|
«The Queen of Spades»: A Seriously Intended Joke |
|
Volume 12-13 (2009-10) -
Vols. 12-13: Articles / Статьи
|
|
Written by Clayton, J. Douglas
|
The Queen of Spades: A Seriously Intended Joke
J. Douglas Clayton
It is a commonplace to begin any discussion of The Queen of Spades by remarking on the richness of the secondary literature. Analyses of the tale can for the most part be placed in two categories. For many scholars, the problem is to unravel the mystery of the three cards and the strange denouement when Germann by mistake pulls out the queen instead of the ace; such studies include the many discussions of numbers, the symbolism of various details in the work and psychoanalysis of Germann’s madness.[1] A second type of approach might be called the search for “sources” as a form of empirical study that eschews deeper analysis. Scholars have long recognized the importance of intertextuality in The Queen of Spades, something that Pushkin actually draws attention to by the extensive use of epigraphs. Paul Debreczeny, for example, pointed out a large number of intertextual references—from Stendhal to La Motte Fouqué—without, unfortunately, explaining how they might function in the aesthetic system of the tale.[2] Daria Solodkaia gets nearer to the heart of the matter in her discussion of a key sentence in the work, namely the countess’s remark “That was a joke.”[3] It is precisely this sentence that points to a third line of interpretation, namely the metapoetic or, as Wolf Schmid has called it in what is probably the most enlightening study of the tale, the metatextual.[4] Schmid is careful to avoid the trap into which many have fallen of focusing on just one of the plethora of motifs and literary references that Pushkin has strewn throughout the work, preferring instead to analyze the totality of the work as an aesthetic system. It is this approach that I intend to adopt in what follows, without pretending to emulate Schmid’s exhaustiveness.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Between Thought and Feeling: Odoevsky, Pushkin, and Dialectical Doubt in 1833 |
|
Volume 12-13 (2009-10) -
Vols. 12-13: Articles / Статьи
|
|
Written by Platt, Jonathan Brooks
|
Between Thought and Feeling: Odoevsky, Pushkin, and Dialectical Doubt in 1833
Jonathan Brooks Platt
In the commentary to the Literary Monuments edition of Vladimir Odoevsky's Motley Tales, Marietta Tur´ian remarks upon a peculiar moment of intertextual resonance in the final tale of the 1833 collection. In "The Same Tale, Only Inside Out"—the companion piece of the preceding "Tale about How Dangerous It Is for Girls to Walk in a Crowd down Nevsky Prospect"—a Russian beauty, who has endured kidnapping, vivisection, transformation into a doll, partial reanimation, and a failed romance that ends in her being thrown out a window, is now gathered up off the ground by a 1000-year-old, proto-Slavic sage. In an effort to restore the girl's humanity, the sage plays Beethoven for her, shows her the works of Raphael and Michelangelo, gives her a new heart, and finally blesses her with "the poetry of Byron, Derzhavin, and Pushkin, inspire[s] her with the art of suffering and thinking [iskusstvo stradat´ i myslit´], and continue[s] on his way."[1] This final gift of the sage recalls the famous lines from Pushkin's 1830 "Elegy" ("The faded joy of mad years..." ["Bezumnykh let ugasshee vesel´e..."]): "But, o friends, I do not want to die; / I want to live, in order to think and suffer" [Ia zhit´ khochu, chtob myslit´ i stradat´].[2]
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The Poet and His Readers: Three Lyrics and an Unfinished Story of Alexander Pushkin |
|
Volume 12-13 (2009-10) -
Vols. 12-13: Articles / Статьи
|
|
Written by Manukyan, Kathleen
|
The Poet and His Readers: Three Lyrics and an Unfinished Story of Alexander Pushkin
Kathleen Manukyan
Now and then, in the course of events, when the flow of time turns into a muddy torrent and history floods our cellars, earnest people are apt to examine the interrelation between a writer and the national or universal community; and writers themselves begin to worry about their obligations. I am speaking of an abstract type of writer. Those whom we can imagine concretely, especially those on the elderly side, are too vain of their gifts or too reconciled with mediocrity to bother about obligations. They see very clearly, in the middle distance, what fate promises them—the marble nook or the plaster niche.[1]
One of the features of Pushkin’s longer works, made famous in Eugene Onegin, are his many asides addressed to his “dear reader.” Often delivered as apologies for straying from the plot or clarifications of the narrator’s opinion about the matter at hand, they add to our curiosity about the author’s relationship with his readers. How does Pushkin envision, accommodate, or avoid his reader? For that matter, how much does this vary from genre to genre or evolve as the poet matures? These questions could occupy volumes and warrant analysis from an array of academic approaches—textual, archival, and sociological to name a few. This paper, first, will attempt to scratch the surface and illustrate some complexities of the question through an analysis of three short lyrics from different periods in the poet’s life. Then, it will frame, elaborate upon, and connect its observations in light of “Egyptian Nights,” a short, unfinished prose work from the last years of Pushkin’s life.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Introduction to the Harvard Symposium on "Pushkin & Blackness" |
|
Volume 12-13 (2009-10) -
Vols. 12-13: Symposium / Симпозиум
|
|
Written by Paiewonsky, Lolita
|
Alexander Pushkin: A Historic Symposium at Harvard
Exploring the Dual Heritage of Russia’s Greatest Poet, Father of Modern Russian Literature and the Black Russians of the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, April 2008)
Lolita Paiewonsky
April 2008 brought together scholars, researchers, teachers, artists, departmental executives, media professionals, students, residents, visitors, and Harvard alumni from numerous disciplines both within and without the academy, and within and beyond Harvard. They descended upon Cambridge to celebrate, present on, bask in, read from, learn more (or in some cases learn for the first time and be set on a future course to learn more) about Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837). Pushkin is Russia’s greatest poet, the father of modern Russian literature, and precursor to Black Russians of the twentieth century. Greetings were extended to our colleagues and visiting scholars each day by Harvard officers and dignitaries. The proceedings were formally opened with welcome remarks by Walter C. Carrington, 1952 AB, 1955 JD, former U.S. Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to Nigeria and to Senegal. The second day began with remarks on behalf of President Drew Faust by then Associate Vice President James S. Hoyte, Esquire, 1965 JD, 1968 JD, 1972 PMD.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
