Evolution of the means of the representation of the past in the lyrical song genre

The article focuses on the means of the representation of reminiscences in lyrical songs of different time periods. Here reminiscences are viewed as the state of consciousness, the immersion into which entails particular psychological effects. The author suggests distinguishing between songs-reminiscences and those songs that remind. The characteristic features of these songs as belonging to a particular speaking genre are highlighted here. The evolution of the means of speaking about the past is under consideration with the stress on the fact that in a contemporary song a sender tends to manifest his/her ego to a much greater degree in comparison to the songs of earlier periods. Here the reminiscences about love become a history. As a result, a sense of sadness, inherent in the reminiscences about love, is being lost here.