"Zhukovsky is our true brother": Nikolay M. Karamzin and Vasily A. Zhukovsky (on the problem of Karamzin and his circle)

Abstract

The work is aimed at solving a topical research problem of establishing and maximally describing Karamzin’s circle. The article examines the relationship of the historiographer with Vasily A. Zhukovsky. To prepare an entry about Vasily A. Zhukovsky for the Nikolay M. Karamzin and His Circle reference dictionary, the author identified and systematized the available documentary evidence concerning the contacts of the poet and the historiographer. Based on a large number of sources, the author traces the history of their communication from the moment of acquaintance in 1800 to their last meeting in May 1826. She also considers facts reflecting Zhukovsky’s actions aimed at preserving the memory of Karamzin. The author notes the friendly nature of their relationship, highlights its significance for both Zhukovsky and Karamzin, and concludes that they both had a great influence on each other’s life and work. The facts confirming the closeness of Karamzin’s and Zhukovsky’s worldviews and behavioral strategies are considered separately. The historiographer and the poet had similar attitudes to life. Karamzin was significant in Zhukovsky’s behavioral discourse throughout his life: the poet regularly refers to Karamzin’s philosophemes when formulating maxims of his own life philosophy. Examples of Zhukovsky’s and Karamzin’s similar behavioral strategies are their statements regarding participation in the polemic, testimonies by their contemporaries. The author also emphasizes the historical and ideological role of the historiographer and the poet as courtiers, and mentions the continuity between the behavioral text of the monarch and the citizen formed by Karamzin and the imperial text of Zhukovsky. Based on the surviving letters of Karamzin to Zhukovsky, as well as the epistolary works of their closest friends, the author reconstructs the images of the poet and the historiographer in their perception of each other. Karamzin saw Zhukovsky as a truly close person, and Zhukovsky perceived the historiographer as a father and a friend, an evangelist and a mentor. In conclusion, the author notes that the poet played a significant role in the formation of the Karamzin myth. The poet sacralized the historiographer, which was based on both Zhukovsky’s sincere love for Karamzin and the idea of the historical and cultural significance of a person like Karamzin. Idealizing the historiographer, Zhukovsky constructed his image under his own pedagogical and educational program, bringing to the fore ethical personal qualities that were particularly significant for him.