Poslednii iz pushkinskoi pleiady: Tvorcheskii Portret by Aleksandr Pavlovich Rassadin (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 123 Rostovskii who allegedly imported the formal style of syllabic versification into Russia from Poland via Kiev (p. 74). The author postulates the specific influence of a Rusyn, Nikolai Orlai, on Gogol', especially on his story 'Strashnaiamest" (A TerribleVengeance') (p. 105), although Gogol', having included this story in his firstLittle Ukrainian collection Vechera nakhutore bliz Dikan'ki, treated the Carpathianregion as a part of his native (LittleRussian) culture. Overall, the book is a usefuladdition to the literaturegeneratedby Magosci and his disciples,and it benefitsfrom informativeendnotes and bibliography; however,itlacksHungarian-languagepublications.Forthegeneralreadership I can recommend only the empiricalpart of this study, especiallyits surveyof the literaryprocess in SubcarpathianRus' with its challenging perspectiveon socio-cultural and political events. The exposition of socio-linguisticissues is farless convincing. PaceUniversity, Newfork ANDRII DANYLENKO Rassadin, Aleksandr Pavlovich. Poslednii izpushkinskoi pleiady.Tvorcheskii Portret. Simbirskaia kniga, Ulianovsk, 2002. I99pp. Illustrations. Appendix. Bibliography.Index. Priceunknown. DURING the Soviet period the study of the nineteenth-century poet Nikolai Mikhailovich Iazykov (I803-46) was suppressed:his themes of wild student life and his support for the Slavophiles automatically excluded him from Soviet literary criticism. In the 197os, however, in the poet's native town of Ulianovsk (Simbirsk),researchinitiativeswere begun and stillcontinue today. Rassadin's study is an excellent example of what these initiatives have accomplished. The aim of the book, according to Rassadin, is to enlarge the figure of the poet in the context of his era (p. 6). The book provides an exciting picture of the poet's position amongst his contemporaries, drawing the reader into the study of what could be best described as the 'Iazykovphenomenon'. Indeed, much of Iazykov'swork contains unexplained elements that have kept critics busy for almost two centuries. Rassadin addresses these elements and surroundingcontroversy.The book isa compilation of essays(somepreviously published, some unpublished) that delve into these much-debated questions about Jazykov'slife and work. In the firstchapter,Rassadininvestigatesthe notoriousquestion of whether or not the poet was a great imitator. He admits that Konstantin Batiushkov's work greatly influenced the young poet during his 'Petersburgperiod', but through detailed textual analysishe proves that often Iazykov'sverses are not only original, but also contain hidden polemics drawingon the themes found in Batiushkov'spoems. Moreover, the beginning of Iazykov'screativelife was indeed a period of learning, and such a period is characteristicof everypoet's career. The second chapter investigates Iazykov's place on the Russian literary scene duringthe second quarterof the nineteenth century. Rassadin'ssources date from the poet's lifetime and from shortly after his death, providing I24 SEER, 84, I, 2006 valuable insight into how Iazykov'scontemporariesperceived and evaluated his work. The critic skilfully strings together the comments of Iazykov's admirers, such as P. Pletnev, with comments of those who judged the poet's poems negatively, such as N. Polevoi. Readers are reminded of Iazykov's immense popularity during his lifetime, when his poems were praised and memorized,just as they were also criticizedand dismissed. In the third chapter, Rassadin analyses lazykov's use of the word 'genius', which appears frequently in his poetry. For Iazykov this word had many meanings, some of them diametrically opposed to one another. Sometimes 'genius', as it appears in the poem 'Poet svoboden' (I822), is a traditional image symbolizing creative freedom, but more often it is a criterion for the poet's uniqueness and is not considered a gift, but a goal toward which the poet should strive. Inthefourthandfifthchapters,Rassadininvestigatestheproblematicnature of the Pushkin-Iazykovrelationship.ChapterfiveconsidersPushkin'sallusions to Iazykovin Evgenii Onegin. Chapterfourisperhapsthe most interestingin the book because of the very original approach and well-grounded standpoint Rassadin adopts. He claims that Iazykov perceived himself as poet who '[rejected]imitation and literarydecorum, exploringhis own truesignificance independently and equallywith [Pushkin]'(p. 129), which explains Iazykov's cold attitudetowardsPushkin. The book'sappendixisdividedinto threepartshighlightingthreeparticular issuesthat arisein Iazykov'sbiographyand work.Partone describesthe life of the poet's favouritesister,Ekaterinalazykova, thus expanding our knowledge of Iazykov'sprivatelife. In part two Rassadinemploys intertextualanalysisto argue that Iazykov could really be the prototype for Goncharov's Oblomov. In the thirdpart, Rassadin investigatesthe roots of one of the main themes in Iazykov'spoetry love for Mother Russia. Poslednii izpushkinskoi pleiadyis written in a simple yet elegant style and...