The Decembrist Myth in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

From the moment of the uprising, the Decembrist myth developed in elite Russian society. It found its form through the literary culture, in allusions and veiled references. It spread through word of mouth and private correspondence among the Decembrists’ sympathizers. The myth was nurtured and fostered by the Decembrists themselves in their writings and their memoirs’ eventual publication. This chapter traces the Decembrist myth’s evolution in the nineteenth century among the intelligentsia, examining literary representations to see how the Decembrists’ image changed over time. Certain portrayals later became canonical and propagated the myth more widely. In the twentieth century, these canonical texts resurface in Soviet historical accounts, criticism and literature during the centennial.