Napoleon in the Russian Imaginary

The Idea of the Great Man in the Works of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Merezhkovsky, and Evgenii Tarle

Gary Rosenshield (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

244 Seiten

2023
Lexington Books/Fortress Academic (Verlag)
978-1-6669-2522-7 (ISBN)

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Napoleon today is still a figure who fascinates both his admirers and detractors because of his seminal role in European history at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries, straddling the French Revolution and the enormous empire that he fashioned through military conquest. Napoleon in the Russian Imaginary focuses on the response of Russia's greatest writers—poets, novelists, critics, and historians—to the idea of "Great Man" as an agent of transformational change as it manifests itself in the person and career of Napoleon. After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815 and his subsequent exile to St. Helena, in much of Europe a re-evaluation of Napoleon's person, stature, and historical significance occurred, as thinkers and writers witnessed the gradual reestablishment of repressive regimes throughout Europe. This re-evaluation in Russia would have to wait until Napoleon's death in 1821, but when it came to pass, it continued to occupy the imagination of Russia's greatest writers for over 130 years. Although Napoleon's invasion of Russia and subsequent defeat had a profound effect on Russian culture and Russian history, for Russian writers what was most important was the universal significance of Napoleon’s desire for world conquest and the idea of unbridled ambition which he embodied. Russian writers saw this, for good or ill, as potentially determining the spiritual and moral fate of future generations. What is particularly fascinating is their attempt to confront each other about this idea in a creative dialogue, with each succeeding writer addressing himself and responding to his predecessor and predecessors.

Gary Rosenshield is professor emeritus of Slavic languages and Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: A Tale of Two Tyrants: Napoleon and Alexander in Pushkin's Pre-Exile Poetry

Chapter Two: Pushkin and the Great Man: Napoleon Re-Imagined

Chapter Three: Napoleon and Hero Worship: Tolstoy and War and Peace

Chapter Four: History and the Great Man: Tolstoy and War and Peace

Chapter Five: Napoleon as Superman: Dostoevsky and Crime and Punishment

Chapter Six: Merezhkovsky and Napoleon: Re-creating the Myth of the Great Man

Chapter Seven: Erasing Napoleon: Eugene Tarle, Russian Literature, and Soviet Historiography

Afterword: Napoleon, the Great Man, and the Idea of History

Bibliography

About the Author

Erscheinungsdatum	16.02.2023
Reihe/Serie	Crosscurrents: Russia's Literature in Context
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 238 mm
Gewicht	535 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-10	1-6669-2522-5 / 1666925225
ISBN-13	978-1-6669-2522-7 / 9781666925227
Zustand	Neuware