Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, kdushenko@nln.ru
The article compares the images of St. Petersburg and Peter I in the «Dziady» («Forefathers’ Eve») of Mickiewicz and the «Bronze Horseman» of Pushkin. In the «Dziady» freedom, civilization, and Christian idealism personify Poland as part of the West; barbarism, despotism, and the cult of power personify Russia and the Russian state embodied in the image of St. Petersburg. Mickiewicz depicts the absurdity, non-originality, inharmoniousness of St. Petersburg as a consequence of its artificial, strong-willed origin; Pushkin depicts the beauty and harmony of the city as a triumph of conscious creative design. At the same time, he develops and transforms a number of key images of the «Dziady» including the image of a galloping bronze horseman.
«Dziady» («Forefathers’ Eve»); «The Bronze Horseman»; Peter I; urbanism in literature; historiosophy of Russia; Enlightenment; romanticism; civilization
Download textFor citing: Dushenko K.V. Two Peters and two Petersburgs: Mickiewicz and Pushkin // Human being: Image and essence. Humanitarian aspects. Moscow: INION RAN, 2019. Vol. 5 (40): Special issue, pp. 202-234. DOI: 10.31249/chel/2019.05.00