Michail Lermontov: the national and the universal

The creative work of Michail Lermontov is considered in romantic value paradigm. D. Byron and V. Scott, A.S. Pushkin have not just influenced the work and outlook of Michail Lermontov, but also served as the basis for Lermontov’s picture of the world, which took them along with the folk poetry tradition. The fallacy of many Lermontov interpreters often caused by pressure of stereotypes of “mass” literature. A classic example is a simplified interpretation of “Song about the merchant Kalashnikov...”, which is completely unmotivatevely demonizes Ivan the Terrible, Stepan Kalashnikov and his opponent Kiribeevich are simplified. Russian fist fight and knight conquest are dissolved in a poem by Michail Lermontov and born the famous duel of the merchant Kalashnikov and guardsmen Kiribeevich. Great Lermontov therefore held that easily creatively borrowed all the best in the world culture connecting with folk traditions. National in Lermontov never abolished the universal, and vice versa. Lermontov anniversary is not only an occasion to think about it, but also an opportunity to reflect on the place of man in the world.