PANEGYRIC TRADITIONS IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE 18TH CENTURY, PRECEDING THE FORMATION OF GAVRILA DERZHAVIN’S BATTLE ODE

Abstract

Gavrila Derzhavin’s creative work marked an important stage in the formation of Russian poetry. Raised in the works of previous generations of poets, Gavrila Derzhavin mastered the best samples of Russian and foreign solemn panegyric works, creating on their basis a special form of his own batal ode. What contributes to a full and deep understanding of the process of formation and development of Gavrila Derzhavin’s batal lyrics, is a study of the conception of the Russian odic tradition related to the time of Peter I. The place of poetry in the life of society had been rethought during this period; poetry had been rationalised at the service of the state. Poetry texts started to be used as musical and poetry accompaniment of holidays, solemn meetings of reigning persons or praise of military successes. Russian literature responded to this request by the appearance of various samples of solemn, panegyric poetry - cantos and other solemn poems. During the reign of Peter I, who were the most prominent representatives of the panegyric lyrics were Theophan Prokopovich (1681–1736), Stefan Yavorsky (1658–1722) and Dmitri Rostovsky (1651–1709). The chosen batal works of the above-mentioned authors as well as the batal lyrical poetry by Gavrila Derzhavin are the subject of research within the framework of this article. The numerous correspondences and elements of continuity between the panegyric cantos and the odes by Gavrila Derzhavin expressed in a similar system of allegorical image-symbols, as well as in orientation to antique specimens and to biblical motifs, are revealed in the comparative study of solemn panegyric works of batal subject matter and the batal ode of Gavrila Derzhavin.