Lyrical Hero

The lyrical hero is the image of the one whose experiences, thoughts, and feelings are expressed in a lyric work — a kind of 'second self' of the poet that arises in their creativity. The lyrical hero cannot be identified with the real, biographical author, though a close connection exists between them: it is an artistically generalized, aesthetically transformed image of the lyric subject. The concept was introduced into literary studies by Yuri Tynianov (with respect to the work of Alexander Blok). The lyrical hero is endowed with a certain worldview, character, and fate, which emerge from the totality of an author's or a cycle's lyric works; they may change, 'evolve.' One also distinguishes the 'lyric I' and role lyric (where the speaker is an invented persona). Vivid, integral images of the lyrical hero appear in Taras Shevchenko's 'Kobzar,' in Ivan Franko's 'Withered Leaves,' and in the poetry of Lesia Ukrainka and Vasyl Stus.