IMAGINES AGENTES. “ALONE WITH LVIV” BY ANDRII SODOMORA AND ANDRII KIS AS A POLYMODAL PROJECT

The paper continues the author’s research on contemporary Ukrainian photopoetry. It examines the photo-text book “Alone with Lviv. Poetic Walks” by Andrii Sodomora and Andrii Kis (2005), arguing that the combination of established poetic genres with new media instruments can function as a highly effective strategy for actualizing and contextualizing the city’s history through an artistic rediscovery of its memorial landscape. At the same time, the researcher demonstrates that this material cannot be classified as proper photopoetry, since the poetic texts do not metaphorize the images but instead function primarily as commentaries accompanying the photographs. Drawing on theoretical definitions, taxonomies, and observations formulated in the works of Aleida Assmann, Roland Barthes, Nicole Boulestreau, Federica Chiochetti, Dmytro Chyzhevskyi, Ana Fernandes and João Queiroz, Michael Nott, Irina Rajewsky, and others, and employing descriptive, comparative, intermedial, and close-reading approaches, the paper identifies the main structural and thematic characteristics of this photo-text project and outlines the types and functions of intermedial interactions within it. On the basis of these characteristics, the author defines “Alone with Lviv. Poetic Walks” as a polymodal, photo-textual project resulting from the artistic collaboration between the poet Andrii Sodomora and the photographer Andrii Kis, further augmented by commentaries provided by the historian Ivan Svarnyk. From a generic perspective, “Alone with Lviv. Poetic Walks” may be categorized as a modern Ukrainian version of emblematic poetry. The book represents the city of Lviv as an integral part of European culture while reflecting the controversial nature of time and memory as forces of material and spiritual destruction, preservation, and transformation that gradually shape the urban landscape.