Russian Literature - Research Paper Example

Russian Literature Introduction The heritage, culture and aesthetic perspectives of Russia as a nation have been great since ages. Literature with its vast canon and wider implications falls under the broad head of cultural phenomenon. Russian Literature refers to the literature that has basically evolved from the Russian language. Also, the literatures of many independent nations which were part of the Soviet Union or Russia historically also fall under the broad head of the term ‘Russian Literature’. Before the onset of the nineteenth century, the seeds of the Russian literature were sown and harvested by the renowned playwrights and poets like Alexander Blok, Sergei Yesenin, Anna Achmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, Joseph Brodsky, Vladimir Mayakovsky and prose writers like Ivan Bunin, Vladimir Nabokov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrey Platonov, Vassily Grossman and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Waliszewski, K., “A History of Russian Literature”). The history of Russian literature is quite old and the ‘Old Russian Literature’ includes masterpieces produced in old Russian languages. Many anonymous works illuminate the history of the Russian literature during this era and the works like ‘The Tale of Igor’s Campaign’ and ‘Playing of Daniel the Immured’. The popular entity by the name of “Lives of Saints” evolved as a distinct genre of literature in Russian language during this period. ‘Life of Alexander Nevsky’ stands as an exemplary creation of this era. Old epics blended with the literary elements and traditions of Christian and Pagan elements illuminate the literary pieces of this period. Medieval Russian literature bears religious overtones in excess and the adaptations from Church Slavonic languages with major influences from many South Slavic elements have been widely incorporated in the literature during this period. The Golden Age of the Russian Literature refers to the literary creations during the nineteenth century Russian literature. Romanticism gusted with its steady flow into the regime thereby flowering the canon with its unfathomable depth and exotic fragrance. In this age, the Russian literature witnessed a major thematic implementation in most of its production. Suicide happens to be an infallible theme of all the major works of the period and needs a wider exposition in this regard. Thesis Statement The essay intends to explore and discuss the major theme of suicide is pertinent in almost all the works of the “Golden Age” of the Russian literature of the nineteenth century evolving as a distinct cultural dimension dissipating men and women in the society. Golden Age of Russian Literature and the Theme of Suicide Nineteenth century literature in Russia is also known by the name of “Golden Era” of literature in Russian language. Romanticism inspired poetry and the names of the luminaries like Vasily Zhukovsky and afterwards his protégé Alexander Pushkin came into prominence. Pushkin instrumented both crystallization and manifestation of innovative parameters of artistic excellence and artistry in Russian literature. His most popular novel written in verse form is “Eugene Onegin”. This precise period in Russian literature witnessed the evolution of a fresh new set of poetic talents in the works of Mikhail Lermontov, Yevgeny Baratynsky, Konstantin Batyushkov, Nikolay Nekrasov, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Fyodor Tyutchev and Afanasy Fet. All these poets followed the creative style of Pushkin and are known in the history of Russian literature as his ardent followers. In the domain of prose, considerable contribution was notified during this period and keeping parity with the development of poetry, prose was also flourishing its canon well. The great Russian novelist of this period was Nikolai Gogol and following him were the names of the luminaries like Nikolai Leskov, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, who appeared in the monumental history of Russian literature during this era. All of these writers displayed their extreme expertise on short stories and novels and Ivan Goncharov evolved as a prolific novelist of the era. Also, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, followed by the achievements of their precursors, very fast took the Russian literature to a new level where these writers got international acceptance and literature became famous world-wide. In the second half of the century, the canon was illuminated by the works and esteemed presence of the short story writer, Anton Chekov. He excelled all the limits of artistry in manipulating the reflection of life, age, time and society in his timeless short stories and within no time he also achieved the accreditation of the greatest dramatist of the period. Theme of Suicide in the Russian Literature of Nineteenth Century Amid all the growth and developments that enriched the literature of Russia and took it to a new level, the literatures of the period precisely displayed a consistent and pertinent play of the theme of suicide in its stories and novels. Also, this theme became a parameter of gender discrimination which was evident in the society and found its obvious display through the text of this period. The theme displayed different receptions a man and a woman get from the society after committing suicide. A woman can never be highly regarded or called a martyr like a man if she commits a suicide but a woman can always find a place to surrender herself if she finds that her love is unfulfilled and she has no one to protect her around paving her to become a victim of the social malevolence. This theme and agenda found place in the literature of the nineteenth century in Russia largely (Higonnet, M. “Suicide: Representations of the Feminine in the Nineteenth Century”). Many of the heroines from the nineteenth century Russian literature were the victims of suicide and at the same time, they fell into the cruel clutches of the lifestyle of St. Petersburg during the period. And this was the base on which the justification for the delineation of the theme of suicide in Russian literature and society as well was framed. St. Petersburg was a city that was conceived more with the western ideas and the traditional Russian ideals lacked in the city as it was accused by the followers of Russian tradition as a means of imparting western life to the people of Russia from where the ideas like committing suicide and achieving nobility amalgamated thereby instigating nobility of suicide among the contemporary citizens (Morrissey, S. “Patriarchy on Trial: Suicide, Discipline, and Governance in Imperial Russia”). Novels which were set against the backdrop of Moscow like ‘Anna Karenina’ and ‘Bednaia Liza’ (which means Poor Girl in English) displayed a major trend of female suicide which hinted at a weaker perspective of character and only because these characters were women. Emotionally moved, these female characters found their only refuge or means of escape through suicide. These examples of suicides have no other deeper implications other than drawing popularity and familiarity of a precise genre in Russian literature that indicates the deviation of the interest from the Western novels to a new set of novels with its plots set against the backdrop of Moscow (Lilly, “Imperial Petersburg, Suicide, Russian Literature”). On the other hand, the novels set against the backdrop of St. Petersburg, visualised the suicide of the male protagonist as can be viewed as in the novel of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Crime and Punishment”. This came up as opposing themes to the suicide of females in the earlier series of novels. The Petersburg texts, on the other hand, displayed the situation of the female characters as consumed and devastated by love and tortures of the society which led them to financial crisis and forced them to take up prostitution as their professions. Destruction of feminine attributes and theme of prostitution became a mark of popular culture during this era. Another connection of the suicides of the heroes from the St. Petersburg text was set with that of the heroes from the classical Greek and Roman tragedies and women served to be the stereotypes and archetypal epitomes of femininity thereby symbolising the microcosmic situation of the women folk prevalent in the contemporary society. But the death of the protagonists of the novels like “Nevskii Prospekt” by Nikolai Gogol or “Svistul’kin” by Dmitry Grigorovich encountered a solitary death all left alone by their comrades during their hour of death and after their death, in their faint remembrances as well. The theme of suicide remained a very pertinent theme in the literature of Russia until the break-out of Russian Revolution in 1917. Conclusion With all its spectacular phenomena and reflections of society, Russian literature stands out ever distinct features and characteristics as the monumental incarnation of life, love, artistry and exuberance. The timeless creation of the masterpieces in Russian Literature with the course of time transcended the barriers of nation, language and class to emancipate and liberate all the ideas captivated within the parochialism of national literature to a global paradigm. References Higonnet, M. “Suicide: Representations of the Feminine in the Nineteenth Century”. Poetics Today, 1985. Lilly, I. K. “Imperial Petersburg, Suicide, Russian Literature”. The Slavonic and Eastern European Review, 1994. Morrissey, S. “Patriarchy on Trial: Suicide, Discipline, and Governance in Imperial Russia”. The Journal of Modern History, 2003. Waliszewski, K., A History of Russian Literature. Kessinger Publishing, 2005. Read More