Russia's Rome : imperial visions, messianic dreams, 1890-1940 / Judith E. Kalb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kalb, Judith E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russian literature--19th century--Classical influences.

Russian literature.

Russian literature--20th century--Classical influences.

Imperialism in literature.

National characteristics, Russian, in literature.

Rome--In literature.

Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A wide-ranging study of empire, religious prophecy, and nationalism in literature, Russia's Rome: Imperial Visions, Messianic Dreams, 1890-1940 provides the first examination of Russia's self-identification with Rome during a period that encompassed the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 and the rise of the Soviet state. Analyzing Rome-related texts by six writers - Dmitrii Merezhkovskii, Valerii Briusov, Aleksandr Blok, Viacheslav Ivanov, Mikhail Kuzmin, and Mikhail Bulgakov - Judith E. Kalb argues that the myth of Russia as the "Third Rome" was resurrected to create a Rome-based discourse of Russian national identity that endured even as the empire of the tsars declined and fell and a new state replaced it. Russia generally finds itself beyond the purview of studies concerned with the ongoing potency of the classical world in modern society. Slavists, for their part, have only recently begun to note the influence of classical civilization not only during Russia's neo-classical eighteenth century but also during its modernist period. With its interdisciplinary scope, Russia's Rome fills a gap in both Russian studies and scholarship on the classical tradition, providing valuable material for scholars of Russian culture and history, classicists, and readers interested in the classical heritage.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration and Translations

Introduction: Rome Envy

1. The Blueprint: Dmitrii Merezhkovskii's Christ and Antichrist

2. Relinquishing Empire? Valerii Briusov's Roman Novels

3. A"Roman Bolshevik": Aleksandr Blok's "Catiline" and the Russian Revolution

4. The Third Rome in Exile: Refitting the Pieces in Viacheslav Ivanov's "Roman Sonnets"

5. Emperors in Red: The Poet and the Court in Mikhail Kuzmin's Death of Nero

Conclusion: Bulgakov and Beyond

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612788321

9781282788329

1282788329

9780299229238

0299229238

OCLC:

698613214