A. Y. Ariev. Following the slow and golden eagle: On Petersburg poetry (E. Sharygina (Novikova), V. Novikov)

Abstract

The review deals with a book devoted to Petersburg poetry and its connections to the 20th-c. history. Andrey Ariev believes that profound humanity is the dominant feature of Petersburg literature. He also considers the Russian intelligentsia tradition yet another Petersburg phenomenon. Ariev specially dwells on the poetic tradition of Tsarskoye Selo. The author discusses works by Blok, Mandelstam, G. Ivanov, Adamovich, and Nabokov, focusing on the poets’ creative interaction, as well as conflicts and polemic episodes. Ariev also sketches portraits of his poetic contemporaries, D. Bobyshev, V. Sosnora, A. Kushner, and S. Stratanovsky.