Acoustic Imagery in the Artistic World of M. Prishvin: Ornithological Sound Models and Their Text-Structuring Functions

The article offers an analysis of the acoustic imagery of avian vocalizations in M. Prishvin’s fiction and diaries as a semiotically organized system that exceeds the mere recording of the soundscape. The semiotic system is construed as an ordered complex of signs and codes in which birds’ voices function as stable semantic units linking acoustic form to imagistic–conceptual content and to compositional roles. These units organize the chronotope, establish thematic centers, and shape modes of textual perception. The analysis draws on the 22 of the most representative bird names. The correctness of the results was verified by comparing them with the data from the Russian National Corpus and dictionary materials. A three-tier typology is proposed: (1) a figurative model of avian vocalizations (metaphor, simile, epithet); (2) a polyimitative (multi-imitative) model of avian vocalizations; and (3) a polyphonic (ensemble) model of avian vocalizations. The study shows that birds’ voices are consistently correlated with the timbres of musical instruments and unfold into “bird-chorus” scenes that produce an effect of coordinated polyphony. It also identifies the interplay of conventional and author-specific devices through which the “bird’s voice” operates as a symbolic code of natural harmony, cyclicity, and the unity of humanity and nature.