A Russian Sentimentalist: I.I. Dmitriev

Abstract

The 1750’s and 1760’s in Russian literature saw the rise of the classicist movement and, simultaneously, the first attempts to transplant sentimentalism on Russian soil. Early sentimenal literature was characterized by its many links to classicist traditions, particularly an emphasis on moralism and didacticism. In the course of the 1770’s sentimentalism changed and lost much of its earlier emphasis on moral instruction. The aesthetic aspects of sentimental emotions were now at the center of attention. A further development began in the last two decades of the century when preromantic literature appeared in Russia. Sentimentalism continued to exist during the first quarter of the new century, although it already had lost its role as an innovative force in literature before the turn of the century. Parodies on sentimental cliches appeared as early as the 1790’s.