The “childhood” world of Oleg Grigoriev’s adult poetry

The research aims to refine the understanding of the artistic world of Oleg Grigoriev’s uncensored poetry for adults by comparing it with his officially published works for children. While previous scholars have occasionally made such comparisons, they have only briefly noted individual resonances between the two layers of Grigoriev’s creative output at the level of general themes and linguistic techniques. The scientific novelty of this study lies in examining the relationship between the poet’s work for adults and children at a much deeper level. Using motif and intertextual analysis, the article demonstrates that adult poetry reproduces many recognizable elements of children’s poetry with a distinct “shift” or displacement. The focus is primarily on the mundane filling of reality: images of tableware, food, and the situations and plots associated with them. Through the domestic aspect of the artistic world, the study shows how themes of childhood pranks and forbidden treats are consistently transformed into themes of unprovoked violence and cannibalism. Consequently, the study argues that Grigoriev’s children’s and adult poems should not be viewed in isolation but rather in their close interconnection, as they collectively work toward a unified artistic concept: the adult world is a distorted, perverted world of childhood; however, it is vital while living in this gruesome world to strive to preserve one’s childlike, creative essence.