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Voice of the Age, Voice of the Ages: The Russian Poet-Prophet Complex Through Three Models
Jessica Leigh Sanders
A Dissertation Presented to the
Faculty of the USC Graduate School
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
(Slavic Languages and Literatures)
May 2013
Object Description
| Title | Voice of the age, voice of the ages: evolution of the Russian poet-prophet complex through three models |
| Author | Sanders, Jessica Leigh |
| Author email | jlsander@usc.edu;JessLeighSanders@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Slavic Languages and Literatures |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2013-03-05 |
| Date submitted | 2013-04-26 |
| Date approved | 2013-04-26 |
| Restricted until | 2013-04-26 |
| Date published | 2013-04-26 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pratt, Sarah |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Seifrid, Thomas Lemon, Rebecca |
| Abstract | This dissertation reevaluates the model of poet as prophet in Russian literature as a mechanism of political and social negotiation between the early nineteenth century Russia educated gentry, the imperial state, and the Russian reading public. Beginning in the Catherinian era, poets such as Derzhavin begin modeling their lyric personae on the Hebrew literary prophets as a means of defining a more powerful political role for the educated gentry. Precise readings of Derzhavin's prophetic poems against their biblical subtexts reveal that Derzhavin was using the voice of the prophet in his poetry in order to pressure the empress to adhere to Enlightenment political values by setting himself as a poet and statesman in political position parallel to that of the prophet Isaiah. In the era of Alexander I, Zhukovskii inherits Derzhavin's prophetic role, but the Sentimental focus on the individual in his poetry leads to the collapse and failure of this model of prophetic poetry. ❧ In the wake of the failure of the Isaiah model of poet as prophet and the social tumult brought by Russia's contact with Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, members of the educated gentry-- later known as the Decembrists-- began plotting to overthrow the emperor. In poetry, the Decembrist poets would present themselves as prophets in the model of David the Psalmist in order to achieve the same overthrow of the ruler in poetry that they sought to achieve in real life. This model also allowed poets like Ryleev and Kuchelbecker to take on a poetic voice with democratic pretensions that mirrored their political philosophy. ❧ After the failure of Decembrism, the poets of the educated gentry who survived struggled to find a poetic, social, and political voice in an environment in which the educated gentry's cultural dominance of Russian culture was threatened both by heightened censorship from above and the rising Intelligentsia from below. In this environment, the poets best known for shaping the Russian model of poet as prophet began modeling themselves after the politically impotent but socially powerful prophetic voice found in the biblical texts connected with Solomon. These texts offer both a turn away from politics and an elegiac mourning for the political power that educated gentry poets were able to enjoy during Derzhavin's era. |
| Keyword | Russian poetry; romanticism; Russian imperial culture; Derzhavin; Zhukovsky; Ryleev; Pushkin; Baratynsky; bible and literature |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Sanders, Jessica Leigh |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-SandersJes-1601.pdf |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume3/etd-SandersJes-1601.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Full text | 1 Voice of the Age, Voice of the Ages: The Russian Poet-Prophet Complex Through Three Models Jessica Leigh Sanders A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the USC Graduate School University of Southern California In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy (Slavic Languages and Literatures) May 2013 |
