Female images in the Russian romantic prose: mythopoetic keys

About the author:

Galina Yu. Zavgorodnyaya,, Dr. Sc. (Philology), Professor, Department of Russian Classical Literature and Slavic Studies, Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing, Moscow, Russia
galina-yuz@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4830-4797

Abstract:

This article studies the semantics, artistic functionality, and the genesis of female images in the Russian romantic prose. The purpose is to characterize the mythopoetic origins of female images in romantic prose, to identify its fantastic component, and to draw a conclusion on the ideological and stylistic priorities of the literary era of the first third of the 19th c. The research material includes A. Pushkin’s story A Secluded House on Vasilyevsky, as recorded by V. Titov (1829), M. Zagoskin’s novel The Tempter (1838), and V. Odoevsky’s story Cosmorama (1840). The methods used are historical-genetic, comparative-typological, and cultural-historical methods. As the results show, a similar plot scheme can be identified in all the works, going back to The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn. In female images, parallels were discovered with two spiritually opposed images — the Virgin Mary and the temptress. Besides this, the analysis has shown the presence of features of the Gnostic images of Sophia the Wisdom and the Fallen Sophia; additionally, there are references to the religious and mystical works of J. Pordage and J. Boehme, as well as the Masonic treatises (primarily by I. Lopukhin). The author draws conclusions on the non-conflict coexistence of Christian and Gnostic meanings in the space of the analyzed prose, as well as the importance of the artistic embodiment of the idea of the hero’s spiritual transformation, which is significant for romantic aesthetics. It is this task that largely determines both the figurative system (female heroines serve as both guides and temptresses on the path of transformation) and the fantasy’s main features.

References:

Böhme, J. (1994). Christosophia, or the Path to Christ. A-cad: TOO “Asta-press”. [In Russian]

Benevich, Gr. (2001). The paths of Russian Sophiology from Fonvizin to the nun Maria. In Т. V. Artemyeva & M. I. Mikeshin (Eds.), Filosofskiy vek. Al’manakh. Vol. 17. Istoriya idey kak metodologiya gumanitarnykh issledovaniy. Chast’ 1. Materialy mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii (Sankt-Peterburg, 27–30 sentyabrya 2001) [Philosophy Age. Almanac. Vol. 17. History of Ideas as a Methodology of Humanitarian Research. Part 1. Proceedings of the International Confeference (St. Petersburg, Sep. 27–30, 2001)] (pp. 232–239). Sankt-Peterburgskiy Tsentr Istorii Idey. [In Russian]

Berdiaev, N. (1930). From sketches about J. Böhme. Study II. The doctrine of Sophia and the androgyne by J. Böhme and Russian sophiological movements. In Put’ [The Path] (Vol. 21, pp. 34–63). [In Russian]

Bolotov, V. V. (2001). Collection of Church Historical Works in 8 vols. Vol. 3: Lectures on the History of the ancient church. History of the Church before Constantine the Great. Martis. [In Russian]

Vayskopf, М. (2012). The Demiurge in Love: Metaphysics and Eroticism of Russian Romanticism. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. [In Russian]

Vatsuro, V. Е. (1969). Literary and philosophical problems of Karamzin’s story “The Island of Bornholm.” In P. N. Berkov, G. P. Makogonenko, & I. Z. Serman (Eds.), XVIII vek. Sb. 8. Derzhavin i Karamzin v literaturnom dvizhenii XVIII–nachala XIX v. [18th c. Vol. 8. Derzhavin and Karamzin in the Literary Movement of the 18th–early 19th c.] (pp. 190–209). Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. Retrieved Jan. 16, 2024, from http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=6041 [In Russian]

Vatsuro, V. Е. (2000). Sofia: notes on the margins of Cosmorama by V. F. Odoevsky. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, (42), 161–168. Retrieved Jan. 16, 2025, from https://magazines.gorky.media/nlo/2000/2/sofiya-zametki-na-polyah-kosmoramy-v-f-odoevskogo.html?ysclid=m03vhkp374523175726[In Russian]

Vatsuro, V. Е. (2002). Gothic Novel in Russia. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. [In Russian]

Vinogradov, V. V. (1982). The plot of a demon in love in the works of Pushkin and in the story of Tit Kosmokratov (V. P. Titov) “A Secluded House on Vasilievsky.” In Ya. L. Levkovich (Ed.), Pushkin: Issledovaniya i materialy [Pushkin: Studies and Proceedings] (Vol. 10, pp. 121–146). Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. Retrieved Jan. 16, 2025, from https://feb-web.ru/feb/pushkin/serial/isa/isa-121-.htm [In Russian]

Grigoryev, A. A. (1980). Aesthetics and Criticism. Iskusstvo. [In Russian]

Demkova, N. S., Likhachev, D. S., & Panchenko, A. M. (1970). Main trends in fiction of the 17th c. In Ya. S. Lurie (Ed.), Istoki russkoy belletristiki: Vozniknovenie zhanrov syuzhetnogo povestvovaniya v drevnerusskoy literature [The Origins of Russian Fiction: The Emergence of Genres of Narrative Storytelling in Old Russian Literature] (476–561). Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. [In Russian]

Ephimovskiy, A. (1837). Discourse, Which Sets Forth the Doctrine of the Church Fathers of the Three First Centuries of Christianity on the Deity of the Son of God, Written by Athanasius Efimovsky, a Student of the Moscow Theological Academy. Sinodal’naya tipografiya. [In Russian]

Zagoskin, M. N. (1902). Tempter. A Novel with Drawings. Izdanie knigoprodavtsa M. V. Klyukina. [In Russian]

Iriney Lionskiy. (2008). Against Heresies. Proof of the Apostolic Preaching. Izdatel’stvo Olega Abyshko. [In Russian]

Yonas, G. (1998). Gnosticism. Lan. [In Russian]

Kara-Murza, A. A. (2016). Swiss Wanderings of Nikolai Karamzin (1789–1790). Akvilon. [In Russian]

Karamzin, N. M. (1848). Works in 3 vols. (Vol. 3. Novellas and Other Works). Izdatel’stvo A. Smiridina. [In Russian]

Karamzin, N. M. (1984). Letters of a Russian Traveler, 1789–1790. Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. [In Russian]

Cyril of Jerusalem, archbishop (2010). Catechetical and Secret Teachings. Blagovest. [In Russian]

Lopukhin, I. V. (1913). Masonic Works of I. V. Lopukhin. Tipografiya A. I. Mamontova. [In Russian]

Lotman, Yu. M. (1998). The Creation of Karamzin. Molodaya gvardiya. [In Russian]

Odoevskiy, V. F. (1840). Cosmorama. Otechestvennye zapiski, 8, section 3 “Slovesnost.” Gutenbergova tipografiya. [In Russian]

Pordage, J. (1787). Divine and True Metaphysics, or the Wondrous and Experience-acquired Knowledge of Invisible and Eternal Things. Taynaya masonskaya tipografiya. [In Russian]

Pushkin, A. S., & Titov, V. P. (1980). Secluded House on Vasilyevsky. In V. Sakharov (Ed.), Russian Romantic Story (pp. 159–180). Sovetskaja Rossija. [In Russian]

Pypin, A. N. (1916). Russian Freemasonry: XVIII and first quarter of the XIX century. Оgni. [In Russian]

Remizov, A. M. (1951). Possessed. Savva Grudtsyn and Solomonia. Opleshnik. [In Russian]

Sakulin, P. N. (1913). From the History of Russian Idealism. Prince Vl. Odoevsky. Thinker. Writer. Vol. 1. Part 1. Izdanie M. i S. Sabashnikovyh. [In Russian]

Sakharov, V. (1996). Russian Freemasonry and the idea of Gnosticism. In Т. B. Vsekhsviatskaya & A. G. Petrov (Eds.), Rossija i gnozis: Materialy konferencii 26–27 marta 1996 goda [Russia and Gnosis: Proceedings of the Conference March 26–27, 1996] (pp. 11–19). Rudomino. [In Russian]

Sokolovskaja, T. O. (1991). Rituals of free masons. In S. Smolyanitsky (Ed.), Freemasonry in Its Past and Present in 2 vols. (Vol. 2; reprint. ed.). IKPA. [In Russian]

Tomashevsky, B. V. (1979). Notes. In A. S. Pushkin, Complete Works in 10 vols. (Vol. 9, pp. 375–384). Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie. [In Russian]

Shcherbatova, I. F. (2017). N. M. Karamzin’s choice. Vox: jelektronnyj filosofskij zhurnal, 23. https://doi.org/10.24411/2077-6608-2017-00030 [In Russian]