Russian Epicurean Romanticism: Worldview, motives, and poetics

A.N. Pashkurov

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: anp.72@mail.ru

Received January 26, 2018

Full text PDF

Abstract

The present paper deals with the phenomenon of Russian Epicurean Romanticism of the first third of the 19th century in the context of both the fundamental postulates of Epicureanism and the advanced problems of studying the phenomenon of “Russian antiquity”. The poems of K.N. Batyushkov, D.V. Davydov, A.A. Delvig, and N.M. Yazykov have been analyzed. In the course of study, we have revealed semantic tendencies of the median culture, at the structural level actualized through the genesis and evolution of Trinitarian thinking in the system of national Epicurean Romanticism as well. The ethical program of the great ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus with ideas of a dialogue between the moment and eternity, purifying / cathartic spiritual bliss leading to immortality, attainability of the ideal perfection in mortal life is the closest one to national authors. The Epicurean Romanticism anticipating the discovery of Russian anthology lyrics of the second half of the 19th century and the literary culture of the “Silver Age” first starts the process of transforming the traditional binary thinking, rejecting the canons of the World Duality in many respects and synthesizing the new knowledge in the symbol images of “dream”, “hop plant as beauty” and “beauty as hop plant”, “peace”. A complex study of the peculiarities of the relationship between the Epicurean ideals of harmony and peace and the phenomenon of irony in poetics of Russian Romanticism is among the nearest research prospects.

Keywords: Epicurean Romanticism, Russian poetry of first third of 19th century, Trinitarian systems, archetypical images, median culture, ethical teaching on harmony, philosophy of Epicurus

References

1. Kristeller P.O. Greek Philosophers of the Hellenistic Age. New York, Columbia Univ. Press, 1993. 191 p.
2. Tikhomirov M.N. Philosophy in Ancient Rus'. In: Russkaya kul'tura X – XVIII vv. [Russian Culture of the 10th – 18th Centuries]. Moscow, Nauka, 1968. pp. 90–172. (In Russian)
3. Tvorogov O.V. Ancient myths in Old Russian literature of the 11th – 16th centuries. Trudy Otdeleniya Drevne-Russkoi Literatury, 1979, vol. 33, pp. 3–31. (In Russian)
4. Shakhnovich M.M. Epicurus' philosophy of religion and Epicurean tradition in the history of European thought. Doct. Philos. Sci. Diss. St. Petersburg, 2000. 326p. (In Russian)
5. Amus V. The role of Epicurus' philosophy. In: Amus V. Antichnaya filosofiya [Ancient Philosophy]. Available at: http://www.philosophica.ru/asmus/126.htm. (In Russian)
6. Epicurus' Philosophy. Hedonism. Available at: http://freephilosophy.net/filosofiya-Epikura-gedonizm.html. (In Russian)
7. Fedoseeva E.N. “Chto voskhititel'nee, krashe svobodnykh druzheskikh besed…”: Literaturnye dialogi poetov Pushkinskoi pleyady [“What Is More Delightsome, Finer than Free Friendly Talks...”: Literary Dialogues of the Poets of the Pushkin Pleiad]. Moscow, Mosk. Gos. Obl. Univ., 2003. 239 p. (In Russian)
8. Savel'eva L.I. Antichnost' v russkoi romanticheskoi poezii: (Poety pushkin. kruga) [Antiquity in Russian Romantic Poetry: Poets in Pushkin's Circle]. Kazan, Izd. Kazan. Univ., 1986. 79 p. (In Russian)
9. Knabe G.S. Russkaya Antichnost': Soderzhanie, rol' i sud'ba antichnogo naslediya v kul'ture [Rossii Russian Antiquity. Subject Matter, Role and Destiny of Antique Heritage in Russian Culture]. Moscow, Ros. Gos. Gumanit. Univ., 1999. 240 p. (In Russian)
10. Surikov I.Е. Antichnaya Gretsiya: mental'nost', religiya, kul'tura [Ancient Greece: Mentality, Religion, and Culture]. Moscow, Yazyki Slavyan. Kul't., 2015. 719 p. (In Russian)
11. Muzy u zerkala: Antichnye motivy v russkoi literature [Muses in front of the Mirror: Ancient Motives in Russian Literature]. Moscow, Nov. Khronograf., 2015. 617 p. (In Russian)
12. Asoyan A.A. On the problem of semiosis of “hellenic words” in Russian literary classics. Kritika i Semiotika, 2015, no. 1, pp. 9–100. (In Russian)
13. Yatsenko O.A. A tutor and a student (M.N. Murav'ev and K.N. Batyushkov). Pedagogika, 1992, nos. 11–12, pp. 66–70.
14. Sionova S.A. The impact of the M.N. Muraviev's poetic heritage on K.N.Batyushkov's poetry. In: Mikhail Murav'ev i ego vremya [Mikhail Muraviev and His Time]. Kazan, Shkola, 2017, pp. 52–58. (In Russian)
15. Prokopieva L.B. M.N. Muraviev and antiquity: Horatius and Vergilius in the writer's translations and works. Cand. Philol. Sci. Diss. Tomsk, 2010. 26 p. (In Russian)
16. Pashkurov A.N., Razzhivin A.I. Istoriya russkoi literatury XVIII veka [History of Russian Literature of the 18th Century]. Pt. 2. Moscow, FLINTA, Nauka, 2017. 536 p. (In Russian)
17. Barantsev R.G. Stanovlenie trinitarnogo myshleniya [Formation of Trinitarian Thinking]. Moscow; Izhevsk, Regulyarnaya i Khaoticheskaya Dinamika, 2005. 123 p. (In Russian)
18. Raushenbach B.V. About logic of triunity. Voprosy Filosofii, 1990, no. 11, pp. 166–169. (In Russian)
19. Mes'kov V.S. Methodology of trinitarity. Voprosy Filosofii, 2013, no. 11. pp. 66–76. (In Russian)
20. Nigmatullina Yu.G. “Median culture”: The dialogue of binary and trinitarian system оf thought. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2017, vol. 159, no. 1, pp. 26–42. (In Russian)
21. Davydov A.P. Formation of “median culture” in Russia (based on Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century). Doct. Culturol. Sci. Diss. Moscow, 2002. 561 p. (In Russian)
22. Kuznetsov B.G. Sovremennaya nauka i filosofiya: puti fundamental'nykh issledovanii i perspektivy filosofii [Modern Science and Philosophy: Ways of Fundamental Research and Philosophical Prospects]. Moscow, Politizdat, 1981. 184 p. (In Russian)
23. Koshelev V.A. Motives of death and immortality in Batyushkov's lyrics. Moi Penaty. Russkaya provintsiya i ee rol' v istorii kul'tury. K 230-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya K.N. Batyushkova: Materialy nauch. konf. (Vologda, 29–30 maya 2017 g.) [“My Penates”. Russian Province and Its Role in History of Culture. On the 23th Birth Anniversary of K.N. Batyushkov: Proc. Sci. Conf. (Vologda, May 29–30, 2017)]. Vologda, Vologd. Obl. Universal'naya Nauchn. B-ka. im. I.V. Babushkina, 2017, pp. 7–16. (In Russian)
24. Eliseeva O.I. The genre of idylle in A.A. Delvig's creative writing. In: Antichnye zhanry v razvitii russkoi literatury XVIII – XIX vv. [Ancient Genres in the Development of Russian Literature of the 18th – 19th Centuries]. Pt. 1. Petrozavodsk, Izd. PetrGU, 2014, pp. 66–86. (In Russian)
25. Ivanitskii A.I. Ontologiya morya v russkikh poeticheskikh sistemakh [The Ontology of Sea in Russian Poetic Systems]. Voronezh, Nauchn. Kn., 2014. 184p. (In Russian)
26. Fedoseeva E.N. Dialogicheskaya osnova russkoi liriki pervoi treti XIX veka [Dialogical Basis of Russian Lyrics of the First Third of the 19th Century]. Michurinsk, MGPI, 2009. 317 p. (In Russian)
27. Golovanova I.S. The concept of “wine” and the cult of friendship in Russian poetry of the pre-romanticists. Predromantizm i romantizm  mirovoi kul'ture: Materialy nauchn.-prakt. konf., posvyashch. 60-letiyu prof. I.V. Vershinina [Pre-Romanticism and Romanticism in the World Culture: Proc. Sci.-Pract. Conf. Devoted to the 60th Birth Anniversary of Professor I.V. Vershinin]. Vol. 2. Samara, SGPU, 2008, pp. 30–33. (In Russian)
28. Panich S. Feast images in G.R. Derzavin's artistic world. In: “Pir – eto luchshii obraz schast'ya”: Obrazy trapezy v bogoslovii i kul'ture [“Feast is the Best Lifestyle”: Images of Meal in Theology and Culture]. Moscow, 2016, pp. 129–142. (In Russian)
29. Yukhnova I.S. Denis Davydov: A myth-maker and a myth-buster. Literaturnoe obshchestvo “Arzamas”: Istoriya i sovremennost': Sb. tr. konf. [“Arzamas” Literary Society: History and Modern Age: Proc. Conf.]. Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod, Rastr, 2015, pp. 254–265. (In Russian)
30. Kolyshneva E.V. D. Davydov's love lyrics in the context of modern poetry. In: Klassitsizm i neoklassitsizm v russkoi literature XVIII – XIX vv. [Classicism and Neo-Classicism in Russian Literature of the 18th – 19th Centuries]. Petrozavodsk, Izd. PetrGU, 2012, no. 2, pp. 172–186. (In Russian)
31. Mann Yu.V. Poetika russkogo romantizma [Poetics of Russian Romanticism]. Moscow, Nauka, 1976. 375 p. (In Russian)

For citation: Pashkurov A.N. Russian Epicurean Romanticism: Worldview, motives, and poetics. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2018, vol. 160, no. 1, pp. 66–77. (In Russian)

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.