Russia's Rome: Imperial Visions, Messianic Dreams, 1890—1940 by Judith E. Kalb (review)

Abstract

714 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO Andreyevna (for FedorovnaAndreyeva, pp. 43,245),Torporov(for Toporkov, pp. 70, 248), Kholkov(forKhokhlov,pp. 85, 86, 246), Turshkin, Leonard (p. 248), ^Jiizin (pp. 232, 242), Vishnyovovo (pp. 232, 240). There are wrong dates- 1924(for1925,pp. viii,98), 1936(for1926,p. 226 note42),9 (for15) October1933(pp. 109,226,227),1961(for1962,p. 230note45).Varyathrows thekeysdown in Act III, notAct IV (p. 16).The Lyric,Hammersmith is not in theWest End (pp. viii,98). Cookmanis transformed intoCookson (p-i35)jwhile J. L. Styan(pp. 9, 216note2) shouldbeJohnRussellBrown. 'Ranevskaya and hertrain'(p. 13)maysoundambiguous, sincetoytrains are mentioned on p. 11and railway trains on p. 14. Yet theseshortcomings form a relatively minor blemish upona matureand scholarly contribution to theperformance history of Vishnevyi sad. Bristol Gordon MgVay Kalb, Judith E. Russia's Rome:ImperialVisions, MessianicDreams,i8go-ig4O. University ofWisconsinPress,Madison,WI and London,2008. xiv + 299 pp. Illustrations. Notes.Index.$60.00. In Russia'sRome:ImperialVisions, MessianicDreams,i8go-ig4O, Judith E. Kalb analyseshow ancientRoman history is presented and reworked in Russian modernist literature. She discussesdifferent literary genresand devotesone chaptereach to lesser studiedworksby DmitriiMerezhkovskii, Valerii Briusov,Aleksandr Blok,ViacheslavIvanov and MikhailKuzmin. Mikhail Bulgakov's Master andMargarita is briefly dealtwithin theconclusion. These Russianauthorsdrawparallelsbetweentheircountry duringtheSilverAge and Rome,whichtheyunderstand bothas a symbol fortheRoman Empire and forWestern Christianity or Catholicism in particular. Theirworksdrew on andperpetuate theMoscow-Third Rome theory, whichpositsthatRome's religious and political glory was transferred to Constantinople after theGreat Schismof1054and from theretoMoscowafter theMuslimTurksconquered Constantinople in 1453. In herstimulating and thoroughly researched study, Kalb skilfully traces how thistheory survived bothRussia's 1905and 1917revolutions as wellas the ensuingSovietcensorship. Her thesisis thatthe authorsshe discusses createa Russian nationalidentity thatdrawslegitimacy, pride as well as messianic and imperialistic traits from thisassociation withRome. Kalb thus makesa contribution not onlyto literary analysis, but also to identity and religious studies, history and politicalscienceand demonstrates how interrelated thesefieldsare. This makesher monographinteresting forscholars froma variety ofdisciplines, althoughit is evidently written forexpertson literature. Russia's Rome deserves specialcredit forcontaining passageson thoseparts ofancient Romanhistory thatarerelevant totheliterary works discussed and forgoingbeyondthisparticular themebyproviding a richand informative analysis ofthesixauthors'viewson art,inter-human relations, religion, the REVIEWS 715 role of the intelligentsia in Russia's politicallife,revolution and politicsin general.Kalb highlights the similarities and differences betweenthe six authorsshe dealswithand often comparesthemto DmitriiMerezhkovskii's trilogy Christ andAntichrist, whichsheseesas theblueprint fortheotherpieces ofliterature. She also highlights theinfluence thattheGermanphilosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had on them. Kalb's workis also remarkable forthesmoothtransitions shemakesfrom one chapter tothenext.Her argument isstrengthened bytheuse ofa variety of sources,such as diaryentries, letters and notesthatthe authorsunder discussion wroteabouttheir works. Another positive pointis thatKalb demonstrates an appreciation forthe literature she analyseswithout losingher academicneutrality. She mentions howcritics havereceived theliterary works and acceptsthattheyare notperfect. The volume'snumerousillustrations roundoff thispieceofresearch. One ofthemonograph's weaknesses, however, isthatitcontains manyvery longsentences, whichare occasionally difficult to follow.Furthermore, it is questionable whether itwasnecessary tosqueezea short analysis ofBulgakov's famousnovelintotheconclusion rather thandevoting an entire chapterto it or leavingit out completely. This detourseemsto have been done at the expenseofa moredetailedconclusion totheotherthemes thataredeveloped in the researchchapters.Given that her hypothesis concernsRussian nationalidentity, a morecomprehensive conclusion to thelinksbetweenthe Moscow-Third Rometheory, Russianliterature and identity wouldhavebeen appropriate. Apartfrom this,PeterDuncan's Russian Messianismi Third Rome, HolyRevolution, Communism andAfter (London,2000) is unfortunately missing fromKalb's listofvolumesthattacklesimilartopics.Nevertheless, Russia's Romeis worthwhile readingforanybodywho is interested in the various facetsand historical development of Russiannationalidentity, imperialism and messianism. University ofErfurht, Germany Katja Richters Tynyanov, Yury.Young Pushkin: A Novel. TranslatedbyAnna KurkinaRush and Christopher Rush.AngelBooks,London,2007.xxiii+ 515pp. List ofcharacters. Familytrees.Notes.Appendix.£19.95. Readers ofthisjournalwillnotneed to be toldthatIuriiTynianovwas a majornovelist, one whocould(as he reportedly saidtoMaiakovskii) speakas onegreat powertoanother. ButtomostWestern readers heisoneofthemost influential theorists ofFormalism, theauthorofProblems ofVerse Language and Archaists andInnovators. Manywouldperhapsbe surprised thata Formalist, of all people,shouldhave devotedso muchenergy to writing novelswhichare atthesametimeessays inthe(for theFormalists) disreputable genreofliterary biography. Ofhisnarratives, Lieutenant Kizhe isperhapsthebestknown, thanks to Prokofiev, butitis hisgreattrilogy on writers oftheGoldenAge,Kiukhlia ...