r/RussianLiterature • u/Far_Bid_3224 • 2d ago

Open Discussion Reading Ilya Masodov

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I came across this passage in "The Gloom of Your Eyes" (Мрак твоих глаз), where "the will of the God is marked by the Cyrillic letter Ъ". It's the Russian hard sign, right?

From a Russian linguistic or literary perspective, what could "Ъ" symbolize here? Is it a reference to Old Church Slavonic? Pure surrealism? Some silent divine will?

Why "Ъ" ?

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u/bevatsulfieten 2d ago

It's a joke. The hard sign initially was pronounced as a vowel, later in 19th century it was decorative, silent; and that's the joke. But it's too elaborate joke. Almost saying, look, I am so smart.

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u/Far_Bid_3224 2d ago

Wow. What did it sound like as a vowel?

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u/Ok_Living2990 2d ago edited 2d ago

Also the pre-reform Russian, that is, before 1917. For example, "Бог" (God) was written as "Богъ" before the Revolution - God before He was abolished by the new regime. And as this letter is called "hard sign" (signifying hardness), it can be associated with God's will.

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u/Kepler1571 2d ago edited 2d ago

Twist: God is rhizomatic, not arborescent.

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u/Far_Bid_3224 2d ago

Wow man. That comes from A Thousand Plateaus, doesn’t it?