Russian Symbolism

I. Arose as a reaction to realism and positivism.
II. Influenced by the French Symbolists

A) Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Stephane Mallarme, Stephane Rimbaud
B) Shares many of the decadent elements of French Symbolism, but more metaphysical.

III. Develops under the influence of the ideas of the philosopher, Vladimir Solovyov.

A) Godmanhood
B) Sophia (Eternal Feminine)
C) Theocracy
D) Pan-Mongolism

IV. First Generation

A) Konstantin Balmont (1867-1942)

1. Long, complex lines of verse.
2. Believed in the power of inspiration over the power of reason.
3. Knew many languages and was well-traveled.  Wrote about "exotic" places.
4. Lived in France from 1920-1942.

B) Fyodor Sologub (pseudonym for Teternikov) (1863-1927)

1. Wrote poetry and prose.
2. Most famous for the novel, The Petty Demon.
3. Stories often deal with unfortunate children.
4. Poems are metaphysical in nature.
5. Writes about the power of fantasy/the imagination to transcend "reality."

C) Zinaida Hippius (Gippius) (1869-1945)

1. Believed that art should focus on the spiritual.
2. Apocalyptic thematics.
3. Strongly anti-Bolshevik.
4. Lives abroad after 1919.

D) Valerii Briusov (1873-1924)

1. Verse is more like 19th Century verse than that of other symbolists.
2. Translated French symbolists into Russian.
3. Influenced the younger generation of symbolists greatly.

V. The Younger Generation

A) Alexander Blok (1880-1921)

1. Early verse is characterized by a fascination with the "beautiful woman"/"eternal feminine"
2. Early verse has been characterized as "lyric" or "romantic"
3. The most "musical" of the symbolist poets.
4. His poems become increasingly conerned with social and political issues.
5. Also wrote plays in verse in 1906.

a. The Puppet Show Booth
b. The Rose and the Cross

6. Most famous poetic works

a. Verses about a Beautiful Lady (1904)
b. "The Stranger" (1906)
c. "The Twelve (1918)
d. "Scythians" (1918)

7. Supported the revolution, but seemed to be crushed by its nature.

B) Andrei Bely (pseudonym of Boris Bugaev) (1880-1934)

1. Very active in writing poetry, prose, and theoretical works.
2. Believed music to be the highest form of art.
3. His poems are often innovative stylistically.
4. Prose works

a. Symphonies (1899-1908)
b. The Silver Dove (1910)
c. Petersburg (1916/1922)
d. Kotik Letaev (1922)
e. The Baptized Chinaman (1922)

5. Most famous poem is "Christ is Risen." (1918)

C) Viacheslav Ivanov (1866-1949)

1. Heavily influenced by classical literature (Ancient Greece and Rome)
2. Complex poetry both in style and in content.
3. Felt that art is the human struggle to achieve the divine.
4. Ran the literary salon, "The Tower" in St. Petersburg.
5. Translated classical and modern poets into Russian.
6. Lived in Italy from 1924-1949.
7. Main theorist among the symbolists.