“Moving measure” in the concept of historical poetics by A. V. Mikhailov

The article aims to analyze one of the aspects of the historical poetics concept proposed by A. V. Mikhailov (“a step from the present”). Together with “a step from the past,” methodologically detailed by A. N. Veselovsky, it allows to approach a significant scientific category of the “moving measure” in literary works. The authors investigate the main aspects of this category. Firstly, the question is posed in regard to the need for research reflection aimed at carefully identifying the “back projection” in the interpretations of the classics, which is an “appropriation” of a classical text, its adaptation to the language of modern culture. “Back projection” interferes with the comprehension of the inherent meanings of a work of art. Secondly, it is the idea of the dynamics of the literary works’ meanings, determined by the constant process of “metamorphosis of the Word,” which requires decoding through the “reverse translation” of a work, its return to the cultural context that had formed the boundaries and vector of its meanings. Thirdly, the “moving measure” is understood as the prospect of analyzing the interpretations of the classics from different cultural epochs as “the voice of the work itself.” It opens up the possibility of including the facts of non-institutional literary criticism in the object of historical poetics, in addition to literary evaluations and opinions, and the subsequent development of analytical techniques for identifying “all interpretative halos” of a classical text.