Selected essays / Viacheslav Ivanov ; translated from the Russian and with notes by Robert Bird ; edited and with an introduction by Michael Wachtel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ivanov, V. I. (Vi︠a︡cheslav Ivanovich), 1866-1949.

Contributor:

Bird, Robert, 1969-2020.

Wachtel, Michael.

Series:

Studies in Russian literature and theory

Standardized Title:

Essays. Selections. English

Language:

English

Russian

Subjects (All):

Symbolism (Literary movement)--Russia.

Symbolism (Literary movement).

Russia.

Physical Description:

xx, 328 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Evanston, Ill. : Northwestern University Press, 2001.

Summary:

A poet, critic, and theoretician during the Silver Age of Russian poetry, at the turn of the Twentieth century, Viacheslav Ivanov was dubbed "Viacheslav the Magnificent" by his contemporaries for his erudition, sumptuous and allusive poetry, and brilliant essays. He provided Russian Symbolism with theoretical underpinnings based on classical and biblical mythology, the aesthetics of music, philosophy ranging from Plato and Kant to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and a profound knowledge of classical and modern European poetry. In choosing material for this volume of essays, Robert Bird and Michael Wachtel have covered a broad range of Ivanov's interests: the aesthetics of Symbolism, theater, culturological concerns, and on such influential figures of the period as Nietzsche, Solovyov, Tolstoy, and Scriabin. Also included are extensive notes on the essays in which classical, biblical, and poetic citations and allusions are identified, the aesthetic and theoretical contexts are clarified, and certain translation problems are briefly discussed. This volume provides valuable insight into the theory of Symbolism as it developed in Russia.

Contents:

Part I. Symbolism

The Symbolics of Aesthetic Principles 5

Two Elements in Contemporary Symbolism 13

The Testaments of Symbolism 36

Thoughts on Symbolism 50

Manner, Persona, Style 59

On the Limits of Art 69

Part II. The Games of Melpomene

Presentiments and Portents: The New Organic Era and the Theater of the Future 95

Part III. On Cultural History

On the Joyful Craft and the Joy of the Spirit 113

On the Russian Idea 128

Ancient Terror: On Leon Bakst's Painting Terror Antiquus 144

On the Crisis of Humanism: Toward a Morphology of Modern Culture and the Psychology of Modernity 163

Part IV. Pilot Stars

Nietzsche and Dionysus 177

The Religious Task of Vladimir Solovyov 189

Lev Tolstoy and Culture 200

Scriabin's View of Art 211.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 230-317) and index.

"Bibliography of works in English by Viacheslav Ivanov": pages 319-320.

ISBN:

0810115220

OCLC:

45715058