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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.
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About the author
VIACHESLAV IVANOV (1866-1949) is considered the preeminent thinker of Russia's Symbolist movement and an influential figure in prerevolutionary Russian culture. While abroad as a scholar, Ivanov met Lidia Dimitrievna Zinovieva-Annibal, the woman who would inspire much of his work, and gave up a career in academia to be a poet. In 1924 he left the USSR and settled in Rome, where he died in 1949.
ROBERT BIRD (1969-2020) was professor of Russian literature and film at the University of Chicago. He was the author of books on Fyodor Dostoevsky, Viacheslav Ivanov, and Andrei Tarkovsky, and published widely on the aesthetics of Russian modernism.
MICHAEL WACHTEL is professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University. He is the author of
Russian Symbolism and Literary Tradition and
The Development of Russian Verse.
Summary
A poet, critic and theoretician during the Silver Age of Russian poetry, Viacheslav Ivanov was praised for his erudition, sumptuous and elusive poetry and brilliant essays. This volume covers a range of Ivanov's interests, including the aesthetics of Symbolism, theatre and culturalogical concerns.
