Mnykh L. The Genesis and funсtions of number Symbolism in the poetry of the XX century

The object of the study: the creative work of Ukrainian and Russian poets for which the poetic traditions of number symbolism were the most perceptible. The purpose of the study: to investigate the sources and aesthetical essence of the cultural traditions of number symbolism in the European poetry of the XX century and to reveal the character of the connection of number symbols with the artistic holism of literary work. The methods of investigation: symbolology of the XX century (S.Averintsev, E.Cassirer, A.Losev); holism theory and methodology of analysis and interpretation of a literary work; the theory of artistic holism by M.M.Hirshman. Results: The historical sources of the four traditions of number symbolism (Jewish, the tradition of antiquity, folk tradition and Christian tradition) in the poetry of the XX century have been investigated and systematized. The aspects of interpretation of number symbolism in the structure of a poetical work as artistic holism have been defined (composition of a t ext, spatial-temporal organization, image). The separation of the notions "number image" and "image of number" have been motivated and supported by rich illustrative material. For the first time number symbolism in Ukrainian classic poetry have been analyzed and interpreted. Novelty: the approaches to the study of number symbolism in a literary work have been suggested. The historical sources of number symbolism and the functions of old poetic symbols as number in the XX century poetry have been considered in the thesis; for the first time the principal peculiarities of four basic contexts of number symbolism for the European poetry have been analyzed. The interpretation of the number symbolism in the poetry of Igor Kalynets have been done for the first time. The novelty in this context is the definition and interpretation of "number images' in Anna Akchmatova's lyrics and "images of number" in Igor Kalynets' poetry.