Three Metaphors for Life Derzhavins Late Poetry [Hardcover]

The poetry of Gavrila Derzhavin is a monument to that which could be read, heard, and, most important,seenin the two centuries in which he lived. The Palladian villa he occupied, the British service placed on the table before him, the English spinning machine put to use on his estate, and even the optical devices, such as the telescope, magic lantern, and camera obscura, which populated his home: Tatiana Smoliarova restores Derzhavins visual environment through minute textual clues, inviting the reader to consider how such impressions informed and shaped his thinking and writing, countering the conservative, Russophile ideology he shared in his later years. In examining the poetics, aesthetics, and politics of Derzhavins poems written in the early nineteenth century,Three Metaphors for Lifemakes us see this period as a chapter in the contradictory development of Russian modernityat once regressive and progressive, resistant to social reform, insistent on a distinctly Russian historical destiny, yet enthusiastically embracing technological and industrial innovations and exploring new ways of thinking, seeing, and feeling.This monograph explores this coexistence of archaist and innovator in the figure of late Derzhavin, Russian patriot and profoundly European artist.Three Metaphors for Lifeis a fascinating, well-researched and well-written study of the late Derzhavin which brings new insight into his place in Russian literature, politics, philosophy and society. Whats more, it carefully connects Derzhavin to the intellectual, philosophical, poetic and scientific currents of his time, demonstrating that he is not merely an essential figure in the Russian enlightenment, but has significant contributions to make as a European intellectual. Smoliarova is a seasoned scholar, with bona fides in comparative European intellectual history and literature. Her bibliography is deep and current, and her voice is authoritative and truly erudite. With commlӤ