^{[6, p. 337]}), do not sound journalistic and do not dissonate with the general lyrical structure of the work.

In the poem "Yalyshte shket" (Alone in the village), the ontological connection of the lyrical heroine with her native village is guessed, which is extremely accurately conveyed through psychological parallelism and comparisons. For example, the loneliness of the heroine and loneliness in nature, the insecurity of both man and the natural world are intertwined in this way: "Shochmo yalishte – shket kue guy, / Shochmo surtyshto chon – shket turnya" (p. 17) (Lonely in her native village – like a lonely birch); "ilyshem yylt ruem guy" (p. 17) (my life is like a clearing); "Nur pusheҥgym volgenche pytarysh.... / Ilysh, ilysh, molan ty tyare / Indyret, what did you punch?" (p. 17) (A tree in a field was destroyed by lightning.... / Life, life, why are we so / Tormenting, squeezing my patience?).

Zoya Dudina calls her native village a spring (reviving and enlivening) place ("Shosho ila Kupsolashte..." – p. 45), as well as a song:

Ulo mlandӱmbalne

Muro – shochmo yal (p. 15)

(There is on earth

The song is my native village).

Zoya Dudina defines the meaning and significance of Kupsola in her life in the poem "Kupsola" (p. 45), which gives an artistic interpretation of this toponym, which has nothing to do with the primary etymological meaning (its literal translation into Russian: village by the pond), but is deeply linked to the fate and thoughts of the lyrical heroine: "myyn Shochmo Alan" (native meadow), "myyn kushmo olam" (city of growth), "myyn ӱmyr aҥam" (eternal strip of land), "loops Alan" (dewy meadow), "mur olam" (song city), "chon alal" ("mercy for the soul").

The poem ends with the author's traditional, openly expressed position (admiration, praise) in relation to his native village, the name of which in the second stanza is given exclusively in possessive form (Kupsolam – my Kupsola). Zoya Dudina writes that her Kupsola has earned a national name, the glory of the country, she is akin to her mother.

Kupsola is often associated with the ancestral nest. So, in the poem "Mai tylzin..." (In the month of May ...), the lyrical heroine, walking along the village street of childhood, remembers her grandfather, who paved this road, and her father, who trampled it; their spiritual experience (their joys and troubles), "absorbed" into this road, illuminates her life path: "Pialisht da oygysht – chon pogysht – / Shӱm-kechym mylam volgalten" (p. 45) (Their happiness and troubles – the riches of the soul – / Illuminated my heart-the sun). In the poem "Kugese toshkemyshte" (p. 27) (In the ancient backyard), the place of mowing, where on the day of her father's funeral, the lyrical heroine, overcoming deep depression, worked with a scythe, is called "kugese toshkem", which means in Russian: kugese is an ancestor, ancient ^{[2, p. 137]}, and toshkem – backyards, vacant land not occupied by vegetable gardens and buildings, garden (dial.) ^{[18, pp. 182-183]}.

The native village for the lyrical heroine is a source of pleasant memories and mental relaxation, the possibility of physical recovery, the source of life:

Cherlanenam Charla olashte.

Oigan chong-paremdash

Kaen koltem my Kupsolashke... (p. 35)

(She got sick in the city of Charla [Charla is the ancient Aryan name of the city of Yoshkar–Ola. - R. A.].

To heal a sad soul

I'm going to Kupsola...).

But my kuan den oig is acceptable

Ilem pamash ved den lushtal. ˂…˃

Uke yalishtem kocho shonysh.

Uke kyzhganalshe shizhmash.

Pyznalyn uzhar mlande oҥysh,

Wesh tӱҥalam my ilash (p. 21)

(But I, my joy and my sorrow

Making it easier with spring water, I live. ...

There are no bitter thoughts in my village.

There is no feeling of envy.

Clinging to the earth's chest,

I will start living again).

Kunam jeonlan motkochak nele,

Kunam ulna chonemyn sher,

Lach shochmo Kupsolashte vele

Muam laskam... (p. 18)

(When it's very hard in the shower,

When the heart rate gets tired,

Only in my native Kupsol

I find peace of mind).

The native village for the author is, of course, also a system of moral and ethical values and a behavioral guideline; the village maintains invisible control over its "pupil", therefore, returning to the village in reality or in thought always activates in the lyrical heroine a sense of responsibility for her actions, awareness of the importance of remembering her:

Lach shochmo el,

Puen aideme is indispensable,

Tergen terga chon oҥgyrem (p. 29)

(It is the native land,

Giving a person a name,

Controls (letters. checks, scolding / scolds, checking. – R. A.)

my soul bell)

Sheklanat ilysh dene modmem

Shogarla gich

Achy den

Avi... (p. 46)

(Watching me play with life,

From the cemetery

Father and

Mother).

As we can see, the value orientations of the village, which are the basis of such "control", in this poem are associated with both generic concepts and moral and ethical reflections of the author.

The narrowing of spatial-shaped lines to Kupsola and native home, outlined at the beginning of Zoya Dudina's collection, subsequently, as the presentation of diverse poems, is replaced by their expansion – as a result, the collection is filled with numerous images and motifs, one way or another related to the Sernur theme. A number of toponyms appear, filled with artistic meaning, used in various specific historical, psychological and philosophical contexts of a particular work. Also, an integral part of the "Sernur text" consists of people – both famous, widely known, and less well–known, but significant in Mari history - Zoya Dudina's Sernur countrymen, inscribed in separate geographical realities and topographic images that arise in the main text and in the title complex of the frame text of the poems.

Thus, two poems are dedicated to the native of Kupsola, Yivan Kyrle – "Lui modmo ver" (The place where the marten plays) and "Kyrlan eryk murizho" (The Free song of Kyrly). In the first poem, the lyrical heroine tries to guess (understand) the way to a secret place in the nature of her native land, where the marten played and gave birth to the creative personality of her famous countryman Yivan Kyrlu:

Lopka Pamash. Yoshkar Pamash dec

Luktesh aidan Shemkozher.

En tamle Shere nur uzhargysh,

Kozhla yolgorno – sip-chewer (p. 18)

(Lopka Pamash. To Yoshkar Pamash [The village of Lopka Pamash, like Yoshkar Pamash, were the environs of Kupsola and belonged to the Marisolinsky village Council. – R. K.]

A Black spruce forest leads a man out.

The most delicious Sweet field has turned green,

The road through the spruce forest is a thicket–beauty).

The poem ends with the author's thought about the immeasurable love of the lyrical hero for both the beautiful and expensive place where the marten played ("Mr. olykan, Chonzhm ver" – p. 18) and for the poet-countryman who glorified the small Sernur Mari village of Kupsola. The reason for writing the second poem was a film with the participation of Yivan Kyrly, who returned to his homeland, in Kupsola, in the role of Mustafa, with a song about a playing marten well known to the author. This story became an occasion to reflect on the tragic fate of the poet and express admiration for his free song and free personality.

The ONO River and nearby villages are often combined with Kupsola in the same poem and in a single artistic context. So, in the poem "Er keche" (Morning Sun), the morning sun, the author writes, "makes its way" from the village of YOSHKAR PAMASH towards Kupsola, illuminating everything around with its rays, removing sadness from the Ono River and charging the villagers with new strength: Oigan Ono vdym olta (p. 30) / (Sets fire to the water sad Ono).

In the image of Ono, the motives associated with the "small homeland" ("small homeland" as the foundation of life, its beneficial effect on a person) are strengthened, which were already noted in the first poems of the collection "Rejoiced, hugging a birch ...", recreating the image of the poet's native village:

It is in the soap of kodo poro achamla,

Tudo myym iyash tunykten (p. 13)

(I remember the water by my kind father,

She taught me how to swim).

Korzhmylan malash shuden,

It is olykysh grlem (p. 204)

(Ordering the pain to sleep,

I'm running (lit. I'm roaring. – R.K.) to the meadows It is).

Kuanle Ono inӱdesh yshtylalt,

Shomak dechyn ernem (p. 274)

(After bathing in the joyful water , it,

I'll get rid of the gossip).

It also appears in the context of the lyrical heroine's love experiences, emphasizing the dramatic nature of her feelings:

Oygyna Ono gae kumdaҥe,

Oyirlash – tache tide pial (p. 194)

(Our grief has expanded, how is It,

To break up is happiness today).

In the poem "Kuknur – yeratym elna" (Kuknur is a beloved country), written in the form of a hymn song, a picturesque picture of KUKNUR and its surroundings dear to the lyrical hero (Haddock, Nemda eer, Chumbylat kundem, "Eshpoldo, Yamakai, Pivlat uremysh") is created, a generalized image of the strong, honoring their the ancestors and the Mari they protect, on whose behalf (including on behalf of kuknurets Valery Mochaev, a famous Mari social activist, noted by the author in the dedication subtitle) the author speaks, for whom Kuknur is "chon Rdӧ kumylna" (the main inspiration of the heart), "kuan den oygyna" (joy and sadness), "acha den avana" (parents), "Latshym iyash chever taҥna" (handsome 17-year–old groom), "yeratym yalna" (favorite village), "yeratym elna" (favorite country - in the meaning of the whole world, a special favorite country).

The name of the poem "Luzhalu", dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Shabdar Osyp, indicates the village of LUZHALU (the official name of Luzhala, the village belonged to the Chandemer village Council, Shabdar Osyp was born in Malaya Luzhala). The oikonym is formed from the now obsolete word "puddle", meaning in Russian "centurion", "sotsky" (Luzhalu, luzhavui – "village headman", "tax collector, head for ten people" ^{[17, p. 413]}).

Zoya Dudina, repeating the word "Luzhalu" many times and playing with the same root words, designates the dramatic and tragic moments in the life of the famous Mari writer and literary critic Shabdar Osyp:

– "Luzhalu – chonemlan luzha onion, / Tyshte liyin Shabdarmytyn cook" (p. 55) (Luzhalu is my soul, as the main corner, / There was a Shabdar ancestral nest here) [In the expression "Shabdarmytyn cook", translated by us into Russian as "Shabdar ancestral nest", obviously, the word "cook" it is used in the author's design and is associated by etymology with the words "kuklash" (uproot) and "kuklem" (uprooted area of land). – R. K.];

– "Saderan, kood surtan Luzhalush / Kyzyt tolyn, yoltashym om mu" (p. 55) (In Luzhala, with gardens, from six houses, / Arriving today, I do not find friends);

– "Luzhalu, liyynat tulyklan / Achiizhat, aviizhat, shambelzhat" (p. 55) (For an orphan, Luzhalu, you have become / And his father, and mother, and beloved).

– "Luzhalu liyin shom-chon aimak" (p. 55) (Luzhalu was like a holiday of the soul);

– "Well, kuze, Luzhalu, chytyman, / Kunam ergych yerlesh chytyrnalt?" (p. 55) (Well, how, Luzhalu, can you endure / When your son falls with a shudder?);

– "Luzhalu – chonemlan puddle bow ... / Tyshte tynysym chonlan om mu..." (p. 55) (Luzhalu is my soul, as the main corner, / Here I will not find peace for my soul ...).

The dramatic moments of Shabdar Osyp's biography are conveyed with the help of details (he was born into a poor peasant family, was left without a mother at the age of four, graduated from only a two-grade school due to poverty; was repressed during the Stalin era). Repeating the toponym many times, the author convinces the reader that the village of Luzhalu, together with its talented "son", survived all his troubles, his struggle for the truth. Zoya Dudina deeply empathizes with her talented countryman, protecting his truth, kind and honest soul:

Poro akylym kush chykyman,

Kunam chyn toshkaltesh shyrpeshtalt? (p. 55)

(Where to put a good mind,

When does the truth shatter?).

In the poems "Shoksham" and "A yodelne, er keche lekmashte..." (And in the night, where the morning sun comes out...), the image of the village of SHOKSHAM is presented, beckoning and returning its natives from time to time, for this place:

– Destiny: "Pӱrymӧ mlande" (p. 23) (land of destiny),

– happiness: "Toy urzhan pasuet – pialet" (p. 23) (your brass-rye field is your happiness),

– warmth and comfort: "You should come from kylme ..." (p. 23) (You don't freeze in your native place ...),

– the dwelling place of the Mari god: "Puito Pyrysh velen chonysh shyshtym, / Yes ashna, el shizhmet peregen" (p. 22) (As if the predestinating God poured wax into the heart, / And contained, protecting your sense of homeland),

– wings for flight: "... tyshte shuldyrym nalme, / Ilysh nur den cholgan cho'eshtash" (p. 23) (... here we got wings / To fly brightly through the field of life).

Shoksham is the birthplace of V.I. Makarov, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, professor, who worked for a long time as rector of the Mari University. Both poems are written as appeals to him, as a statement of his deep connection with his native village: "Shochmo mlande ere pelenet" (p. 22) (Native land is always with you); "Salamla kandyvui den yalet" (p. 23) (Welcomes your village with cornflowers).

The "Sernur text" is represented by such names and motifs as:

– Sernur embroiderers L. Vetkina and N. Markina; their names are indicated in the dedication to the poem "Marivate" (Marika); in the poetic world of Zoya Dudina, they consolidate the motives of "Mariness" and loyalty to the cultural traditions of the people, which form the basis of the personality and its lyrical heroine:

Porsyn kumyl-shrtem vozesh tӱrysh,

Osh vyneresh chonem shochyktem.

My kugese is forged by a few pishkyl,

Marivate ulmem onchyktem (p. 60)

(Silk threads-feelings go into embroidery,

I create my soul on a white canvas.

Me, piercing my great-grandmother's embroidery,

I show that I am a Marian).

In one of the poems in the collection ("Amal dech posna shlyk tolo..." – "Sadness came for no reason..."), a miner mining and processing gravel stone (sharg) is guessed, receiving a metaphorical sound:

And pagyt pytarysh shalatyl,

Yes kodsho kuan

Shargash

Visen ӧrdyjе kidshagatym... (p. 189)

(And time has ended the destruction,

And on the remaining joyful

Stone

An outsider checked his wristwatch...)

The capitalized word "Sharg", associated in the Mari language with the name of the work settlement and a stone (a sign of the area and a sign of the enterprise) at the entrance to the village, is perceived in the semantic context of the poem as a watershed of time (between the creative past and the destructive present).

In the poem "Keremet korem voktene..." (Keremet ravine), an image of a really existing Keremet ravine (KEREMET KOREM) arises, associated with the mythological worldview of the Mari people and colored by the mythopoetics of Zoya Dudina. Keremet (Keremet) in the Mari traditional mythology existed "in different meanings – it could be evil spirits, and ancestral ancestors, and the antipode of Kugu-Yumo - the supreme god" ^[7]. And Keremet korem is an oronym of cult origin, it consists of the appellative korem "ravine" and the attribute Keremet "pagan god, evil spirit". Keremet korem – "Keremet's Ravine" or "Ravine of the evil spirit" ^[8]. Therefore, mentioning the name of this deity a priori caused Marie a feeling of some kind of fear and anxiety; and Marie never forgot to remember him, to propitiate in case of problems. In this regard, we can cite the story of Filippov Vladimir Pavlovich about a real case in Keremet ravine in the Mari-Turek district, given on the Internet by Moses Osipov on March 14, 2023: "They were carrying firewood to Shubin I. T. on a tracked tractor. (There used to be tractor sleds). We went downhill normally, but we didn't have enough meters to climb towards the village. They "attacked" the mountainside for more than an hour, unsuccessfully. Ivan Trofimovich went to the farm to get another tractor, but it was not there. We decided to unhook the sleigh and leave it. And then I. T. offered to have a snack, relax. Naturally, before the meal, they remembered the owner Keremet kuryk (peleshtenyt). Before unhooking the sled, we decided to try to climb again. You know, as if there had been no previous attempts, we got up on the spot and drove home." ^[16]

In this regard, the initial verse attracts attention in the authorized (subscript) translation of the poem into Russian: Zoya Dudina translates the expression "Keremet korem voktene" not at all as "At Keremet ravine" (as she indicated in the translated title), but as "At the ravine where Keremet lives", which undoubtedly demonstrates the mythologization of this image in the artistic concept of the author. The very indication in the first stanza of the lyrical heroine's lack of fear of this evil deity also indirectly indicates the attachment of the author's axiology to the traditional consciousness of the Mari people and the relevance of mythology in the modern Mari world. The author's axiology is based not on the denial of the traditional ideas and values of the Mari people, but rather on the problems relevant to modern man – the need for personal self-development of a person, overcoming weaknesses (life fear), nurturing activity, developing horizons. Accordingly, the lyrical heroine is ready to talk to the evil spirit heart to heart ("Chonym pochyn kutyr" – p. 238), ask him uncomfortable questions (why is he unfair to her and gives her a lot of trouble?) and even drive him out of your way. To cultivate such a strong character, she is ready to get engaged to Azyren (the symbol of death), but at the same time maintaining a strong mind and natural purity:

Kalasem: the key to the Erdene is OK for the root. Shergashlaltyn Azyren den, Ӱdyr ӱmyrim ilem (p. 238)

(I will say: on a summer morning, don't meet me on the road. I, betrothed to Azyren (death), Live a maiden life ^[4]).

Thus, actualizing Mari mythology, Zoya Dudina solves her own artistic tasks, asserts the personal existence of a person and presents herself and her lyrical heroine not only as a conscious heir to the age-old culture of her native people, but also as a brave and strong-willed personality, ready for self-development, open to understanding the complexity of the modern world.

Let's name a few more characters of the "Sernur text" with an indication of their artistic function in the poems:

– Zinaida Ermakova, Honored Teacher of the Republic of Mari El, teacher of the Mari language and literature of the Marisolin school, where Zoya Dudina studied, mentor of her creativity. Her image is stated in the dedication to the poem "Tunyktyshyn muryzho" (The teacher's Song). The poem was written on her behalf – as a song of instruction to descendants; it contains motives of selfless service to children, creativity, native people, their future, preservation of the Mari language: "My sugynlem Mari Elemlan / Mari leman ilen kodash" (p. 61) (I wish my Mari Region / Survive with a Mari name);

– Z. A. Shabalina, the author's first teacher (named in the title text of the poem "Erlan yeratym tat" – Forever beloved time). The subtitle anticipates the semantic and stylistic orientation of the poem – it is a memory of a beautiful (desired: "Ertalshym erlashte supper" – "I want to see the past in the present", p. 62) the time of childhood and youth ("rvezylyk muro" – the song of youth, "samyryk zhap" – youth), born in the image of a beloved teacher;

– Lyubov Kupsoltseva, a famous Mari theater actress, was born in Kupsol, known to the Mari audience for her soulful lyrical songs, which, in fact, became the subject of Zoya Dudina's reflections in the poem "Shochynam my murash..." (I was born to sing ...). The very name of Lyubov Kupsoltseva is indicated in the dedication to the poem. The work is constructed as a confession of an actress, and the main motive in it is the selfless following of a natural gift and service to his audience. The talent and sincerity of the singer beloved by the people is emphasized in another poem, with the title dedication "Lyubov Kupsoltsevalan" (Lyubov Kupsoltseva);

– Margarita Medikova, whose name is also mentioned in the frame text, namely, in the dedication to the poem "Mayatulyn" cholgysho seskemzhe" (Bright spark "Mayatula"), is a native of the Sernur village of Shrgyal, People's Artist of Mari El and Honored Artist of Russia. Her gift is called divine by the author ("Yumyn puymoyk"). To express the exceptional artistic power of Margarita Medikova, the author refers to the mythopoeic image of "mayatul", treating it as a bonfire in the hearth of the heart ("Chon vozakys tulotym ..." – p. 66);

– Vasily Pavlov, conceived by the author as a Mari nugget who lived through intense creativity and burned in a creative fire. At the end of the poem there is a reminiscence evoking the image of the same creative person – the Russian poet Yesenin. In the poem "To Sergei Yesenin," Mayakovsky remarked, reflecting on the death of his contemporary:

It's not hard to die in this life. To make life much more difficult ^{[14, p. 14]}.

Let's compare this ending of Mayakovsky's poem with the final lines of the Dudinsky text:

Kolash nele ogyl –

Ilen moshtash nele.

Ilash nele ogyl,

Yellen kolas nele... (p. 76)

(It's not hard to die –

It's hard to be able to live.

It's not hard to live,

It's hard to live burning down...).

In these lines, as in Mayakovsky, there is deep compassion (Vasily Pavlov passed away very early) and a reproach for the inability of a talented person to organize his life;

– I. Berdinsky (Ivan Berdinsky, 1936-1978) is a Mari poet, a native of the village of Tumersola in the Sernur district. His poetic expression "Shere kumyl – Shernurem ..." (Sweet mood – my Sernur ...) with indication of authorship was used by Zoya Dudina as an epigraph to her poem "Shere nur – Shernur" (Sweet field – Sernur). The quote also contains a play with consonant words, their similar meanings, which is so characteristic of Zoya Dudina herself in relation to the key toponym of her "Sernur text" both in this ("Sweet Field – Sernur") and in a number of her other poems ("The Well-Groomed Sernur", "Native Village"); Berdinsky's words enhance the author's concept (inseparable connection with the native world) and the connotative orientation of the image of Sernur (respect, love, admiration) in the collection "I was glad, hugging a birch...":

...Kunam seems to be a sharer shere nur dene temyn,

Mo yot mlande soap? (p. 13)

(... When every pulse is filled with a sweet field,

What's the other side to me?);

– N. Zabolotsky is a Russian poet, whose childhood was spent in Sernur places, so for Zoya Dudina it is an integral part of the Sernur world. He is indicated in the epigraph of the poem "A ydwelne, er keche lekmashte..." (And in the night, where the morning sun comes out...) – as the author of the quote "I was brought up by harsh nature ..." (p. 23). The epithet is intricately connected with the addressee of the poem (V. I. Makarov, a native of Sernursky Shokshem). Nikolai Zabolotsky (in the frame text) has "harsh nature" and the poet's gratitude to the cold land that raised him; in the main (Dudinsky) text of the poem, the same gratitude, but everything is imbued not with cold, but with extraordinary warmth, kindness and happiness that native nature and native village give to a person:

Salamla kandyvui den yalet (p. 23)

(Your village greets with cornflowers)

Shochmo veryshte ty from kylme,

From Sasane, from chatlamash (p. 23)

(You don't freeze in your native place,

It does not shiver, you will not freeze in the bitter cold).

Conclusions

So, Zoya Dudina's entire poetry collection "Rejoiced, hugging a birch tree..." is a "Sernur text", which is semantically summarized in the title of the book (rural space, the land of ancestors, the Mari world), bearing the idea of a "merged" life (in reality, in memory, memories) of the lyrical heroine with the Mari world, with the natural the world of nature, which is fundamentally important for the Mari people's existence and consciousness.

The "Sernur text" is revealed to the reader according to the "optical" principle: the narrowing of the "focus" (artistic space) – from the Mari world as a whole in the first poem ("myyn mlandem", "kalyk-shambel") to the Sernur region ("Shernurem") and the native village of Kupsola ("shochmo yal") – with the subsequent focus of the author's attention on the parental home; then there is an expansion of the "focus" to the Sernur scale as a whole – due to numerous spatial and geographical images, motifs, details, documentary realities in diverse poems, in their main and framework texts. Sernur somehow exists in all the works of the collection "I was glad to hug a birch ...", it provides a vivid overview of Sernur places and Sernur faces.

The structural and semantic levels of the "Sernur text" and textual elements of the local subtext (images and motifs, artistic details, frame components, etc.) reveal the author's concept of the world and man, imbued with respect for folk mythological culture and ancestral memory, their reflection in modernity, as well as the character of the lyrical heroine Zoya Dudina, marked by genuine and with grateful love for his native land.