The concept of polyphony in the thesaurus of sciences: History and meanings

- · 25.06.2026

Review article
DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2026-2-41-50

Maya I. Shinkareva

Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, Russia,
m.shinkareva@gnesin-academy.ru, https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8145-7400
Abstract:This article analyzes the epistemological potential of the concepts of «polyphony» and «polyphonism» and their use beyond musicology. The universality of these categories, their ability to reflect the essential characteristics of musical thinking, and their use in the multifaceted subject area of scientific discourse are determined. The relevance of this question is determined by a number of factors, the significance of which is growing along with the integration processes in science, art, and literature.
It is noted that, until recently, the musicological thesaurus was formed primarily through the terminology of Italian and Latin words or borrowings from other fields of scientific knowledge. However, over time, a contrary trend emerged, with musicological concepts transcending narrow professional boundaries and integrating into broader scholarly discourse. Examples include M. M. Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony, developed in relation to the novels of F. M. Dostoevsky, and B. A. Katz’s concept of «polyphonic verse». Both scholars view both literature and poetry as dynamic processes possessing internal polyphony, and the application of the musicological concepts of «polyphony» and «counterpoint» allows for the identification of new layers of meaning and structural features in literary works. The article also cites examples from the scholarly works of V. V. Kandinsky, S. M. Eisenstein, and others.

Keywords: polyphony, polyphonism, M. M. Bakhtin, categorical apparatus, musicological term, epistemological potential, interdisciplinarity

For citation: Shinkareva M. I. The concept of polyphony in the thesaurus of sciences: History and meanings. Scholarly papers of Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. 2026;(2):41-50. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2026-2-41-50
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