Pop Art and Literature

Katerina Akhmakova in Dostoevsky's “Teenager”
To the unearthly friend of his, Sofia Andreevna, the main character of the “Teenager” Versilov faces a bright face. Dark, he turned to the earth of his love - Katerina…

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Afanasy Nikitin "Going beyond three seas"
“Going beyond the three seas of Afanasy Nikitin” (see its full text) - a description by a 15th century Russian man of his journey to far India.Afanasy Nikitin was a…

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Katerina Akhmakova in Dostoevsky's “Teenager”
To the unearthly friend of his, Sofia Andreevna, the main character of the “Teenager” Versilov faces a bright face. Dark, he turned to the earth of his love - Katerina…

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“The Tale” by Abraham Palitsyna

The famous figure of the Time of Troubles, Avraham Palitsyn, described the circumstances of protection from the Polish troops of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and his personal exploits in a work entitled: “The Legend of the Troitsky Sergiyev Monastery siege from the Poles and Lithuania, and the insurgencies later in Russia, composed by the Holy Trinity Monastery Kelarem Abraham Palitsyn. This “Legend” is a monument, remarkable as much in literary as in historical terms and reveals in the author remarkable literary talent and not only the reading in books of theological content, but also familiarity with the facts of the history of civil and even philosophy. Continue reading

“Woe from Wit” and “Misanthrope” by Moliere

Of foreign works, the comedy by Moliere “Misanthrope” was especially important for “Woe from Wit” (see the summary, analysis and the full text). Studies by Professor Alexei Veselovsky showed that the image of Alceste was reflected in Chatsky: in the work of Griboyedov, the love story of the main character of “The Misanthrope”, Alceste, was repeated. Finally, the similarities are observed in some trifles. Of course, such a borrowing doesn’t make Griboedov’s comedy non-independent: if the form and some details were borrowed, then its content remained deeply Russian. Continue reading

“Woe from Wit” – analysis, briefly

“Woe from Wit” is the main work of Griboyedov’s entire life and is one of the best works of Russian dramatic literature. Despite the fact that Griboyedov describes Russian society in a very specific historical era (the first half of the 19th century), the comedy has not lost it and will never lose its freshness, will not become outdated, will enjoy the same success. In this we see undoubted proof of her genius of the work.

“Woe from wits” – and the picture of morals, and the gallery of living types, and the ever-acute burning satire on “Famusov society”, and at the same time, comedy, most of all – comedy, which can hardly be found in other literatures, ”writes another major Russian writer, Goncharov, in his remarkable article “A Million Torments”. Continue reading

“European Herald” – Karamzin magazine

Creativity Karamzin in the years of the reign of Alexander I is of considerable interest. A sentimentalist writer, an individualist, essentially his temperament, who was first interested in mainly his sensitive soul — he appeared in the Alexander’s epoch as a public figure and publicist. Karamzin wrote and published a whole series of articles reflecting the living interests of our time in the journal “Vestnik Evropy” (1802-1830), the editor-in-chief of which was. Continue reading

“The Brothers Karamazov”

Dostoevsky writes not a philosophical treatise or a theological system, he writes a novel. Religious-philosophical material is introduced into the framework of the romantic genre and is developed according to its laws. A tense-dramatic plot is being built, in the center of which stands a mysterious crime; ideological masses are involved in a whirlwind of action and, colliding, cause spectacular explosions. In The Brothers Karamazov, the religious mystery is paradoxically combined with a criminal novel. For all its philosophical depth, it is one of the most fascinating and popular works of Russian literature. Continue reading

Leo Tolstoy "Confession"
The first of the works of Leo Tolstoy, in which he preached the moral-religious teaching (Tolstoyanism) that appeared in his mature age, was Confession (started in 1879 and completed in…

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Bulgakov "Heart of a Dog"
A homeless dog Sharik, who lived in Moscow, was scrubbed with a boiling water by one cruel cook. It was December, and Sharik, with his side wounded from the burn,…

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