Chekhov: Scenes from a Life by Rosamund s> Bartlett (review)

Abstract

310 SEER, 84, 2, 2006 exotic elements, although having greater appeal for the emerging reading public than Sumarokov's,failed to meet the court's taste despite his efforts. This ensured the pre-eminence of Sumarokov as the exemplary writer of tragedies. His renown as the 'northern Racine' is explained in 'Liubov' i politikav tragediiakhSumarokova(200i)' by the Russian court's eighteenthcentury view of a 'tendreRacine' opposed to the heroic Corneille. Two articleson Sumarokov'smediation of Boileau's L'Art poetique,'RusskiiBualo? EpistolaSumarokova"O stikhotvortse" v retsepsiisovremmenikov(1993)' and 'Sumarokov i Bualo: Epistola "O stikhotvorstve"i "Poeticheskoeiskusstvo" (I990)' explain how the differencein their social and historicalcontext meant that Sumarokovappearedas a shadow of his mentor, devoid of his authority. Boileau's urbanity and mild, witty satire flowed from the communicative norms cultivatedby his salonsociety. Russian court society, albeit aping European externals,differedlittle in its culturalbehaviourfrom the rude mass. So Sumarokovis hectoring in tone, imposing rules and displayingsatiricvencim. The meticulous and sympathetic analysis of both French and German originals and their Russian offspring is a constant feature of these articles and remains so in the concluding third section. Maikov is the pivotal figure, representedby two articles'K problematikei spetsifikerusskogoklassitsizma: ody VasiliiaMaikova(I987)', co-authoredwith V. M. Zhivov,and 'Buntprotiv maner: "Elisey,ili RazdrazhennyyVakkh"V. I. Maikova (2000)'. It is argued that howevermuch Maikovwished to followhis predecessors'classicalcanons, he could not escape the influence of pre-classicalnative traditions.This duality , of which writerswere unaware,was the key element in the specificnational formof Russianclassicism.Furtherfissuresin the classicaledificeareidentified in 'Bogdanovich i ego "Dushen'ka" (2002)' with its folk elements, and 'Literaturai politika: "Nedorosol"' Fonvizina (2003)' in which Starodumr's tirades could be taken not only as a political scandal, but also, in the light of classical norms, an aesthetic outrage. The collection concludes with two articleson Derzhavin:'Religiiai Prosveshchenie:Oda Derzhavina "Bog"'and 'Poet-Samokhval:"Pamiatnik"Derzhavina i status poeta v russkoi kul'ture XVIII veka (2004)' which review the self-imageof most of the writersfiguring in this collection and demonstrate again Klein's sure understanding of relative culturalcontexts and stylisticnuances. Bangor W. GARETHJONEiS Bartlett,Rosamund. Chekhov: Scenes froma Life.Free Press,London, 2004. xxxii + 395 pp. Illustrations.Maps. Chronology. Notes. Bibliography.Index. /J20.00. OF the three books enterprisinglypublished by Rosamund Bartlett in the writer'scentenaryyear, Chekhov: Scenes froma Lifeis the most unusual, original and, ultimately,the most essential.In comparison,her other two offerings-AntonChekhov : A Lifein Letters (London, 2004), renderedjointly with Anthony Phillips,and a selection of Chekhov'sprose entitledAbout LoveandOther Stories REVIEWS 3II (Oxford and New York, 2004) are estimable,but not indispensable,works of translation. Chekhov: Scenesfrom a Lifeis somethingaltogetherdifferent.It does not aspire to be a full-blooded,comprehensivebiography,in the circumstantialmanner of a David Magarshack, Ernest J. Simmons, Ronald Hingley or Donald Rayfield. Bartlett'sbook is more of a topographicalbiography (or 'topobiography '), an impressionisticor cinematic portrayal of the various locales in which Chekhov'slife unfolded and againstwhich his life'sexperience needs to be measured and appreciated.Such 'backdrops'as Taganrog and the steppe, Moscow, summers at the dacha in NewJerusalem and Luka, St Petersburg, Sakhalin,Melikhovo,Nice, Yalta and Badenweileremerge in vivid focus, and Chekhov is viewed in their midst less fully and chronologicallyless coherently than in a traditionalbiographyyet, to compensate for this, in fresh and sometimes unexpected relief. Instead of gazing in at Chekhov, it is as if we become Chekhov himself, gazing out at his surroundings. The author clearly defines her motives and her aims at the outset. 'If it is difficultfor us to penetrateChekhov'scharacterthroughhis relationshipswith people because of his inscrutabilityand reserve,perhaps our emphasisshould be shiftedto his relationshipwith the places in which he lived?This biography thereforetakesas its point of departureChekhov'sphysicalenvironment [...] The aim of each chapter is to convey the texture of Chekhov'slife in each of the places in which he lived or spent significantamounts of time, and in so doing shed light on differentaspectsof his character.This book is a biography of Chekhov, and more specificallyhis creativespirit,but it is also a biography of the places in which he lived and worked, and an exploration of how they relate to his short storiesand plays' (p. xvii). It would be absurdto demand...